Cummins (1985, chap. 5) has suggested that it may be unreasonable to attribute the problem of minority academic underachievement to a single underlying cause, or to explain it through recourse to any one particular theory. According to the author, this phenomenon most probably results from the intersection of a series of historical, cultural, social and educational factors; parts of which have been articulated through various approaches, ranging from “Caste-theory” (Ogbu, 1978), to the interruption of cultural transmission, differences in quality of educational treatment and subtle mismatches in social interaction between minority children and their educators. Cummins (1994, 1996, 1997) has further argued that larger-world unequal relations of power - expressed through the coercive “macro-interactions” between a dominant majority and a dominated minority - will influence the nature of roles, relationships and classroom “micro-interactions,” which occur between teachers and minority students and, in this fashion, produce underachievement.

Both of these ideas thus serve to suggest that, the academic underachievement of Luso-Canadian students, can only truly be understood through unravelling the particular way in which the members of this group perceive their places and roles within the particular historical, social, cultural and economic context in which they exist. Only in this fashion, will we be able to recognize the state of affairs which has prevented many Luso-Canadians from achieving - what Paulo Freire has termed - an “emergence” (Freire, 1970, p. 100-101) from their “limit-situations” (p. 89), towards “intervention” (pp. 100-101) in their disadvantaging reality.[1]

In keeping with this framework, the ensuing pages will present what the participants in both the questionnaire and focus group portions of this study have perceived to be the most crucial issues, problems and challenges that are afflicting their Luso-Canadian communities. Through these descriptions, this chapter will detail how these Luso-Canadians have perceived their community to be marginalized educationally, economically, socially and culturally, as well as the way in which they saw the issue of education - particularly the underachievement of the community’s youth - as both arising from, and contributing to, this marginalization. Within this study, I am defining marginalization as the disproportionate exclusion, either self-imposed or otherwise, of community members from the various social, political, cultural, economic and educational expressions of Canadian society. Taken together, these descriptions served to weave a web of the economic, social and political context, which was seen as perpetuating the underachievement of its youth.

In presenting these results, this chapter will also highlight what these individuals regarded as the role of disadvantageous attitudes and practices of their community, its members and its institutions - as well as those of mainstream society - within this marginalization.

In keeping with the focus on education, the following pages will highlight those issues which were most directly identified with the community’s educational deficit. Other issues will be presented in summary form only and a comprehensive discussion of these is available in Nunes (1998a, 1998b). Finally, since there was a very close match between the issues which were cited in the questionnaire and the focus groups, this section will present the results of both, in an integrated format.

As the major part of this chapter will illustrate, participants throughout this study described many divergent issues, ranging from educational problems to economic concerns, cultural issues, the lack of political representation and social services, etc. However, both questionnaire respondents as well as focus group participants were also asked to prioritize the issues which they had identified and to comment on how the Portuguese-Canadian National Congress should best go about resolving these problems.

As we will now outline, when asked to identify priorities, most people regarded the community’s educational and political deficit as being at the root of the greater part of the issues affecting Luso-Canadians. Furthermore, within this deficit, one of the primary concerns which people identified was the pressing need to increase the number of Portuguese-Canadian young people who are entering into post-secondary education.

Respondents to the questionnaire were given the opportunity - through a series of both open- and closed-ended questions - to state which issues they felt to be the most important to their local and national communities. People were asked to rank issues by order of greatest urgency and then indicate which of these the Congress should attempt to tackle (See Appendix 2). The results revealed that people responding to the questionnaire were mostly concerned with the issues of education, the community’s economic health and political representation:

• Educational and economic issues - ex. Youth dropouts, the need to further the education of Luso-Canadian youth, more community education, the poor economic and employment situation, lack of job retraining, etc.

• Political, cultural and social issues - ex. Lack of political representation, loss of the Portuguese language and culture, lack of their promotion, lack of social services, problems within the family, etc.

As is illustrated in Figure 13 and Figure 14 the largest, single category of people, of those who responded to these questions in the survey, regarded educational issues as the paramount concern in their local communities.[2] People described the low number of Portuguese youth who completed their secondary and post-secondary education and focussed particularly upon the need to promote the education of Luso-Canadian youth.

The issues which were most often selected in second place were economic issues and the poor economic and employment situation of Luso-Canadians, (i.e.. unemployment, access to job training, etc.). Similarly, when asked upon which issue the Congress should best direct its limited resources, the largest single group of people were also those who felt that education should become the organization's main priority (Figure 15 and Figure 16). This would include working on such activities as the underachievement issue, community education and fostering a greater political participation amongst community members.

Finally, when asked specifically in a closed-ended question to prioritize some suggested ways to help solve the community's economic problems, more people ranked the promotion of post-secondary education amongst Luso-Canadian youth and the promotion of access to job-training programmes as "very high" and "high" priorities than any other issues (Figure 17).

In a similar fashion, participants in the focus groups were asked what they felt to be the role and function of the Congress in the resolution of the problems which they had identified. Participants in most of the focus groups felt that the main roles of the Congress should be to act as the strong political voice of Luso-Canadians across this country and to educate the community. Those in the three youth focus groups had very similar preferences to those in the integrated meetings; however, these young people tended to place more of an emphasis upon the promotion of unity amongst all Luso-Canadians.

In summary, many of those individuals who participated in this study, either through the questionnaire or in the focus groups, regarded the issue of the community’s low education levels as the primary concern, which underlay many of the other issues that were identified. Furthermore, within this focus on education, the issue of the academic underachievement of the community’s youth, took on a special significance in ensuring the community’s future health, or its continued marginalization. Thus, in the following sections, we will detail how the Luso-Canadians who participated in this study identified this marginalization, and the roles which they saw of community attitudes, opinions and education.

The theme of an educational deficit, in its various forms, (i.e. youth underachievement, the lack of education amongst adults, and the community) was identified by many in this study as the most important concern which Luso-Canadians facing. People in both the questionnaire and the focus groups expressed serious apprehension about the perceived lack of academic underachievement of the community’s youth, the generalized lack of English or French-language skills amongst many long-time Portuguese-Canadians and about the rapid disappearance of the Portuguese language and culture to the younger generations.

Throughout their discussions, people described how the educational and financial limitations of the first generation have led directly to the isolation and marginalization of this group from Canadian society and from professional advancement. Yet, people also rationalised these problems, by attributing them to the lack of educational opportunities which many immigrants experienced in Portugal before emigrating, as well as to the need which most of these had to attain rapid economic security in their new land.

However, this same rationalization did not occur when the discussion turned to youth underachievement. People reserved their greatest concerns - and criticisms - for the high drop-out rate amongst Luso-Canadian youth (in some regions), the manner in which these were disproportionately failing to enter into post-secondary education and for the perceived lack of encouragement of education, on the part of some Portuguese parents. They roundly condemned the way in which young Luso-Canadians are failing to take advantage of opportunities which their parents did not have. Throughout many of the groups, people also expressed strong fears that, through their unwise educational decisions, the younger generations are reproducing the low-income, working-class legacy of their parents and, in this fashion, creating a bleak future for both themselves and the community as a whole.

One of the issues that was most often identified by questionnaire and focus group respondents was the perceived poor performance of Portuguese-Canadian students in the Canadian school system. A total of 46 people who responded to the questionnaire described, through an open-ended question, one or another of the various aspects of this issue as the most serious educational problem which their local community is facing (Fig.). Concerns related to academic underachievement (25 responses) and problems of the education system (15 responses) were also cited by survey respondents as the community’s prime national educational issue.

A total of six focus groups (including two of the three youth focus groups) also identified the major educational problem in the community as the fact that relatively few Luso-Canadian students are attaining a post-secondary education. People in Toronto spoke of the high proportion of “dropouts” (early school leaving). The group in Winnipeg focussed instead upon the fact that - although many in their region were graduating - too few of these were choosing to enter college and university. Others described the belief that many in the community emphasize working over schooling. Participants in the Hamilton and Toronto focus groups also made such comments as “our children do not study” and “there is a school problem.” They further decried the “lack of dedication to youth” on the part of the community.[3]

The group in Montreal did not feel that there was a “dropout problem” in their community. However, even at this meeting, some participants did acknowledge that, in their city, many students study at lower levels or drop difficult subjects and that some Portuguese parents (“about half and half”) sometimes pressure their children to go to work. They cited concerns about the “quality of education” which Portuguese youth are receiving in local schools, as it related to academic achievement and discipline. One participant described how ”...parents... are concerned with their children’s schooling... with the quality... [their] success... or lack of success...” These issues were cited by some of the women in attendance as being of special relevance for Portuguese women.

Participants in three of the Toronto meetings, as well as in Hamilton and (some of the participants) in the Winnipeg youth groups, identified the key issue in underachievement as the fact that many Portuguese students in their regions do not complete their secondary education. One participant in one of the Toronto meetings said:

I think the [major problem] is the one of finishing high-school.... If they finish high-school, they are encouraged and they go to university. If they don’t finish high-school, they don’t go.

There are a large number of Portuguese in university... ...who have had a lot of success. But, one also sees many young people, twelve, thirteen, fourteen years of age, who abandon school, who have very grave problems.

In Toronto, a young person described the situation in one school in Brampton, Ontario:

In Brampton, where I’m from, the high-school where I went, where it’s about 65% Portuguese, if you make it to the actual high-school graduation, it’s a big thing. And then, if you actually go on to university, it’s an extra big thing. I mean, you either drop out within in high-school, or you drop out after high-school. Like, I mean, no one is looking forward to continuing because everyone is too worried about... buying a car, or finding a full-time job and, probably, moving out of the house. So no one really thinks about school.

One participant in Winnipeg commented about how Luso-Canadian youth who drop-out fail to comprehend the consequences of their decision and how this error ultimately hampers their future employment opportunities:

These youth are anxious to leave school. I don’t know why. And they leave school knowing full well that they will not be able [to find a job], or that, at least, they will have much more difficulty if they don’t finish their schooling... ...even so, they don’t care. I have a number of personal examples that I know of. And, frankly, I can’t find a solution for this problem. And, I live it also. They want to leave school and they don’t think about the future.

Participants in the Toronto youth meeting and in one of the Winnipeg meetings were divided on whether they felt the most important underachievement issue for the community was the dropout rate, or the fact that many high-school graduates don’t go on to post-secondary education. Similarly, they were unable to agree on whether the problem manifested itself more strongly amongst those of Continental versus Azorean Portuguese background, or amongst those born in Portugal versus Canada.

Few Luso-Canadian students are entering into post-secondary education, especially the academic streams.

