A People’s Citizenship Guide

In 2009, Stephen Harper's Conservative government changed the contents of the official citizenship guide that is given to all recent immigrants to Canada. The new version contained a lot more military history and plenty of information about the monarchy, but little about public programs such as medicare or education, or our rich history of social justice movements. Ignoring the work and democratic struggles of generations of newcomers, it presumes that new immigrants need to be taught how to "take responsibility" for their families. In short, the official guide outlines an exceptionally narrow, conservative view of Canadian politics and society. In A People's Guide to Citizenship, a group of progressive historians offer an alternative citizenship guide: a lively, political, humane and more accurate alternative to Stephen Harper's version of the story.