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Historically, political mobilization within the Egyptian Canadian community in Ottawa for homeland politics has been minimal. Yet, since 2011, its members have taken part in a wide range of activities with the hope that they could contribute to the Egyptian uprising and shape the new political environment that arose from it. What compelled them to do so, and why only since 2011? Rooted in both the literatures on diaspora and transnationalism, this thesis argues that there were two simultaneous processes behind their mobilization. First, their sense of belonging to Egypt led some individuals within the Ottawa community to give a new political aspect and meaning to their Egyptian identity, and second, a series of events linked to the Egyptian uprising acted as catalysts to turn these identity-related feelings into action, which subsequently created new rifts within the community.

a) Basic Problem The main question posed in this research was as follows; where exactly, and in what types of locality have those of French ethnic origin living in the Prairie provinces been most (or least) successful in preserving a distinctive French-Canadian culture. b) Method of Investigation i) The production of detailed population distribution maps showed where, and to what extent, French-Canadians were areally concentrated into distinct group settlements. It is only in such group settlement that such a sub-culture can hope to survive. ii) The varying degree of ethnic homogeneity within the various group settlements was analysed. This study confirmed that the more French Canadians were intermixed with other groups the more susceptible they would be to anglicisation and assimilation. iii) The varying strength of the French-Canadian position was measured by calculating the proportion of French Canadians in each group settlement belonging to a French-language parish - an institution which has played a great role in the cultural survival of the French-speaking minorities. iv) The areally varying strength of French-language education in the Prairie provinces was studied. v) The areally varying degree of access to a French-language newspapers, radio and television was analysed; vi) Population increases and/or decreases among this ethnic group were studied. The extent of these increases and decreases, in both rural and urban areas, affects the strength of this sub-culture. vii) A cartographic description, using the most detailed census data available, was made of those of French ethnic origin who have retained French as their mother-tongue. The retention of French among this group was taken as the key index of assimilation, not least because they have always fervently regarded such linguistic fidelity as the essential basis of their distinctive cultural survival. b) Conclusions i) Neither the province of Quebec, nor the French-Canadian people have ever shown great interest in settling western Canada. ii) A considerable and increasing proportion of French Canadians in the Prairie provinces has become completely assimilated into the English-speaking community. However, within the group settlements the degree to which French has been retained is often high. iii) By far the strongest French-speaking community is situated in south-eastern Manitoba where three large rural groups focus on the unique urban group of St. Boniface. The cultural survival of French-Canadian communities in Alberta and Saskatchewan is much more threatened, either by their cultural isolation from other French-speaking groups, or by the extent to which they have been intermixed with non-French-speaking groups. iv) The key socio-geographic factor in the linguistic assimilation of western French Canadians seems to be the degree to which they are physically intermixed with other groups. This factor emerged as much more important than other considerations such as situation in an urban or rural area, or group settlement size. v) The western French Canadian sub-culture is an extremely "localised" phenomenon. Immediately beyond the "core" areas of the group settlements assimilation becomes very marked, even if a considerable number of French Canadians can still be found. Evidence of assimilation can be found even within the "cores" of some groups. vi) The future survival of this sub-culture depends, among other things, on strengthening French Canadian institutions within the group settlements. This applies particularly to the need to develop genuinely bilingual schools. Also a new form of "group settlement" must be developed to maintain and stimulate French-Canadian institutions and culture among the increasing numbers of Francophones who have left their rural communities for the larger urban areas. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

A qualitative - exploratory study was conducted to investigate the experiential consequences of underemployment for Chinese immigrants who were former professionals in their country of origin. Twelve male immigrants aged 28 to 63 who have resided in Canada 1 to 4 years were interviewed. For the most part, the study was existentially based using a phenomenological - content analysis format to derive results. Results indicated that Chinese immigrants' problematic responses to underemployment differed greatly depending upon their initial place of origin i.e., familiarity with and adaptability to the host society being the significant factor. Counseling suggestions to assist these individuals followed the existential paradigm. Finally, several possibilities that exist for further research into this topic of the underemployed immigrant are described. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

This study discusses the influence of history on identity for those who are involved with the Vancouver Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall (also know as the VJLS). The historical significance of a recognized landmark such as the VJLS creates a unique atmosphere that allows the past to be very much part of the present. In addition to many types of commemoration, memory and imagination provide links to the past. The community at the VJLS was very diverse including both recent immigrants and those with family connections to the Internment of Japanese Canadians during World War II. As a result, the feeling of a connection to the past was discussed in many different ways. These discussions are used in this study to explore the question of what it means to be Japanese Canadian and to be Canadian. At the VJLS, the history of Japanese Canadians is shown to belong to all Canadians rather than just to a separate ethic group within Canada. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

Despite social scientists' interest in globalization, mobility, the effects of colonialism, and the intercultural situations that result, little attention has been devoted to expatriates as a contemporary transnational group. This thesis is an enquiry into the ways eight individuals define themselves as expatriates, through their oral narratives of life in Papua New Guinea. The paper focuses on expatriates' characterizations of themselves in terms of: their communities; their relationships with locals; their status as foreigners in post-colonial Papua New Guinea; arid their experiences of mobility. Set against social scientific notions of expatriates and contemporary ideas of mobility and its relation to identity, expatriates' personal narratives indicate that scholarly depictions are too simplistic to access contemporary expatriates or the complex situations in which they live. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

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