Ethnic Diversity in Canada?

Nia Monopoli: We don't FORCE any one to serve in our military, they are ALL volunteers, so if visible minorities don't volunteer, you won't see them in the CF uniform. Same thing for Police officers. In my own opinion, the reality is that most visible minorities are unwilling to join, as they see it as a "low class type of employment " that is beneath them. The Chinese for sure are much more likely to be pushed, by the Parents, into law, engineering, medicine, or computer science, at University. In the case of many third world immigrants, the military , in their home country, was corrupt and likely to be cruel towards the people of that country. Past experience is a harsh reality. A further problem is the ability to speak English well enough to get in, and the difficulty in being passed for security clearances, due to family connections "back home " who are criminals or political radicals.I don't want ANY person in the CF who didn't WANT to JOIN. Its hard enough train! ing those who want to be there, without having " foot draggers " who are not motivated properly. No ethnic minority quotas thanks very much.Ask Randy B or Capital gentleman, both of whom are/were long time CF members , about the need to attract solid people, regardless of their skin colour ? If the people comiing through the door at the recruting office are are all blue eyed and white skinned, from Nova Scotia , or Alberta, that is what you work with. Period. Jim B.Toronto....Show more

Kenneth Blacker: I totally agree with Jim B. Well Said. I was in the Canadian military for 20 years. (Navy) I saw a few First Nations' people, a few Blacks and a few Asians, but the majority were European descent which includes Britain. However, we really never thought of them as anything but fellow Canadians. And like the man said, we are a voluntary military.

Maritza Ebanks: One platoon of soldiers does not accurately represent the total ethnic diversity of the Canadian Arm! ed Forces any more than it reflects the total ethnic diversity! of Canada.Methinks you're reading too much into it.

Wilburn Denice: Generally, immigrant Canadians come here to get away from armed conflicts in their old countries - often places where the military's were corrupt, brutal, or worse. It can take a few generations for those feelings to disappear in immigrants.OTOH, while having lunch at a military mess while I was still serving, a couple of guys were going on about "immigrants" - they mean refugees scamming the system, but, they were kind of ignorant. I recognized that about 4 of the 13 of us in the room were immigrants (including myself), and I spoke up. It turned out that 4 other guys I hadn't known about were also immigrants - 8 of 13. Sure shut those guys up!Also, woman are free to be in any trade in the military - including Combat Arms. How many women did you see? They are 50% of the population or so, but, I'll bet it was all men. That's because women simply don't want to do those jobs as much as men do. Some! do join, but, numbers are small.While there are people from everywhere in Canada, the country is still overwhelmingly Caucasian, and, that is reflected in the military as well. However, I have served with people from every other race out there - just not in huge numbers....Show more

Tommy Durrenberger: Well, there are a few reasons, I suspect.Basically, if you put all Canadians in a group, you'd find about 7 Caucasians for every 1 visible minority.Then, when you consider that many of that 1 in 7 are relatively new to Canada, there isn't a push to "serve one's cohntry" as there might be for more entrenched families. (?) Also, serving in the military isn't really something that comes up a lot, in the middle to upper classes. Don't get me wrong. I'm proud of those that do go serve. But I have a HUGE family, and the last person to serve was my father, in WWII. I don't have a single friend or acquaintance who's been in the military.Then, there's the practicality of! diversity in Canada. It is limited to larger cities, for the most par! t. I live in Toronto, touted as the most culturally-diverse city in the world. 52% of Toronto residents were born outside Canada, and nearly 50% consider themselves visible minorities. (I've read that the latest figures put that at 53%.)Vancouver and Montreal also have large immigrant, and visible minority, populations.As a Canadian, I love, love, love, for example, seeing Sikhs wearing their turbans in the RCMP. I love having lots of immigrants around. My husband is an immigrant! I now speak several languages, and have access to a buffet of world cuisine. I wouldn't have it any other way.So, in summary, I think one has to remember that the entire population of Canada is still mostly Caucasian, and there are social, cultural, and familial factors at-play in the decision to enter the military.Cheers!...Show more

Antone Youla: Not am really sure to be honest now.

Marvel Mcaulay: The Army has been less successful in recruiting some ethnic minorities than oth! ers. The list of the 157 Canadians who have been killed in Afghanistan includes nearly every ethnic group.Actually the platoon you saw, like every other one, doesn't include Chinese-Canadians, Indian-Canadians or any other hyphens, just Canadians.

James Langmyer: I heard it's tons of Chinese there. They seem to be racist against Africans. Didn't see too many there when I was there.

Maria Devenney: well, i'm chinese and i for sure WAS attracted by the military. it was just a small portion of the platoon that just had European Canadians.