Participants in Winnipeg and in the Toronto youth group were not unanimous in identifying early-school-leaving as the major aspect in the underachievement problem. While some - generally those in Toronto - felt that there were many Portuguese youth which did not finish high school, others - mostly those in the Winnipeg and Montreal groups - felt that there were relatively few Portuguese high-school dropouts in their area. Yet, one point upon which all regions agreed was that there were relatively few Luso-Canadian students choosing to attend post-secondary education. As one participant in Winnipeg stated:

In a general sense, the Portuguese community is right on track with the rest of the Canadian society... ..the eighty-five or eighty percent - or whatever it happens to be - do get their grade twelve. But, they don’t proceed to go further with it. And unfortunately they decide to go into, whatever... without a more formal education, which is unfortunate... ...Because, nowadays , a grade twelve won’t get you as strong a job, or as good an opportunity to have a secure job, as if you have a university degree, or a community college...

My experience is that they do stay and graduate from grade twelve. I think the large majority of them though, do not go on to post-secondary. Unless you want to include vocational or community college... ...I think there’s more students going into the community college field and doing the vocational training and apprenticeships. There’s more and more doing that. There’s more and more going into a post-secondary education.

The younger participants in the mixed-age group in Winnipeg also voiced their belief that those Portuguese young people who were in schools or in universities were hard-working and generally able to compete, intellectually and academically.

The Community is Undergoing Economic Marginalization and Social Reproduction

Some of the participants in the groups in Hamilton, Winnipeg and Montreal expressed their strong fears that the present educational deficit of Luso-Canadian youth will have grave concerns for the future economic and social well-being of the Portuguese community in Canada. They described how many of the Luso-Canadian youth who drop-out of school are entering into the same socio-economic roles which their parents currently occupy. They went on to detail how this will result in the future marginalization of large segments of the Portuguese community. One person in Montreal declared:

...this worries me because we as a Portuguese community... will find ourselves in the future.... with a population of underdeveloped individuals, who do not have the preparation to meet the challenges of the extremely advanced society in which we live... ...we will find, for example.... ...that a certain percentage of youth of Portuguese origin will not have a place in society. They will not have a place because the roles which their parents play today [for example] cleaning the Place Ville Marie, and other such functions, tomorrow these youth will not even be able to to do these jobs, because these perhaps will not even exist, or, if they exist, they will go to another type of person. So these youth will be quite a bit lost.

Another participant in Winnipeg cited her personal experiences to illustrate how the working-class legacy of the Portuguese community has reproduced itself, over the years, in the entrance of younger Luso-Canadians into positions of unskilled, manual labour:

When I arrived twenty years ago (I was already eighteen years of age) I went to work in a factory. I felt bad because in Portugal I only wanted to study. But, because of my [lack of] opportunities... ...I only went to the ‘colégio’ until I was thirteen. When I got here, [and started working] in the factory, I would look at girls who were thirteen, fourteen, who had come here as young girls, and think to myself, ‘what I had to endure with my father, how he hit me in order for me to go and study’. And they, here, with so much opportunity [to study], carrying bundles of blue-jeans on their backs. This for me... ...it would leave me saddened. Because I did not have the opportunity to come here when I was young. And, I think that this continues. Those mothers who dedicated themselves to the factory... their children today are doing what their mothers did.

The participant went on to explain the pressure that, even today, is brought to bear upon her own son, to prematurely end his education:

My son... ...finds many people who tell him... ...’Why do you have to go to university? Where are the jobs?’ [I tell him], ‘Don’t worry about the job. It’s going to come. Look after yourself. Leave everybody else...’ [and he says] ‘Oh, my friends, they want a car, they want to be a mechanic’. But, I look at the friends that he accompanies. They are from those mothers that I knew and who, twenty years ago, at thirteen, fourteen years of age, did not want school. They only did a year or two. This is a problem that is going to continue for a while. And it’s a pity. I feel that it’s a shame. But, I don’t see that this problem is only of today. It comes from twenty years ago.

Finally, one young participant in Toronto stated his opinion of the importance which solving the educational issue holds for overcoming the overall marginalization of the Luso-Canadian community:

Well, I think the high dropout rate in Toronto, is definitely a big issue, nationally. I don’t know how statistics diverge from that. But, I think, the more educated the Portuguese community can be on a national level, the better we’ll be able to organize both politically, culturally and, hopefully, economically.

The Lack Of English- Or French-Language Skills, Amongst The First Generation

Another issue which was frequently identified in the focus groups is the widespread lack of English- and French-language skills amongst those of the first generation. People mentioned how there are many Luso-Canadians who are still unable to communicate in English, even after having resided in Canada for many years and after having acquired Canadian citizenship. One participant in Ottawa-Hull stated his opinion about how this issue is at the root of many people’s problems: “The other difficulties arise because of the language. Everything starts with the language.” Participants in the focus group conducted in the Maritimes cited how the lack of English prevents people from getting better jobs and often goes hand-in-hand with lack of integration in Canadian society. One participant in Toronto commented on how this lack of English is the key issue which limits job opportunities and contributes to the lack of integration into Canadian society:

...people, especially older people, can’t speak English. For this reason, they can’t get good jobs... they can’t achieve a higher level... only the very basic. They can’t get more involved in Canadian social life, get to know - for example - what is going on in the English-language television.

One man in the Edmonton group described how the lack of English affects many Portuguese in their workplace:

We go to find work and many people - since we can’t speak English - don’t pay us any mind. There are many people that I know who apply to certain jobs and they are not hired because they don’t know the language. Many times, there are people here who are sick, or on sick-leave, or on social services, and who want to go to school, but they can’t go because the government will not pay the classes that they would attend... The government will not pay, or it will take away our sick benefits...

At work they send us here and there to the hardest jobs that there are in the factories, or in construction, because we don’t know how to defend ourselves, we don’t have the language, or anyone who can help us...I think this is what affects us greatly.

Another man in the Osoyoos, B.C. focus group described how the lack of fluency in the English language was the key to many other problems for the Portuguese, such as the lack of participation in the political process:

Politics is like everything else. Everything leads to one thing: The language, the reading and writing [of English]. The Portuguese have not been a long time in this region. Because of this, those people who are older, their English is not sufficient for them to involve themselves in issues of politics. And, in everything that the Portuguese could talk about, it all leads to the same thing: The speaking of English, writing English and reading English. It always comes knocking at the same door... in every problem which exists.

Participants in the Ottawa-Hull group described how this lack of language skills prevents the Portuguese in this region from understanding what options and services are available to them. For example, one man stated how people make limited use of the services at the Canada Employment Centres because many don’t know how to fill out the necessary forms and how to talk to the employees. The same participant went on to cite the case of a Portuguese family who didn’t know that there was a baby bonus, until after he had informed them and they had received a lump-sum payment from the government.

Participants in this group also described how his lack of language skills is especially acute amongst the elderly and how it most especially affects their ability to access the health-care system. One man stated his opinion that, some people in the Ottawa region often postpone going to the doctor, because they know they will be unable to communicate effectively. This problem is perpetuated by the near total lack of Portuguese-speaking health professionals and is most acute when it comes to accessing specialists.

Despite recognizing the disadvantages of not speaking English or French, people in the Sault Ste. Marie focus group did not feel this issue limited local community members with regards to employment. Some mentioned how Sault Ste. Marie’s tradition of receiving large proportions of immigrants has created an environment where people (such as employers) are more able to accomodate or overlook people’s lack of language skills, than in other parts of Canada. As one participant mentioned “...they look more at your work than they do your language.”

Another man in Montreal commented on the fact that he had never needed to be able to speak French, in order to conduct his job:

I don’t need to speak French, in order to work. And even the boss was very grateful because... he would say ‘This is the kind of worker that I want. These kinds of workers don’t waste their time talking to anyone.’... ‘he knows about blueprints. He knows how to work with a machine. He doesn’t need to talk to the blueprint. He doesn’t need to talk to the pieces. He does his job, starts, sends it in and it’s all done. Look he is even a good worker because this way he doesn’t waste his time talking to anyone.’

The economic issues that were raised by people in the questionnaire and focus groups described a community that was largely marginalized from the mainstream economic and occupational profile. People in both the questionnaire and focus groups identified unemployment, and youth unemployment as the most important local and national economic issues, and discussed how this was having a disproportionate effect on the community. A related concern was the concentration of many Portuguese in jobs which afford them low salaries and a low-status amongst society-at-large.

Another major issue that was listed by the respondents to the questionnaire was the lack of retraining programmes, especially for people with little formal education. Focus group respondents also mentioned a related problem by describing instead how many Portuguese are not upgrading and specializing their skills. The issues of the high numbers of disabled workers and the presence of disadvantaging labour laws were also brought up in the focus groups. In the case of the questionnaire, there were also many divergent opinions to this question, which are reflected in the high number of miscellaneous answers.

Both the participants to the focus groups as well as the respondents to the questionnaire identified unemployment, and youth unemployment as the most important local and national economic issue, for Portuguese-Canadians. When asked about pressing economic issues which were affecting his community, one man in Ottawa-Hull responded gruffly:“That’s an unnecessary question... I think that’s one of the most difficult things these days, finding a job so that one can survive.” One other participant in one Toronto meeting described how ”the community is in an economic crisis” and how for the first time in their history, the Portuguese community in this city now makes up a significant part of the welfare rolls. Participants in the focus groups in Hamilton, Edmonton, Toronto, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Saskatoon, the Maritimes and Winnipeg also mentioned the fact that today there are many fewer jobs available in traditional areas, such as construction, and spoke of the need to improve the situation of the economy and to increase the number of available jobs, especially for youth. Participants in all three Toronto meetings also decried the fact that employment in the traditional manufacturing and unskilled jobs (especially construction) seems to be “stalled”. Yet people in one of the Toronto meetings were also divided as to whether the problem was lack of jobs, or lack of jobs which paid a living wage.

Participants in Saskatoon also talked about how the lack of jobs was affecting the future survival of the community in that region. One woman lamented: “My son goes everywhere, writes his applications, doesn’t find a job... for almost two years, without work, only part-time...” People at this meeting communicated a pessimistic outlook towards the survival of the Portuguese community in Saskatchewan. They cited how the poor economic situation and the greater vulnerability of the Luso-Canadian worker has led many Portuguese to not want to build a future in this province. Other participants at this meeting blamed Saskatchewan’s low population for the lack of jobs and a job creation strategy. They felt that the low numbers of residents in this province has created an outmigration of people to other regions and resulted in a climate of hopelessness amongst all Saskatchewan residents towards the future.

One person in the Maritimes spoke about how the lack of English-language skills and the lack of formal recognition of the professional credentials which some Portuguese bring from Portugal created a difficult economic situation of some of the people who have immigrated to this region. This participant complained about how the lack of English language skills made it impossible for many to write tests which would allow them certification in Canada, in their profession. As he said of the lack of English: “[The immigrant] knows how to work in his profession, but has difficulty in writing these exams.”

Yet, despite their gloomy portrayal of the unemployment situation in the Portuguese community, some of the participants in a few of the groups commented that this was not an issue which was particular to the Portuguese and that the Portuguese always find a way to survive since, they have a reputation as hard workers and will generally take any kind of work. One participant in Sault Ste Marie commented:

Luckily, we have a special name: The ‘Portuguese’ name. Where a Portuguese works [once], he soon has [more] work... ...We only need a little bit more help, because with our hands, our experience, and with the way in which we are, we always survive in this country, although with some difficulty.

