History that immigrants must know
New Canadians show irritation about having to know historic names
Some wonder what John Cabot and Louis- Hippolyte La Fontaine have to do with fitting into modern Canadian society.
Quick, Canada: Who was Sir Louis- Hippolyte La Fontaine? And in what year did AngloItalian explorer John Cabot first reach the Atlantic shores of the future nation?
Prospective immigrants who took this country’s new citizenship test and were then asked about the experience in focus groups have met at least one key criteria for being Canadian: They’ve echoed complaints from native- born citizens that questions requiring them to memorize “specific names and dates” from Canada’s early history seem picky and pointless.
A report commissioned by Citizenship and Immigration Canada that gauged reaction to the new test, introduced in 2010, showed overall satisfaction with the way newcomers are quizzed to confirm their general knowledge of the country they want to make their home.
But according to the report, prepared by the polling firm Ipsos Reid and posted recently at the Library and Archives Canada website, would- be citizens tapped for their views on several history- related questions “wondered aloud” — like millions of Canadians before them — “about how this information would be useful to them in their day- to- day lives.”
Focus group participants “recognized the importance of acknowledging Canada’s history and understood the need to include questions with a historical focus in the exam,” the report stated. “What they struggled with was the ‘ so what’ type argument — i. e. why is it important for me to retain this information, how has this affected Canada, how will I use this information now or going forward?”
But Citizenship and Immigration Canada is playing the role of a tough- love teacher who, with a steely smile, politely withstands a bit of griping from her students and holds her ground.
Noting that “it was only some of the participants, not all of the participants” who objected to the test’s occasional turn toward trivia, a departmental spokeswoman firmly told Postmedia News: “The government does not intend to adjust the test questions.”
For Canadian citizenship “to be meaningful,” added Nancy Caron, a department spokeswoman, “it is important that Canadians share a common understanding of our rights and responsibilities, our common institutions and history. This is how we develop and maintain a common sense of Canadian identity and pride in Canada.”
The government’s new, 68- page study guide for those seeking Canadian citizenship, titled Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship, has been generally well received because of its increased attention toward the country’s historical development and most significant achievers.
The document details the importance of figures such as Cabot — believed to have reached Newfoundland during his landmark voyage of discovery in 1497 — and La Fontaine, a 19th century champion of French- language rights and one of the founders of responsible government in Canada.
On the list of citizenship test demonstration questions published in the guide and posted at the department website — which includes “What does the word ‘ Inuit’ mean?” and “What are the three branches of government?” — is one that asks: “Who was Sir Louis- Hippolyte La Fontaine?”
Jack Jedwab, director of the Montreal- based Association for Canadian Studies, said the grumbling exam takers in the Ipsos Reid focus groups “express precisely what I heard from the broader Canadian population in surveys done by the [ association] about the challenges of history education.”
While Jedwab applauded the “valid objective on the part of policy- makers to make Canadians more historically literate,” he added that if those applying for citizenship “say they are not going to retain the information beyond the exam, we need to pay some attention. That does not mean changing the guide, but perhaps the exam could better explain the contemporary relevance of the issues tested.”
In the past, Jedwab has questioned the significance of triviatype questionnaires that appear to cast doubt on Canadians’ knowledge of history.
He also noted that a September 2011 survey commissioned by his association showed that immigrants expressed as much interest in Canadian history as citizens born in the country.
“We can’t interpret the comments in the C. I. C. report as being based on lack of interest, but rather as part of an ongoing and legitimate debate amongst educators and policymakers about giving the past contemporary meaning and relevance.”