| Description |
1 online resource (xix, 290 pages, 10 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations |
| Series |
McGill-Queen's studies in ethnic history. Series two ; 52 |
|
McGill-Queen's studies in ethnic history. Series two ; 52
|
| Contents |
Managing the "problem" of immigration: the evolution of policy framework, 1867-1945 -- The immediate postwar years, 1945-1949: planning continuity, encountering change -- The St Laurent years, 1950-53: old wine in new wine bottles -- The St Laurent Years, 1953-55: a new minister and a program under attack -- The St Laurent years 1955-1957: change, and defeat -- The Diefenbaker years, 1957-63: inspiring vision and lost opportunity -- The Pearson years, 1963-68: last postwar steps -- Conclusions -- Epilogue: Approaching the politics of immigration |
| Summary |
"Over the two decades following the Second World War, the policy that would create "a nation of immigrants," as Canadian multiculturalism is now widely understood, was debated, drafted, and implemented. The established narrative of postwar immigration policy as a tepid mixture of altruism and national self-interest does not fully explain the complex process of policy transformation during that period. In The Least Possible Fuss and Publicity Paul Evans recounts changes to Canada's postwar immigration policy and the events, ideas, and individuals that propelled that change. Through extensive primary research in the archives of federal departments and the parliamentary record, together with contemporary media coverage, the correspondence of politicians and policy-makers, and the statutes that set immigration policy, Evans reconstructs the formation of a modern immigration bureaucracy, the resistance to reform from within, and the influence of racism and international events. He shows that political concerns remained uppermost in the minds of policy-makers, and those concerns -- more than economic or social factors -- provided the major impetus to change. In stark contrast to today, legislators and politicians strove to keep the evolution of the national immigration strategy out of the public eye: University of Toronto law professor W.G. Friedmann remarked in a 1952 edition of Saturday Night, "In Canada, both the government and the people have so far preferred to let this immigration business develop with the least possible fuss and publicity." This is the story, told largely in their own words, of politicians and policy-makers who resisted change and others who saw the future and seized upon it. The Least Possible Fuss and Publicity is a clear account of how postwar immigration policy transformed, gradually opening the border to groups who sought to make Canada home."-- Provided by publisher |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Compliant with Level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Content is displayed as HTML full text which can easily be resized or read with assistive technology, with mark-up that allows screen readers and keyboard-only users to navigate easily |
|
Paul A. Evans is a historian, lawyer and former civil servant. He lives in Richmond Hill, Ontario |
|
Print version record |
| Subject |
POLITICAL SCIENCE / General
|
|
Emigration and immigration
|
|
Emigration and immigration -- Government policy
|
|
Emigration and immigration -- Political aspects
|
| SUBJECT |
Canada -- Emigration and immigration -- Government policy -- History -- 20th century
|
|
Canada -- Emigration and immigration -- Political aspects -- History -- 20th century
|
|
Canada -- Emigration and immigration -- History -- 20th century
|
| Subject |
Canada
|
| Genre/Form |
History
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| ISBN |
9780228007289 |
|
0228007283 |
|
9780228007296 |
|
0228007291 |
|