The youth group in Winnipeg also saw the high unemployment rate of all Canadians, as well as the fact that many Portuguese are employed seasonally, as factors which disadvantage Luso-Canadian youth academically. The people in this group felt that unemployment in the family places an extra burden on Luso-Canadian youth, especially in the case of new immigrants. One young person felt that Portuguese-Canadian youth are not directly affected by their parents’ unemployment, however, he did state that the lower economic means of many Luso-Canadian parents often mean that the children of these families usually end up paying for their own education, through part-time, summer jobs, or student loans. Some in the group also felt that the recent changes to the unemployment insurance plan might make the situation worse. One young woman also mentioned the fact that a lot of Portuguese in Winnipeg were seasonal workers, who are greatly affected by the recent changes to Unemployment Insurance Act, that were targeted mainly at cutting the benefits to these employees. One participant explained:

“As long as we have new immigrants coming over... ...it’s always going to be a challenge, because they have to establish themselves financially... be able to facilitate their future, in terms of finding a job. And, that’s not always something simple to do...”

The Concentration of Luso-Canadians in Low-Paying, Unskilled, Low-Status Job

Respondents to the questionnaire identified as one important economic limitation the fact that many Portuguese-Canadians receive low salaries, low returns and a low social status for their labour. Participants in the focus groups in Toronto, Montreal and Sault Ste. Marie meetings also described how many in the community tend to hold jobs where they earn substantially less than other Canadians and where they face much less job security. One man in Montreal bemoaned the substitution of low-paying manual labour jobs in the place of formerly high-paying positions:

I know two individuals who earned a reasonable salary. But, for whatever reasons.... their company went out of business. They were left without without any money... For them to get work in another company - for example, they were making twelve, thirteen, fourteen dollars an hour - today, they are making six, seven dollars. And, I also know people... who were forced to sell their house, losing thirty, forty and in some cases even fifty percent, in order to go back to Portugal, because they couldn’t make a living in this country.

One participant in Toronto shared a personal experience of being diminished occupationally, in order to illustrate how the lack of good-paying employment has affected the self-esteem of Portuguese-Canadian men:

I have been a mechanic for 32 years. I took a seven-year mechanics course. I was in Angola, in Africa, in Saudi Arabia, I’ve been practically to the entire world. I got here, I took out the permit to work as a mechanic... I went to a shop where I worked for a week for 50 hours. They gave me $150. I went to work in another, they gave me $8 an hour for 56 hours. Can one accept this?... ...I... I picked up my toolbox... and threw it into my car. One becomes angry [desorientado]. This is exactly what happens to men... many times they become angry [desorientado] as a result of the economic situation... There is work [out there]. They just don’t want to pay.

Participants in two of the Toronto meetings also identified how a lower-than-average income often leads Portuguese students to after-school and summer jobs, in order to work to support themselves and their families and how this ultimately encourages underachievement. One person stated:

...one of the problems within the Azorean community is that practically all of its youth... work part-time, sometimes even four or five hours a night. I think it is impossible for a child who works... who is sixteen years old, who works four or five hours a night...to continue to function very well [in school]. Really, when he or she gets home and has to do homework and study and goes to sleep at one o’clock in the morning, and has to be at school at eight or eight-thirty, they certainly aren’t getting the sleep that they need... ...In most cases, I have had the chance to speak to parents and tell them that this is unacceptable, [and I ask], ‘why do you let you son or daughter work five or six hours a night?’ [and they reply] ‘ Oh, I don’t mind. What they earn is for themselves, and in this way, I don’t have to buy them shoes, I don’t have to buy pants and whatever else they need. This is out of my reach.’ Therefore, it is a relief for them that they don’t have to give their children what their children need. They can go to work and, thus, work for what they want. I think that this is a problem which has much to do with the level of education which we see in our schools.

Participants in Sault Ste. Marie also brought up the fact that most Portuguese lack the same white-collar contacts which many other individuals from other groups often take for granted. This often limits the opportunities of young people who are recently out of school and trying to secure employment in positions requiring a degree of skill or education. For example, one participant pointed out the existence of a situation of preferential hiring in the town’s city government, which discriminates against the entrance of people from previously unrepresented communities:

Yesterday, I was with someone who works for City Hall. He told me himself that they hire new workers from amongst those who are recommended by someone on the inside and that whoever doesn’t have anyone on the inside who can bring them in, has little chance of getting in.

The people in at least two of the focus groups brought up the fact that the recession was affecting Luso-Canadians more severely than those in other communities and cited how they personally knew of many individuals in the community who were currently experiencing severe financial difficulties. Most of the focus group participants in this and other groups asserted their opinion that most Portuguese in Canada have a work-ethic, an ability to adapt and a willingness to take any kind of work, all which usually allow these individuals to be able to survive in difficult economic times. However, despite these viewpoints, many people agreed that this survival has neither been won at an easy price - in terms of quality of life and employment - nor was it any longer guaranteed, in light of the new economic realities. One woman in Ottawa-Hull described as a “fiction” the belief that the Portuguese are more capable of surviving in a recession. She cited her situation:

Nowadays, there are people in financial crisis. I can include myself as one of them. My husband hasn’t worked for a year. His only source of income is... a disability pension plan; seven hundred dollars a month. We pay eight hundred and some a month in rent. So.... this is a crisis... I include myself in this group.

The people in the July Toronto group also discussed how many Portuguese men are currently facing severe financial pressures and stated how many of these men do not easily discuss these issues with their families, a factor which occasionally causes some of these men to turn to alcohol. As one participant asked?

Why doesn’t [a man] go home and talk to his wife, instead of going to the café and talking to his friends and getting drunk? Why does he do this? He has financial pressures, he has to discuss them with his wife, to say.... ‘how are we going to resolve this problem?’ Let’s reach an agreement, let’s try the best way that we can.’ No. It’s not by dismissing his whole family, going to the café, shaking the hand of this, or that one, [and saying] ‘Hey! Bring a round of beer for everyone!’ Our community is like this: If one pays, all want to pay. Sure, so at the end of the day, the guy has drank too much. He comes home, argues with his wife, because of the problems that are behind all of this... the wife can’t say anything, [and he says] ‘Ah! Go to...!’This is completely wrong... this is one of the serious problems that affects our community, nowadays...

Luso-Canadian Workers Are Not Upgrading Their Skills or Entering Into More Specialized Areas of Traditional Employment

Another issue which was identified as a factor which maintained Luso-Canadians in a marginalized economic position was the fact that there are very few options available for those Portuguese who desired to receive job retraining. People described how there were many people in the community who were not able to move to better and higher-paying employment, because they themselves do not seek to upgrade, or acquire, new job skills, and because very few job retraining programmes are geared to those who have little fluency in the official languages and/or a limited formal education. People in the focus groups also spoke about how those who were already working do not generally attempt to enter more specialized areas of traditional employment. For example, one participant mentioned how, many Portuguese who are currently employed in construction do not seek retraining for such skilled positions as drafts men, machine operators, carpenters, etc..

One participant in Winnipeg stated that this lack of career development can be attributed to a “fear” of school on the part of many Portuguese, who - for the most part - have a very low level of formal education. Others at this meeting described the fact that many of the courses which offer upgrading or skills training are inaccessible to many Portuguese, because of the language barrier and the fact that many courses are geared for those who already possess a certain level of formal education. Since there are relatively few courses which are structured to accommodate the limitations of many of these workers, the impression is created that any type of upgrading is out of the reach of most people. Finally, those in the Hamilton meeting also described how there is very little knowledge in the community regarding how to access available government funding for retraining, special job promotion and incentive programmes, etc.

Portuguese-Canadians Are Being Disproportionately Affected By Disadvantaging Labour Law

A few of the participants in the November Toronto focus group also described how the repeal of pay equity laws in Ontario and the enactment of new legislation designed to curb the power of unions will severely affect the situation of Portuguese workers, in such occupations as office cleaning.

One respondent in particular went on to explain how these laws, along in conjunction with a lack of formal education, leave Portuguese women vulnerable to exploitation and abuse in their place of employment:

...I don’t think anyone in this city, not even women in Canadian mainstream society suffer as much abuse as the Portuguese women who work in office cleaning. It is unimaginable and I think it is something which has been very, but I mean, very much ignored.... I think that in most cases... if the Portuguese community were interested and would send inspectors from the Ministry of Labour to look into the work that these women do, in the majority of the cases, the companies would be held responsible, because these women do tasks that would not be accepted... and no one has been doing anything about this.

There are Disproportionately High Numbers of Disabled Workers in the Luso-Canadian Community

People in a few of the focus groups and in the questionnaire also discussed how the Luso-Canadian community seems to suffer a disproportionately high number of disabled workers.[4] One participant in Winnipeg mentioned the fact that many Portuguese have become permanently disabled, as a result of work-related accidents, and do not have the health, job skills or education to take up any other type of work. He also cited the fact that Worker’s Compensation is not doing enough to allow these individuals a “dignified” life. The participant described the effect which this has had on these individuals:

These people have a great inner conflict, where they feel completely out-of-place, depressed and apart from the social context which they like. They don’t know whether they should go to Portugal... they don’t know whether they should live here. They live a life of fear. There is a large number of people that are in this situation.

More than one person in the Maritimes also described how claims made for Worker’s Compensation disability benefits are taking exorbitantly long to process. One participant described the issue in this fashion:

This is a problem which is being very badly administered because, there are cases which take two, three, four, five, six years to be resolved.... We are being punished - I think there is no other word for it - we are being greatly punished because of this.

I speak from a personal experience that I had with an accident at work. The insurance company paid me for one year and I have been two and a half years without receiving a penny.

Participants specifically blamed the Compensation system, rather than Doctors, for the delay in these cases.

The youth groups in Winnipeg and Toronto mentioned how Portuguese youth are not accessing “non-traditional” jobs and, thus, how a large segment of the community is not able to participate in all levels of society and the economy. One participant in Winnipeg mentioned how it was time for the community to step away from entering en-masse into unskilled jobs, such as general-labour, construction work. This individual also mentioned how it was also time for those youth who are acquiring more formal education to start moving away from traditional fields. She cited the specific example of many educated Portuguese women, who have a tendency to enter into teaching:

There’s nothing wrong with teaching. I have tons of friends who are teachers. But, there are other jobs that they could go into. There’s business. I got a commerce degree. I was in commerce. And I was the only Portuguese female. I felt like ‘Where are the other females?’ I know that there are tons of them. Why aren’t they in commerce? They could go into commerce, into medicine, pharmacy, dentistry. There’s a lot of non-Portuguese who are going into these careers. Why aren’t Portuguese people going into those careers as well?

Another participant in Winnipeg attributed this problem to the lack of role models in the community, from these diverse fields.

