Mosaic Multiculturalism?

Throughout Canada and other places around the world, Canada has had a reputation of being a mosaic, multicultural place.  It is hard to argue that Canada is not multicultural by simply walking along the downtown core of most Canadian cities and observing the surroundings.  However; it is also hard to argue that Canada is pushing for a mosaic society, or “tossed salad”, rather than the well known American system, the melting pot.  The Tim Horton’s commercial posted above not only warms many Canadian’s hearts, it also gives viewers an emotional sense of connection with the characters in the commercial.  Though the commercial is heart warming, are viewers missing other themes this text is establishing?  The theme that is present here is not centered on a “tossed salad” view of society but rather a melting pot.  The main characters in the commercial are of an eastern Asian descent and are the living products of assimilation.  The grandfather, having a heavy accent, conforms to the stereotypical Asian parent who wants his children to study, study, and study.  He is slowly assimilated into Canadian culture by accepting that hockey is just important as education in Canadian culture, or so this commercial portrays.  The alterations in what is important for the grandfather indicates a change in attitude based and more than likely a result of living in Canadian culture.  

The biggest misconception this commercial portrays is the idea that all Asian, this commercial specifically geared at East Asians, put a higher importance on education than Canadians and Westerners alike.  Because the Eastern Asians that most Canadians are exposed to have these ideas, we believe them to be true, but is it possible for one culture to put more importance on education than others?  If a person were to travel to one of these Asian countries would the culture revolve around studying and good grades?  The answer is no, the reason Asians are portrayed in this way is because of the nature of Canada’simmigration policies.  In order to immigrate to Canada, or even temporarily reside in Canada, there are a very strong set of guidelines including the amount of funding, or money an individual or their family has.  Because money matters are so important for immigration, people who come from financially prosperous families’ are typically the ones who are coming to Canada.  Trends show that money is usually, in most cases, the result of education meaning the parents of families coming to Canada are highly educated with high paying jobs.  If a person has had lengthy education and had financially benefited from that, why would they not push their children to do the same things?  If you observe an educated person anywhere in the world you would likely find that these people also push their children to do well in school.  It may seem as though Asian culture is more education oriented, however; this is only because the Asians most Canadians are exposed to are highly educated with an abundance of finances making them the perfect fit, in the Canadian government’s eyes, to immigrate or temporarily reside in Canada.