Canada is a beautifully diverse country, but is not made so simply by it's varied landscapes, seasons, and habitats.

The diversity of Canada is found in its people. Cultural diversity is the beauty of many different people with many different background cultures, and it is this which adds most to the diversity of Canada. I have heard many complaints about the immigrants in Canada. That foreigners are coming in too much, taking Canadian jobs, and not conforming to Canadian ways. Immigration has been discussed as though it is a problem that needs to be fixed, and the way I have heard it sold, I could almost believe this to be true. I have always tried to look at the advantages of immigration, but I haven't been able to achieve much understanding of this topic until I read personal perspectives from avid !u"uki and enise Chong, who were born in Canada but whose grandparents had been immigrants. The two distinguished Canadians wrote cultural perspectives on being Canadian. !u"uki's heritage lies in #apan and Chong's in China, but they share views on how they feel about being Canadian citi"ens. $fter reading from the perspective of these two, I see that the complaints I have heard against immigrants seem to be invalid and unjust. !u"uki and Chong, at least, have worked hard for success and citi"enship, and it is stories and personalities like theirs that make Canada's cultural diversity beautiful. !u"iki says in The Nature of Cultures, that %The first #apanese immigrants came to Canada to make their fortunes& so I see that immigrants do not come over for an easy ride' they come over to work hard, and they do. In Being Canadian, Chong also gives proof of her grandfather's hard work as an immigrant, saying that he % ... worked at a sawmill on the mud flats of (raser )iver&. *iether !u"uki nor Chong seem to feel they've forfeited any religion or culture, but !u"uki does feel the impact of not being educated in his culture. +ater in life, when he visits distant relatives in #apan, he can't communicate with them, and their traditions are strange to him. !u"uki reconciles himself to this lost knowledge by understanding that he is Canadian. ,e writes %-ach time I visit #apan, I am reminded of how Canadian I am and how little the racial connection matters.& To !u"uki, his citi"enship isn't about not being #apanese' it is about being Canadian. Chong seems to feel the same way and writes of her parents, %They were determined to raise their five children as Canadians.& !he knows her family, and many others had to shed their culture in order to be happy in the country, giving the example that someone % ... didn't change the family name ... to forsake his heritage, but to make it easier to find a job.& I wondered for a while how this could add diversity to Canada, if all the immigrants are just conforming. .ut they are not conforming. They are striving to be citi"ens and that is what diversity comes from' because when an individual strives to be worthy of a great country, each individual will bring something great to the country. /ur backgrounds help shape the type of great thing we will each bring to our country, and when there are so many different backgrounds 0from so many different countries, religions, cultures, and personalities1, we are sure to have a country that is great in an immense number of ways. This greatness is diversity.