Luso-Canadian Students Fear That They Will Not Be Able to Find Suitable Employment After Graduating

One related issue discussed by the participants in Montreal were their concerns that they will not be able to find suitable employment after finishing their studies. Some, like the following young man, expressed concerns that they would not find work at all:

I’m afraid that, after finishing school, I won’t be able to find a job at the end. But, it’s also a fact that my father always says ‘learning is its own reward (o saber não ocupa lugar)...’ But, there is the problem of wasting time. That’s it. My fear is of the job not being there at the end. Right now, I would like to be a lawyer, and I even thought, I very much like business. So, I would like to start my own business... ...but right now, I’m not exactly sure if that’s what I want to do for the rest of my life. So, for now, I’m going into the sciences in college, in order to have something to fall back on, so that I can at least have an education. But, the fact is, everyone says, a person nowadays can’t be sure. And there is always the fear that, in the end, there isn’t going to be a job.

Others described their fear that they would never be able to enter the field for which they qualified, or in which they were interested. One young man stated that he was not anxious about being able to find work, he was much more worried about which field he would ultimately be employed. Another woman stated:

There is just one thing that worries me: I’m afraid; sometimes I find myself thinking... I know that in my situation, if I can’t find work, I can go to work for my father... I will never go on unemployment, or a similar thing, because I can count on them. But, it’s just that... I want to make it by myself. I’m not studying so that, afterwards, I will go to work for my father. That’s not what I want to do with my life.

The groups in Vancouver and Winnipeg discussed how the local Portuguese business class in their regions was relatively small and weak and described how this contributes to the increased marginalization of the community-at-large (this point was also raised briefly in one of the Toronto meetings, where the Portuguese business community is strongest). The people in these groups detailed how those Portuguese-Canadians who own businesses generally have less education, professional skills and connections than their mainstream counterparts. According to participants, this contributes to weaker businesses in the community and to a lack of social development, since a weak economic structure ultimately leads to a weak social and political structure. One woman explained:

[What affects the community] is exactly the economic part, precisely because of the lack of good education... and skills. People are not prepared, they don’t have a defined profession. Our people came here, they brought tailors from the village... I have a brother that came over as a tailor, because he was was a tailor and one of the best. But, when he arrived here, he had to go and paint houses for a German guy, who then left him with money owed to him. He did not know how to speak and [the guy] never paid him, (him and one other). Because, my brother, in order to [work as a tailor] needed to know the names of things and he did not know any English.

One young woman elaborated on the difficulties and isolation which results during the attempt to start a business in the Portuguese-Canadian community:

When you start a business, you’re on your own. You don’t know people yourself, that’s it. There’s not another Portuguese person that’s gonna come to you and say, ‘don’t worry, I have these connections. I have these contacts. I can help you.’ You don’t find that. And, that’s where you have to find a way to unify people, so that they will do that.

Another participant in Winnipeg also spoke of the lack of support which the community affords to Portuguese businesses in the region. In speaking of the attempts of the local Portuguese business association to reach out to the community, this person commented:

Many people notice that the Portuguese are the last ones to support Portuguese businesses. The motive for this... we don’t know why. We have spoken in various meetings and we have not been able to reach a conclusion as to the reason.

Ironically, one participant in Vancouver lamented the fact that those young people in his local community who were ambitious about progressing in their economic roles thought only of going to university or college, instead of being “creative” and launching themselves into business. He urged groups such as the Congress to encourage creativity and the entrepreneurial spirit.In his view, the health of the business-class will be essential in moving the community away from isolation and towards a greater progress in mainstream Canadian society. In a similar vein, the participants at this meeting also felt that the same lack of skills and education which affect the :Luso-Canadian business-class are also what underlie the overall problems in community unity.

In listing what they perceived to be the greatest social problems of their local communities, people in both the focus groups and the questionnaires outlined a series of issues which read as symptoms of a community which is marginalized from the mainstream of Canadian life. People identified the lack of integration of Portuguese-Canadians into Canadian society, the nonexistence of adequate social and community services, and a lack of community unity, as major issues which set the community apart from the mainstream and which served to isolate many Luso-Canadians. Respondents to the questionnaire also described the top national issue as the lack of adequate services (10 responses). The need for integration, lack of unity and women’s issues and problems were all tied for second (7 responses each).

Throughout their discussions, people continually referred to how this social isolation is often a direct consequence of the low education levels of the community and the lack of English, or French, language skills. They also described how this tendency towards marginalization from the mainstream on the part of older immigrants is affecting those of the second generation, in ways which is also serving to alienate some younger Luso-Canadians. According to participants, many of those from the second-generation are encountering both a difficulty in communicating with their families, as well as a difficulty in fully becoming a part of the mainstream.

The lack of integration of the Portuguese in Canadian society was cited by most individuals in this study as the prime social issue of concern. The people in the Winnipeg, Ottawa-Hull, Sudbury and Toronto focus groups discussed how the lack of English-language skills amongst many first generation Portuguese, along with the community’s generally low education levels, often result in a tendency towards isolation from mainstream society; especially amongst Portuguese seniors.

The people at the Ottawa-Hull meeting described how many Portuguese in this region isolate themselves at home, or limit themselves to church-going activities. One participant mentioned that those who stayed at home normally did not want to enter into any of the activities of the wider Canadian community, while those who confined their sphere of activities to the church often rejected the ideas arising from other sectors of the Portuguese community. Because of the great numbers of church-going Portuguese, this rejection has often led to deep divisions within the local community.

A few of the participants in the Sudbury meeting commented on their own situations. One woman stated: “If I associated more with Canadians, maybe I would feel happier here.” Another mentioned how interaction with Canadians is made more difficult by the existence of wide cultural differences:

I have a neighbour. This woman invites me to go to her house almost every day and I don’t go. Why? That’s the issue. They have a way of thinking that is totally different from ours.

Some of the participants in this northern Ontario meeting mentioned how these cultural differences were more acute, in the case of the older generation of Portuguese immigrants, whose traditional way of thinking is often maintained “as if they were living in Portugal”. At least one participant described how there was a need to teach Portuguese about “Canadian customs”, in order to help these integrate in a better fashion. Another participant cited the lack of recreational and occupational opportunities for Portuguese seniors.

A few of the Azorean participants in one of the Toronto meetings described how the combination of low education levels, lack of English-language skills and a rural upbringing prevents many in the Azorean community from adapting to life in Canadian cities and even from integrating into Portuguese-Canadian Associations. One participant added:

...I think that the Azorean community, [due to] the stigma that it has been given - the one of being a community of people who know how to read or write very little - they end up isolating themselves from everything which has to do with a group. I think this will turn out to be a very big problem. I think that in the next generation, we will be able to deal with it. However, I think that, presently, the stigma that the community can’t read nor write keeps it away from whatever community or public meeting.

A number of the Azorean participants in the November Toronto focus group also described how the use of an inaccessible level of Portuguese in community education campaigns, meetings and in translations of material contributed significantly to this isolation . One person said of community meetings:

[People say to themselves] ‘Why am I going to go there to see Dr.... (who is going to speak) and receive all of this abuse from someone who knows very well how to present himself and to communicate.’ Especially when the people on the other end don’t even know how to receive... his message. The message is not even intended for them. The level of language that people use doesn’t serve the community.

This meeting, for example, if it was with people with education, well, I probably wouldn’t even be here. Because, I don’t have the education (‘cultura’) to be amongst people who say two or three things and I, afterwards, don’t even understand what they have said.

This isolation, rooted in a lack of English-language skills, became a pattern for many people, from which they have never escaped. According to some of the participants, many of those who are isolated from the social developments of modern Canadian life are equally isolated from similar developments in Portugal, or, in some cases, even from the activities of their local Luso-Canadian community.

Conflict and Lack of Communication, Between Portuguese-Canadian Parents and Youth

The most consistent theme which surfaced throughout all three youth focus groups was the presence of an ongoing conflict and a lack of communication between Luso-Canadian parents and their children. This issue was given a great deal of prominence in Montreal and Winnipeg. In Toronto, where the main issue was the academic underachievement of Portuguese-Canadian students, participants nonetheless gave examples of this problem in their own lives. In particular, one participant in the Toronto meeting described how this conflict was one of the major issues for the Portuguese community in Sudbury and spoke of how in that city “...there was no respect between the kids and the parents.” Participants in all three groups discussed, in detail, the many facets of this problem:

Differences in Culture, or “Mentality, Between Luso-Canadian Parents and Youth

The issue which these young people most generally described in relation to this conflict is how Portuguese parents and youth have different values, “cultures,” or ”mentalities,” a situation that, according to focus group members, is brought about by the presence of a wide generational, language, educational and culture gap. As one young woman in Montreal put it:

The problems that we find the most... is between our parents and ourselves. We have here two ideas... and mentalities... that are completely different... Portugal has a mentality that is completely different.

I find it hard to live with my parents. Here, the culture is different and we have to act in certain ways.... It’s different compared to Portugal. So that, when we want to do something, our parents say ‘Ah! You can’t do that.’. But that’s something which is done, and in Portugal it wasn’t done. There is a conflict between the cultures, that’s what I think.

One man in the Toronto group stated his view that, although there is always a generation gap between parents and youth, the cultural distances which are present in most Portuguese-Canadian families add another layer of communication differences to the already difficult relationship between parents and their teenage children:

I think it’s something that, in effect, adds on.... ...You’re always going to have, amongst parents and kids, conflict... Kids are going to see things differently from their parents. But, what happens is, if you’re from the same background as your parents, you know, both born and raised in Canada, you have the same base values. What happens, with parents from Portugal, your values are this far apart (hands widely spaced apart), as opposed to this far (hands narrowly spaced apart).

Difficulty in Communication and Understanding Between Luso-Canadian Parents and Youth

According to the group in Winnipeg, the wide gap between the culture and education level of Portuguese-Canadian parents and their children makes communication in many Portuguese families “twice as hard” as in their mainstream counterparts. They described how the tendency of many Portuguese parents to cling to traditional values and practices has prevented these from coming to a genuine understanding of their children.

Participants in Montreal spoke about how this lack of understanding and communication has led many young people to feel very alienated. As one woman described her relationship with her parents:

I feel a little like they don’t understand me. And this gives me problems afterwards to talk to them, because I think that they are never going to understand my point-of-view.

One consequence of the traditionalism which people in Montreal and Winnipeg described was the reluctance of many Portuguese parents to discuss sexual matters with their adolescent children. One woman in Montreal stated that in her house the subject of sex was “taboo.” In her words: “They are so used to not talking about this that, if we even bring up just a part of it...” Another man described how, in his house, the subject was not even “taboo,” but was quite simply never acknowledged. In relation to his father, he said:

[He] does not want to know about anything. I can do what I want, but he doesn’t want to know about it. That’s it. It’s just that... With respect to [sex] there is no openness.

In general, the Portuguese are not very open with this subject. I think that the majority of Portuguese, either they are very closed to the subject... or if they talk about it, they do so with a certain reluctance, and they don’t know how to approach the question...

I think the Portuguese are not that open [about sex] with their parents. The Quebecois... they talk to their mothers or fathers openly. They even have their boyfriends over at any time of the day and their parents don’t mind. But, in my house, that wouldn’t be the case...

