Biology Forums - Study Force

Discuss whether Canada can best be described as a nation-state or not.

Canada can be considered a nation-state, a multicultural nation-state, a nation-state with one or more minority nationalities, a binational state, or a multinational state, depending on one’s perspective. Canada was largely built on the foundations laid by three peoples: Aboriginal (Indigenous) peoples (who are themselves very diverse in language and culture), the French colonists of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and persons of English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish ancestry. Added to this diverse foundation are large numbers of persons from various countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Many francophone Quebecers view Quebec as a distinct nation, with a substantial minority favouring the establishment of an independent Quebec nation-state. Aboriginal peoples resent the privileging of those of British and French ancestry in such ideas as “two founding peoples” and “two nations.”