Participants in Quebec also described how Portuguese parents, in general, had a very traditional view of the role and place of sexual relations. As one woman put it:

The way in which [parents] were raised was, ‘You only have sexual relations, when you get married.’ And, many times... - I personally believe in this - it is only when you get married that you have sexual relations. It’s with your husband. It’s between you and your husband and ‘that’s it’. However, many times, if a father knew that a son our daughter had already had relations... ...they would start to scold the person, [and say] ‘How are people going to look at this? How is the community going to look at this?... My God, what is going to happen?

Participants described how this lack of openness often prevents young Luso-Canadians from discussing this issue at home. One young woman in Winnipeg commented:

I think when it comes to sexuality, a lot of Portuguese kids are afraid to talk to their parents about sex. If they even mention the word ‘sex’ they’ll probably just close their ears and go ‘oh, no, no! I don’t want to hear the word.’... ...I would say the majority of Portuguese youth don’t feel comfortable talking to their parents.

This woman stated that Portuguese youth often access information on sex from schools or guidance counsellors. Others felt that not enough is being done in the Portuguese community to provide both parents as well as youth with more information, and to foster dialogue within families. Another woman declared:

I don’t think parents approve of the sexual orientation courses that are being offered in high-school. The parents don’t approve of what they are teaching. They probably think that these courses are encouraging premarital sex. And since they think that, I think that they should be organizing together, maybe, trying to give out information to their kids about abstinence and other information. But, they’re not doing it. They’re just closing their ears.

Another participant described how the older generation are especially reluctant to discuss matters relating to homosexuality. According to this participant,

If you deal with homosexuality... There’s such a closed avenue, when it comes to the older generation when you say anything homosexual... ..it’s either rude remarks that you hear or... whatever... It’s unfortunate that it happens... and in the young community, that translates a lot of times.

A few of the participants in Montreal did mention that they could discuss sexual matters with their parents relatively easily. One man described how, although he felt a reluctance to discuss sexual matters with his father, he could do so, if necessary because his father was very understanding. Another woman described how in her house she could talk about anything and her parents would accept a certain degree of sexual liberation from her. However, even this person felt that some actions that were not considered uncommon in Quebec society are regarded as a lack of respect by many Portuguese parents, including her own:

...we talk in my house without any problem. Yet, we don’t sit around the table talking about this subject. What I mean is, there is a place and a time for everything.... ...I have a friend whose boyfriend sleeps in her home, during the week or on the weekend. In my house never. Even if he were Portuguese. Even if he slept upstairs and me downstairs.... [This] I think is good. I think there has to be respect for my parents, respect for the house where I live. It’s not mine, it’s my parent’s. I have to have respect for the, while I am there at least. So, I think this is good. That’s too much liberty. It’s good to talk however, ‘doing’ is something else.

In general, the participants condemned this lack of openness to dialogue about sex, on the part of Portuguese parents. They described the importance of communication, in this age of sexually transmitted diseases, such as AIDS. As one participant stated:

Nowadays, there exists these things in society about which we must talk. This is a very important subject. Many times, it may not affect [our parents] but it affects us all a lot.

They also reiterated the importance of communication and how young people would end up learning about sex from other sources. In the end, most in the Montreal group agreed that they liked neither the “Portuguese” manner of discussing nothing nor the “Canadian” way of extreme openness and liberality.

A number of the people in the three youth groups described how the constant parental pressure and the lack of understanding of their parents often causes some of these youth to feel isolated and to rebel. For example, participants in Montreal discussed how some young Luso-Canadians are sometimes threatened by their fathers or mothers not to continue their romantic involvements with non-Portuguese partners and how these often persist with the relationship, sometimes just to spite their parents:

They are going to go out with that person only to go against their parents. They know that their parents want them to go out with a Portuguese... and then, the children find a way that makes their parents get even angrier. And there is always this conflict and no one ever resolves anything.

Another young man in Toronto described how his independent-minded sister had run away from home and dropped out of school at 16, because of the friction between her and her mother, and how, despite these problems, she became the person in his family who experienced the most success:

She dropped out at 16, right around the time she moved out. Her and my mother, they were always, at each other’s throats... ...my mother, over from Graciosa, she’s used to kind of traditional ways and, at that time,... ...my mother was really strict... ...(My sister) ended up going back to university... ...At 23 she went back to adult college... ...and she just graduated from... ...Law School now. So, yeah, definitely, I think that relations with parents, I don’t know if I could say they’d be better or worse in the Portuguese community, but specifically Azoreans, where a lot of the islands, where people come from kind of agrarian backgrounds, and you go to the Azores and you realize, it’s really behind. And I know that the mainland, some parts of it are like that... ...But, you go back to Graciosa and, you’re thinking ‘it’s like going back here, fifty years.’

Finally, one young woman in Winnipeg aptly summarized how some Portuguese-Canadian parents often confuse “Canadian” values for “modern” values, and how, in rejecting the former, they set the stage for their children’s rebellion:

I think a lot of parents... ...have been brought up in a very traditional society. They have brought their traditional values to Canada. I think the people in Portugal have progressed and they are much more liberated now. But, the Portuguese people here in Canada haven’t been exposed to that liberation. They’ve maintained their very traditional ideas and they haven’t moved. And so, when their kids are trying to adopt some of these Canadian values... ...(laughter) ...’modern’ values (but, your parents always label them as ‘Canadian’) ...your parents don’t understand. And, unless you can talk about them and make them understand, they have a problem. And, if they don’t want to understand, you’re going to rebel. And, one way... ...you’re going to rebel is drugs, gangs, premarital sex...Your parents will yell at you... of course you’re going to do it... and other things that parents don’t want you to be doing, but you end up doing anyway.

People in all three groups commented that the membership in gangs and the problems of drug or alcohol abuse amongst young Luso-Canadians often result from the lack of communication between parents and their children. Participants in Toronto and Winnipeg mentioned that there was an increase in gang membership and drug use amongst all youth, in general, and that these problems are also affecting the young Portuguese in their communities. However, the people in both groups did not feel that these concerns were any more severe in the Portuguese community than in society-at-large.

Although the people in Toronto did not feel that there was a higher incidence of drug use amongst Luso-Canadians, some pointed out that the Portuguese tend to live in areas which have traditionally seen high levels of drug abuse, (i.e. inner-city, working-class neighbourhoods). As one person stated:

Unfortunately, some of those areas have been predominantly Portuguese. It used to be predominantly Italian, around where I live, but they used to have the same problem. You know, Italians have kind of moved out, and you’re seeing that now. The kind of suburban push in the Portuguese community, up to Brampton, and like more... ...Mississauga. I don’t know if those problems would transfer to... ...suburban communities. But, I know that, in the inner-city, you see drug problems with blacks, Italians, Portuguese...

Only one young woman was of the opinion that there was a disproportionate use of drug use amongst Portuguese youth, in her city, on the outskirts of Toronto:

...you go to the high-school I went to and we’ll have, like, what’s called a ‘smoking area’, which is across the field from the school, and if you go around and take a poll, you’ll find that about 80% of those are Portuguese. And, while everyone is in class, they are the ones hanging out there, having their smoke, or flirting around with others, or passing around drugs, which is crazy there in Brampton too. Drugs and pregnancy, and things like that. And it’s mostly in the Portuguese community, that I’ve noticed. And it’s continued to rise, like, I mean the problem is getting worse and worse and worse and worse all the time.

One participant in Winnipeg felt that the issues of gangs and drugs was much more prevalent amongst those Luso-Canadian youth which did not identify with the Portuguese community or become involved in its activities. As she described:

The people that you probably see that are going to the gangs, are people that are probably not involved in the Portuguese community, as a whole. They’re probably the people who wouldn’t say that they were Portuguese. They’re the people who are ‘Canadian.’

The Lack of Access to Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Social Services and Information Regarding Important Issues

One of the issues most identified across the country as leading to a marginalization of the community was the lack of equitable access to services, on the part of many Luso-Canadians. People in both the questionnaire and in the groups in Vancouver, Ottawa-Hull, Winnipeg, Sault Ste. Marie, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Osoyoos, B.C., Hamilton and the Maritimes spoke of the inability of many Luso-Canadians and, in particular the elderly, to access available social and health services. They called for English- and French-speaking institutions to provide services in Portuguese and for more interpreters. They also asked for more public service information to be made available in this language and recommended that more portuguese-speaking professionals be hired and appointed to positions of responsibility. They also suggested that Portuguese people could be placed together when receiving services at hospitals, nursing homes, schools, etc.

People at the Hamilton and Winnipeg meetings described how there are virtually no social services - or even social workers - which are currently able to serve the Portuguese community of their regions. In particular, they mentioned how there was nowhere to turn for those Portuguese who had marital and psychological problems, Worker’s Compensation problems, youth who were contemplating suicide and individuals suffering from alcoholism or domestic abuse. In Hamilton, they particularly cited the lack of an Alcoholics Anonymous group in Portuguese. As one participant in Winnipeg said:

It’s hard to see someone whose cheque was not deposited, who has nothing to eat and who needs to go to Welfare, but who is unable to go there because they have no one to go with them, because they don’t speak English. This still happens many time in our community.

Another participant termed it “ridiculous” that people in his region would still need to bring along a translator, in order to visit a doctor and he called for aggressive action to place more Portuguese into these charges:

I think that it is extremely ridiculous, for someone to accompany a woman to the doctor. It would be like accompanying someone... ...to confession... ...Going to the doctor is a personal act... ...we need to put our foot down. There are eighteen thousand Portuguese, they already pay enough taxes to justify them having some service.

Throughout the Ottawa-Hull meeting, the participants continually described the necessity of having one or more community workers, to whom people could feel comfortable in turning to, when they had any range of problems or needs, (such as personal problems or domestic violence). One woman cited:

We have no one in the Portuguese community, at the official level, to help us... I know a lady who... is 51 years old and her husband doesn’t understand the language. This lady is dying and they have never understood one hundred percent what the doctor explained to them. A serious illness, cancer.... and neither one nor the other have ever understood one hundred percent. Why? They don’t have anyone... Where are these people going to turn? To the financial help which the church provides?

Still another participant mentioned the community’s need for a Portuguese-speaking psychologist or therapist. He especially lamented the fact that those Portuguese who are sent by the courts to therapists, to deal with such matters as family violence or child abuse, are sent to professionals who don’t know either the Portuguese language or the Portuguese culture very well:

I feel a pity that, the people that are often referred to the courts, when they have a problem in those courts, that they refer [them] to these therapists that only speak English. They don’t understand the language, they don’t understand our culture very well. Many times, it is already very frustrating...

Many times, in cases where the husband became intoxicated, beat his wife... he comes to court various times. The judge passes sentence... that he has to seek counselling; it’s mandated by law. He doesn’t speak English, doesn’t understand English. Where is he going to go? Where is he going to get this help...? There are many such cases, many cases.

One man also raised the point that the Portuguese don’t often have the financial means to pay an independent psychologist and that this factor often has a detrimental effect on treatment.

Participants in Saskatoon were especially critical of both the Portuguese and Canadian governments for the lack of support and orientation that is given to new immigrants to their region. As one participant described: "When one arrives here, one feels almost isolated, in a world that is completely different. One feels almost as if abandoned.” They described how the local community has no resources to direct new immigrants to needed services, (such as, translations, language training, lawyers, doctors, etc.). As one participant commented:

The Canadian government, in the first place, is the one who has the responsibility of helping people who immigrate to here.. ...But, after they are here, the Canadian government does not care anything about them.

Some of the participants felt that it would be most useful to have a location in each centre where these immigrants could go to receive orientation. One elderly participant told her story:

I came to this country sponsored by my husband. I did not have time for classes, I did not know how to speak [English]. I lived a satisfying life. My husband died, I have my children. But, I don’t know to where my children have moved. That’s what’s needed... a Portuguese service for us to get information and advice.That is just an idea of what we would need here in Saskatoon.

Finally, a regional issue of particular concern for people in the Maritimes was the lack of accessible and appropriate Portuguese-language training for local youth, as well as a Portuguese Kindergarten and a Portuguese priest.

A related theme which arose throughout the study was the lack of access to information about available social, health, education and business development services and important issues. Participants in the focus groups described how available services were not being promoted in the Portuguese community and how there are few or no places for the Portuguese to go to find this information. For example, the group in Sault Ste. Marie decried the lack of public service information, (such as health, workers’ compensation, etc.) in the Portuguese language. One participant suggested that organizations in the larger urban centres who produce such brochures and pamphlets in Portuguese should ensure that these are distributed in the smaller communities, such as the ones in Northern Ontario.

A few of the groups also discussed the need to bring information about recent government cuts in the social services and education to the attention of the community. For example, people in the Edmonton group discussed how government cuts in social services are affecting the community and called for more information which can bring people together to oppose them, so that - as one participant described - “...[the ship] doesn’t sink more than it already has”. Similarly, two of the younger participants in the Maritimes focus group described the need to bring information to the community on recent cuts to post-secondary education and other social programmes; both of which are forcing unprecedented increases in tuition which, according to them, will disproportionately affect Portuguese families. The same participant also made a plea for the Congress to oppose the education cuts on the part of the Federal government and support the creation of educational equity programmes similar to those which target visible minorities.

Another aspect of social marginalization which was cited by individuals in this study was the issue of discrimination and denigration of Luso-Canadians and their culture. Only a handful of questionnaire respondents mentioned the issues of discrimination or racism against the Portuguese. Similarly, many of the people in the focus group meetings stated that they had never personally experienced overt racism or discrimination, or that they have never been subjected to a treatment that was any different from that which individuals from other minorities must endure.

However, some of the participants in the Quebec City, Maritimes and Toronto focus groups did speak, at-length, of the existence of subtle forms of what they termed “discrimination” and stereotyping against the Portuguese in their regions. In particular, those in Quebec were the most vocal in describing how the Portuguese in their area suffer from labelling by the host community. People in the Maritimes also affirmed that some Luso-Canadians in their regions suffered reprisals as a result of the mid-90’s fisheries dispute between Canada and the European Community and that they are sometimes seen as taking away now-scarce jobs from native-born Canadians. Finally, participants in Toronto also voiced their belief that the Portuguese community is actively discriminated in the provision of services, by such groups as the police, the Justice and health-care systems. One man at the Toronto group commented:

When... they see that it’s something related to the Portuguese, they don’t want to know anything... the police, or whomever. Last night, my garage was broken into. The first question the police asked was, ‘what area do you live in? I said, such and such... they didn’t want to know anything else. We made the report by phone, the police never showed up...

..they see that they’re Portuguese, it almost seems as if they put you in the corner. Even in the hospitals and everything...

Others at this meeting complained of stereotyping by professionals. One woman related:

I know a 15 year-old boy who went to the Doctor this week and the Doctor told him to study, in order not to be like his people.

A few of the participants in the Maritimes mentioned that they had never experienced racism or discrimination and had always been well accepted by Canadian society. As one participant said: “Here, as long as there is respect, as long as one has a little bit of manners and as long as there is a little bit of understanding... one has no problems.” Most of these participants felt that the level of racism or discrimination which existed in their region against the Portuguese was not much more (or even less) than what any immigrant would experience in any other country.

However, these participants attributed this acceptance to the fact that they had learned the language and had integrated into mainstream society. In their discussions of the issue, they described the existence of a subtle racism - sometimes even practised by other immigrants - which is directed towards those who do not speak English or do not integrate. One participant stated:

One only has to be from a different origin... from a different country... if there isn’t an understanding, or if the person is not at the level of understanding or speaking English correctly, there is a difficulty perhaps, in being accepted.

Other participants described how the lack of jobs is causing the beginnings of a subtle prejudice in their region against the Portuguese, whom they say are often more valued by employers than other workers, because of their work-ethic. One man stated:

I have noted that, at times, in jest or intentionally, they now tell me ‘Hey guy! Go back to your own country!’, because they know that I am taking the job of a machinist who could be Canadian. What I mean is, the thing is said in jest. But... today it is said in jest, tomorrow it could be said in a serious tone. But, that is [a result of] the job problem that the country is facing.

My husband, who was [working in this company] for a short time, knew more than many of the others. He was not laid off. And the others who were there for nine, ten years were laid-off. The others came to him... and said, joking around ‘Go back to your own country’. But, they only say this joking around because they know very well the kind of work that he does. But, just because he has an accent, because he is Portuguese, they tell him ‘go back to your own country.’

One thing which they have done with my father at work is say that, because he is Portuguese, he only wants to steal the money of Canadians to take back to Portugal... They’re always taking advantage of him [and telling him] ‘do this, do that’, because he is Portuguese.

This same young participant described the existence of subtle prejudice in the school environment:

Sometimes they take advantage of us. They say ‘You are Portuguese, you’d better go back home’. Only sometimes. But it is always said jokingly. But one isn’t sure if it is only a joke.

The participants also talked extensively about how Canada’s recent dispute with the European Community over fishing in the Grand Banks led to an unfair and derogatory stereotyping of the Portuguese in the news media and how these stereotypes found their way to students, the schools and the local community and created negative feelings between people. The same young man commented:

The school... blames the Portuguese... They [teach us that] the Portuguese are stealing fish from Canadians, that they are always fishing and taking everything back to Portugal. Also, other things like ‘the Portuguese are the most bogus refugees’ and such things in school. Everything is against the Portuguese...

Another participant described how the media portrayed the Portuguese as “stealing” Canadian resources and lamented the lack of support by the Canadian government:

Portugal is the nation... which buys the most fish here in Nova Scotia. In consideration of this, [The Canadian Government] should give more support to Portugal... The Portuguese ships have fished off Newfoundland’s Grand Banks for five hundred years. And Canada only buried Portugal and didn’t support them one bit. They went against Portugal one hundred percent. And, where Portugal was practically blameless... So, the Canadians should have more consideration about what they put on the news.

Not only the media, but also the... chief of the fisherman’s union attacked the Portuguese constantly. The Premier of Newfoundland did exactly the same thing. I remember one occasion when I heard an interview on Sun Radio. This [chief] was attacking the Portuguese.... I telephoned Sun Radio... just to give them an idea of the extent of the lie. I said, ‘remember, Portugal is smaller than Nova Scotia. How is it possible for us to have so many fisherman to come over here and steal all this Canadian fish...? In comparison, when one wanders around here, in every corner you see fishing boats.’ The woman thanked me for having called to deny what [the man] had said... Certainly, she didn’t repeat on air what I had told her...

Another participant described what he saw as the opportunism of Canadian politicians, in this matter:

The Canadian government communicated officially that, the cod problem was mostly as a result of the Newfoundland fisherman, the National Sea [company]... Simply because this was election time, and since it was necessary to satisfy Newfoundland fisherman, they chose a scapegoat... I happen to know that the scapegoat which they chose was Portugal, because it is the one country that wouldn’t retaliate.... ...They publish in letters this big that fishermen are very upset because they are stealing their cod, and they publish in letters ten times smaller, in an inside page, that the Canadian government recognizes that Portugal was the country which has caused the least damage to the cod banks.

Despite these having feelings, the participants stated that they did not perceive the existence of any discrimination against them, with regards to such things as employment and entrance to post-secondary education. They also described how they (or their children) had never encountered such overt discrimination at school. One young woman said “I’ve been studying here for fourteen year and I’ve never had problems. My teachers always...want to know if you have a certain cultural identity...”

The participants at the Quebec City meeting also mentioned that they did not perceive much overt discrimination against the Portuguese in such matters as housing, health and social services, education and employment. As one participant put it, the Portuguese community is very well integrated into the local community and most speak enough French to be able to communicate effectively. However, in those meetings where the issue of discrimination arose, this was the group which most passionately and elaborately described the existence of covert discrimination against the Portuguese. One participant offered his view of the way in which minorities are viewed in Quebec:

...I know that there is always discrimination because, [according to Quebequers] ‘those who are not like us are no good’. I know that this is a bit of a caricature, but this is the biggest problem that we have here in Quebec.

What we would like is to be considered citizens, in the entirety... that each time that someone who saw our name, would not give a little start....

Some of the participants also spoke about how society in Quebec City does not easily recognize the skills and professional credentials of women and new immigrants and how, in order to be accepted, a newcomer in this province needs to be “better” than his native-born peers.

In my opinion, one of the big problems... which exists in an subconscious fashion, is discrimination.... You know that, in order for a woman to be equal to a man, she must be superior to him. In order for an immigrant to be equal to a native of this country, he must be superior to him.... That person who has been born in a particular place is more valued.

The same participant went on to give an example of the type of discrimination which he has suffered in Quebec:

...While I worked... I was always well received.... [However], at the moment when I needed to... ...sell my services as a professional, as an independent, from that moment onward, I began to see that when a tender arrives with the name”Silva” [5]at the bottom, it doesn’t have the same value as one which has the name “Tremblay”. One can say what they want, but it’s reality... ...This is a dream that is so difficult to achieve, that I hope to achieve it for my children. I tell them, many times humorously, ‘Well, someday, the name ‘Silva’ will be the same as Tremblay.’

Other participants discussed how some Luso-Canadians in Quebec have been forced to change their names in order to seek employment. As one person affirmed:

We know young people who changed their name, in order to be able to practice their profession. The son of... changed [his] name in order to be able to work as a radio announcer. Because, with his Portuguese name, he would not have been able to work as a radio announcer.

One of these participants also lamented that his own daughter had been led to change her name. The gentleman in question pined: “My name is now wiped out... Three centuries of my family name... is finished now... why? It is this discrimination.”

Still another participant described how her supposedly “foreign” name caused her to be labelled as an “ethnic candidate” during the preliminaries to a previous election and how this was one factor which had contributed to her loss of the nomination. She described her continuing efforts to remain within the mainstream of the party:

What I mean is, I had to make people forget my name... ...I was in the executive of the party and I had a number of things, but, in order to get there, I had to make them forget that I have a ‘foreign’ name. It’s sad but that’s the way it is... I had to do it, and I was able to. And the only reason why I was able to present myself without any problems with the party.. ...[was that] they already knew me for a long time and they knew that I was capable... ...But, there is the other side of the coin.... ...I’ve never presented myself as an ‘ethnic’... ..there are always these positive discriminations for ‘ethnics’ [within the party]... ...I’ve never utilized those... ....I’ve always been in the party as a young person, as a woman. I have never tried to utilize this mantle of ‘ethnic’. But afterwards, all these different ethnic groups came and tried to take advantage, [saying to me] ‘We can say that you are an ‘ethnic’.’[and I said] ‘Yes. I am of Portuguese origin and yes, I am very proud of this, but I don’t want to take advantage of that, I have never needed to do this, to get this far...’ This irritates me... ..Now I am always getting invitations for everything which is ‘ethnic’ in the party. But, the other candidates who also lost don’t receive anything. Why should I continue to receive these invitations, when I have never utilized these things [this label]?

A few people in the group also commented on the stereotyping which occurs of the Portuguese in the public and professional mediums of the province. One woman described how social service workers regularly stereotype the Portuguese:

Social workers place this stigma [on the Portuguese]: Violence. ‘He hits his children. These are the Portuguese, these are the Italians. They are used to hitting.’...Only because your name is like this, they think that you hit your children.

Another person cited a newspaper article, which had recently been published in the newspaper “Le Soleil,” where the term “The little Republic of Portugal’ was used. This participant spoke of how terms such as these were examples of the denigration of the Portuguese culture and history, which sometimes occurs in this province. The participant also described how this denigration of Portugal and the Portuguese culture in the public mediums, coupled with the feeling of smallness, ultimately affect the way in which young Luso-Canadians view their ethnic origin and themselves:

... and we are ashamed... ...to be Portuguese, because it is a small country... and here.... what they look at is not the intrinsic value of things. They look at the appearances of things.There is more value in appearances than in ‘being’. Thus, there is a certain inferiority complex [amongst the Portuguese].

According to some of the participants, they did not perceive the same type of discrimination in the larger communities of Toronto and Montreal, as in Quebec City. They felt that the existence of this discrimination was proportional to the degree of homogeneity of a society. The great homogeneity of society in Quebec City directly contributed to discrimination against those who are from different origins:

The more homogeneous a province or a country, the more there is discrimination... [Toronto is a place] where I feel... in a certain way... a foreigner... ...But, where I feel that discrimination does not exist. Why? Because there are many foreigners in Toronto and here is the opposite. So as soon as I open my mouth, [they ask] ‘what is your country? Where do you come from?’

Another participant described how the combination of isolation and the challenges of breaking into homogeneous Quebec City society have conspired to make success much more difficult for Luso-Canadians in the region:

I worked in Ontario for two years. After six months in Ontario, I was equal to any person who lived in Ontario. My name was the same as if I were an English person, a Scott, an Italian. When I arrived here in Quebec, it was very difficult.... Only I know how difficult it was. When Mr. X said that what is necessary [to be accepted] is to work harder [than everyone else] and when Mr. Y also said that the with the name ‘Tremblay’ things would be easier.. I also lived this experience. It was very difficult. And I had to work not ‘harder’ but ‘much, much harder’. And, when you asked us whether it was easier in Canada, or whether the problems were the same between those throughout Canada and those in the province of Quebec, I tell you that it is much more difficult in the province of Quebec and even more difficult in Quebec [City].

...In six months in Ontario, I made friends from all backgrounds... ...I worked with all kinds of people. I return to Kingston today, they’re all my friends and I left there eleven and a half years ago. And here in Quebec, it took me three years... and I still haven’t been able to achieve what I achieved in two years in Kingston. And, I don’t have anything to prove to anybody. I worked and I had to work much harder. And, I tell you all. My opinion is this. It is much more difficult here. It’s like the song, ‘When you make it in New York, you make it anywhere’. When you make it in Quebec, you make it anywhere.

The participants at the Quebec meeting suggested that the Congress could play a role in showing Franco-Ontarians in this region that there is not much difference between themselves and Luso-Canadians.

Participants in each of the focus groups in Quebec also spoke about many Luso-Canadian youth in their regions are affected by feelings of an internal values and identity conflict, or confusion. Participants in Quebec City mentioned the existence of a “cultural duality” amidst the youth in their region. Those in Ottawa-Hull described how their community’s youth are also suffering from a lack of direction, or conflicting values, and how they need to be helped to find their cultural heritage. One man in Ottawa-Hull stated:

Youth... at this point... is... a little bit confused. Ultimately, they don’t know the direction to which they should turn. They don’t see any support coming from our country... one of saying ‘ok, my parents are Portuguese. What is the interest... that I have in really having ties to this whole situation.’ And one can see that the majority begin to forget and [to say] ‘I am Canadian.’ But, one thing is for sure, one is also already seeing youth, at this moment in time, seeking their roots... They are really looking for something which is forgotten in time. Someone should be supporting these youth, so that they can really start to accomplish something.

Participants described how, on the one hand, many of these young people affirmed that they felt themselves to be “Canadian” and “Quebecois” and gave evidence of instances where they struggled with their non-Portuguese peers for their acknowledgement of this identity. On the other, many also spoke at length about how many “Quebecois” often regard them as outsiders and “immigrants” a rejection which has apparently led to a reaffirmation of a strong Portuguese identity, even in those cases where the participant was not born in Canada. The result was a genuinely complex combination of feelings of belonging and rejection on the part of these individuals, with some (who were born in Canada) even voicing a desire to return to Portugal. One young woman commented on her desire to be accepted in Quebec society and her lack of acceptance by other Quebecois:

I say ‘I am Canadian, I am a Quebequer [or Quebecois]’, [they say] ‘Oh, no. You are Portuguese.’ I am not Portuguese, I am of Portuguese origin, but I was born here. Many Quebecois don’t consider us as Quebecois, because our parents are immigrants. So, this means that we also, in some way, are immigrants.

We are Canadians but, if we are here, we are Portuguese. We are the children of immigrants.

When asked how they felt when a fourth or fifth generation Quebecois tells them that they are not Quebecois, one young man said:

And when one woman was asked what was the reaction of Quebecois when they were told that someone was of Portuguese origin, one young woman said:

They say no.... There are people that accept us more than others but, many don’t. For them, the immigrants... well... I don’t know what they have against immigrants.

Finally, when they were asked directly whether they felt a certain racism, one young woman answered:

Well, yes. And, foremost with the issue of the independence of Quebec. Many Quebecois have difficulty in accepting it if I say that I am Quebecois, I was born here. [They say] ‘Oh no!. You are Portuguese. Your parents are Portuguese. You have nothing to do with this.

While there seems to be a lack of acceptance of Portuguese youth in Quebec society, there seems also seems to exist a problem on the part of these youth with accepting a Quebecois identity and a tendency to cling to the Portuguese identity. One young man stated:

Unfortunately for me, it’s with a little bit of sadness that I have to say that I’m of Portuguese origin. I came here when I was three years old... [I say ‘sadness’] because I like Portugal a lot and I am proud to be Portuguese. But, I can’t say that I am 100% Portuguese. I am of Portuguese origin.”

“Well, that’s it. But, as you have made me admit, I will never have... only one motherland. I was raised here. And, even if I returned to Portugal forever, I would always have [this land] on my mind... since I was raised here and have this [country’s] way of thinking.

Another young man illustrated how many of these young people often stress their Portuguese identity:

In my case, if I don’t say my name, they identify me as Canadian or Quebecois. But, I’m not ashamed... I even make it a point that they know that I am Portuguese.

I always say that I am Portuguese. I was born here but, I am Portuguese. And... very often in school, this comes up in conversation with my friends and even with the teachers, [they say] ‘...you were born here, you are Canadian,’ ‘but, I am not. I am Portuguese. You would like me to say that I am Canadian, but I am not. I won’t say it.’ That I say that I am Portuguese... I don’t know why... I think that the French-Canadians have a bigger problem accepting immigrants than English-Canadians. And, in my school, we are all immigrants. There are more immigrants than Quebecois. If there is racism, it is the other way around. It is against the Quebecois.... In my school.... everything is Italian, Portuguese...

Well, I have to say that, I am Canadian of a Portuguese origin, because I was born here. I can’t say that I am Portuguese, because I wasn’t born in Portugal. But, I like Portugal a lot.... My parents came here with the idea of returning but now, they are seeing that no, maybe they are going to stay here. But, myself, I have a mind that, even if I finish school here.... I have a mind of returning to Portugal and becoming a citizen and getting dual nationality. For this reason, with my friends at school, I don’t have any problem in saying that I am Portuguese, or in saying that I am Canadian.

I have heard Quebecois say... but not in my school, my school is an English school, and we are almost all immigrants... So many people think this way. Canada has its problems, and even now with Quebec. So, many people are saying that they would like to go back to the countries of their parents... and, in my school it is this way, because everyone understands. But, when I speak to some of the friends on my street, they think differently. They say, ‘Ah! You were born in Canada, and now you want to leave your country.’ or ‘You were born here in Quebec and now you are leaving Quebec when we are going to need you.’ But, I don’t think so.

The lack of political representation, leadership and participation amongst Luso-Canadians were described by virtually every focus group as being a prime example of the community’s lack of full participation in Canadian society. Along with the issue of education, these concerns were also perceived to be at the root of the majority of the community’s problems. Most participants described the main aspects to this problem as the very low political representation of the Portuguese at all levels of Canadian government, as well as the absence of a strong political leadership within their communities. The lack of representation was cited in the questionnaire as the most pressing national political problem (23 responses) seconded by the lack of interest and participation (19 responses).

Participants in many of the focus groups cited how there was a great lack of political representation at the municipal, provincial and federal level. People in Quebec City, Ottawa-Hull, Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury Ontario, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Edmonton, Alberta as well as in the Maritimes described how there are not enough Portuguese who are elected to local and national political office and not enough placed in appointed positions of responsibility. They described how this results in the Portuguese having less of a profile in the community-at-large, fewer services and programmes than other communities and a decreased status in Canadian society. As one participant in Quebec City stated: “We have always been weak.” Commenting on the dependency of the community on the whims of government services, another said: “If we were strong, we would not need the government.” Commenting on his local situation, one man in Ottawa-Hull questioned:

We should already have here, at the level of Ottawa, someone who could speak for us, within the government. We are a very substantial community within Canada and here in Ottawa we don’t have anyone. The Italians have a representative there, all the communities have a representative. We Portuguese are a zero [somos um zero].

Let’s talk about the situation in Vanier. There is a very large population of Portuguese in the area of Vanier and I ask, what Portuguese representation exists in Vanier City Hall?

Participants in Sault Ste. Marie and the Maritimes discussed specifically how the Portuguese community has little political weight in the affairs of the local city governments. They concluded that, if there were more political participation there would be greater benefits, such as more access to civil service jobs for young people. The groups in Winnipeg and Edmonton also spoke at length about the need to have more Portuguese hired and elected to positions of responsibility. Some of the participants even saw this as one means of solving many of the seemingly unrelated problems, which the group discussed. For example, in discussing the problem of early-school leaving, one participant explained how the best way to combat this tendency would be to place Portuguese in positions where they may directly influence the political and economic system which he saw as contributing to the problem.

A similar issue which was raised by other groups was the lack of a strong national voice and of representative organizations, which could lobby governments on behalf of the communities. One person in Edmonton decried the fact that there was no one working to speak on behalf of the Portuguese:

Political activity on the part of the Portuguese, in relation to the Federal, Provincial or local governments is non-existent. We have no one who can speak on our behalf to the Provincial government - which is the one that affects us the most here - or even to the Federal Government. We have no one there who [can say] ‘We are working for the interests of the Portuguese community in Edmonton, or in Canada.’

Another participant in Vancouver also mentioned how Luso-Canadians need to have a “loud voice” and offered the adage that “the squeaky wheel gets fixed.”

The groups in Vancouver and Sudbury also spoke of the difficulties which are encountered in attempting to develop a strong voice in Luso-Canadian communities such as theirs, which are sparsely populated and widely scattered. People described how the communities in these regions are dispersed and thus do not prevail over a certain geographical or political area. Those in Vancouver also spoke of how most Portuguese in their region are unskilled labourers and how the community has virtually no business class, and thus no clout, on issues of national importance. The group in Sudbury also regarded this lack of a strong voice as a self-perpetuating prophecy, since the lack of such a voice also discourages most Portuguese from further political involvement, as well as from further education and positions of leadership. People at this meeting even suggested that organizations, such as the Congress might consider paying individuals with qualification to lead the process of unification and politicization of the community.

Another related complaint which surfaced mainly in the discussion of the Montreal group was the lack of organizations which were truly representative of the community-at-large, as well as the inability of the grass-roots community to become more involved in existing groups. These comments were often veiled criticisms of the manner in which Congress Directors had failed to keep the community informed of its activities, during the years between its inception and the implementation of the present study. One participant noted:

The community needs an organization which can represent the Portuguese in general... an organization of the same sort as the Congress, but an organization with substance, one which is capable, which would not allow itself to be dominated by political tendencies or manipulations, of the sort that we all know about.

There is another aspect: There was a Congress... in Ottawa [the Congress’ inaugural Conference]. What was decided at this Congress? Was it decided to make any representation to the authorities? Was this event useful in any way? Were minutes taken at this Congress? Where are they?

Another participant cited the need to nurture representative organizations at the regional level and further described the need to develop a more popular base to existing community organizations:

...the attempts which have been made are unsuccessful for one reason, which is obvious to me: This is that, these were attempts from the top downwards, instead of from the bottom upwards. For example, someone decides to create a Portuguese National Congress, (or it could have any other name)... and decides to contact one person in each region and ‘pronto, let’s create a Congress.’ This desire doesn’t necessarily arise from the regions themselves. If the Portuguese community in Montreal did not feel it necessary, or was not able, to organize itself in order to create an organization to represent itself, then it will be even less able to do so for a national organization.

Despite their criticisms of existing Luso-Canadian organizations, the participants at the Montreal meeting recognized the ongoing need to develop an effective representation in the Portuguese community, as one means of securing a greater political voice in this country.

The participants in a number of focus groups also discussed how this lack of representation is but a symptom of a lack of unity and participation in politics amongst the community-at-large. These individuals lamented the fact that many Luso-Canadians do not vote, or generally do not become involved in the Canadian political process. One man in Montreal said:

The Portuguese don’t spring to action, they don’t act. They don’t pressure their politicians, they resign themselves to total silence. They stay in their little corner, playing cards, they watch television and Benfica by satellite, and they let the boat drift. By letting the boat drift, what has happened is that, in the last eight years, the subsidies to the Portuguese community in Quebec have been on the order of twenty or thirty thousand dollars. Why is this? Because no representations are made towards the political powers. And these even lose their respect for the Portuguese because of this.

Another participant in Quebec City described an attempt by a local Portuguese candidate to run for office.

During the organization of the campaign, we had someone whose responsibility it was to contact the ethnic groups... That person contacted everyone they could find who had a Portuguese name. There were four Portuguese who came to that meeting. And one went there just to talk nonsense, so that he was grabbed by the collar and thrown out.... ....This is what I mean by the cohesion between the Portuguese: There isn’t any. On the other hand we had a fantastic evening, there were people there from all over the world, from all colours, from all languages... ...as for the Portuguese, there were only four people and one of these, it would have been better if he had never come....

Another major issue which was identified in the questionnaire and in the focus groups in Toronto, Vancouver, Quebec City, Ottawa-Hull, Winnipeg and Sault Ste. Marie, was the disunity which was prevalent in the community. The people at these meetings described how the Portuguese community is disunited and divided along regional, political and personal lines. As one person in Quebec City stated:“Portuguese unity does not exist. Solidarity doesn’t exist. There isn’t any.” Another participant spoke thus:

We are all a part of.. Portugal, with the [Azores] islands... But, each one goes in their own direction and no one works together. And it’s a shame that this happens.

...the isolation, the lack of communication and contact between one another. There is a separation, a certain politic, in this community which separates [divides] many, many individuals, in certain activities, which could be undertaken and are not... due to politics.

The Portuguese are friends to one another. We have always been friends, until this day. And, at the moment that we run into difficulties.... we stop being friends, and each runs off in their own direction, and the [whole] does not unite.

One participant in the July Toronto meeting commented, “Just in this city, we have over 100 Portuguese clubs. Why? This is a way of disuniting ourselves.” Another complained of the fact that the Portuguese sometimes exploit each other: “If the very Portuguese.... which can do things for us, are the first to discriminate against ourselves...how far can we go?”

One type of division which the participants in Winnipeg identified in their region was the disunity between Portuguese from the Azores and those from the European mainland. One of the participants spoke out passionately against this division and said: “Outside of Portugal, we are all Portuguese.”

Some of the people at the various meetings attributed this community division to leaders in the community who carry on long-standing grudges with each other and who only approach the community for their own personal or professional gain. For example, in commenting on the deep divisions caused by the construction of a local church, which was built to serve the Portuguese, but which has, instead, deeply divided the community between two factions, one individual individual in Ottawa-Hull stated:

So, here is... the aforementioned ‘social problem’; the problem... which people were never told about... The people who are normally at the forefront of this situation, for whatever reason, personal reasons, don’t inform the community about what is going on.

Participants also mentioned how there are many educated and qualified people who, as a result of these feuds, choose not to become involved in the community. One participant described how many of the youth who have completed post-secondary education or who have achieved successful professional careers often shun involvement with the community:

I know people.... ...who come into my business... ...they ask ‘Are you a Portuguese or Italian business?’ And I say that we are Portuguese. They answer, ‘Oh!, I’m also Portuguese’ And I ask them ‘I’ve never seen you in the community. What do you do?’ And they tell me.... I ‘ve seen Portuguese who are extremely well placed, in universities, hospitals, very high occupations of whom our community is not aware. They place themselves in their own little world, educate themselves, and have nothing to do with us. They don’t want to be recognized, they don’t want link themselves to our community... ...those who have become interested in education, seem to close their eyes to our community [and say] ‘we’re Canadians, we’re no longer Portuguese-Canadians.

According to the participants, the community thus loses the valuable skills of many of these individuals, as well as - in the case of the more educated professionals - the opportunity for potential role models.

In discussing the divisions amongst the community, the participants also attributed these to the fact that there is currently no organization which represents a unifying force nationally and in their regions. One participant summarized this feeling:

There is always a division in Portuguese-Canadian society and it exists, I believe, increasingly, because of people not wanting to join together, or people having the intention to join together, or.... there not really being a group which can start to bring some sort of pressure and begin to have the support - including from here in our country - to really forge ahead with a certain union, to forge ahead, let’s say, with a way of saying ‘Let’s really try to unify the Portuguese. Let’s try to do something in benefit of our language, of our culture, of our way of being amongst Canadian society.’ This is the need that currently exist. This need is really very great, by what I see in my day-to-day... There is a very great need to really assert our presence, or in other words, to say ‘we are living, we are here, there is much which has to be done.’

The group in Vancouver spoke of the need to bring the various divided organizations together under common representation and to utilize the Portuguese language as the central unifying theme. They also cited the need to make better use of communication mediums, such as newspaper, radio, etc. to reach people who may be isolated at home.

Finally, one participant in Quebec City went on to make an impassioned appeal for more unity:

My proposition for the Congress - and I’m going to make an effort to speak Portuguese, because it’s not every day that I can get to speak Portuguese... and I have a great desire that this proposition be worked upon much more aggressively - is that... we be more united.. that we come to work more together... that there be Congresses... for Portuguese to get together, annually or semi-annually, in different cities in Canada, where we can all be Portuguese... That there be no differences between A or B or C...That it have nothing to do with politics, or where a person lives, or how they lives, or where they come from. One thing only is important: We are Portuguese and have pleasure in being so.... ...When we become strong and united, everything else will come about in the way in which we want it to.

Previous sections have illustrated the ways in which the Luso-Canadians who contributed to this study perceived their community to be marginalized from the social, political and economic mainstream of Canadian society. However, these individuals also articulated a vision of the Portuguese in Canada as also being increasingly marginalized from their own maternal culture. In describing the major cultural issues that were affecting their communities, participants in both the focus groups and the questionnaire described how there was an increasing loss of the Portuguese language and culture amongst those of the second generation and spoke of the urgent need to promote both, in a more vigorous fashion. Their answers reflected the desire of many participants for a programme of cultural and language promotion on a Canada-wide level, as one means of maintaining community pride and of combating some of the problems affecting the community’s youth, ex. lack of communication and understanding between parents & youth, lack of social status.

Yet, ironically, while these individuals called for a greater preservation of their cultural characteristics, they also cited as a problem the high degree of “traditionalism” of many Luso-Canadians and/or the manner in which cultural expression amongst Portuguese-Canadians is limited to traditional models (see section: Role of Community). The apparent contradiction in these two aims would seem to reflect the recognition amongst many of these people of the relevance, vitality and transformative powers of people’s cultural resources, in diminishing or ameliorating existing problems.

Portuguese-Canadian Youth are Rapidly Losing Their Parents’ Language and Culture

The loss of the Portuguese language and culture was identified in both the questionnaires as well as in the focus groups as the primary cultural issue which people were facing in their regions. This concern was of special significance to the individuals in the smaller or more isolated communities of Edmonton, Alberta, Osoyoos, B.C., the Maritimes, Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury, Ontario, Winnipeg and Vancouver. A few of the groups regarded this loss as the key barrier to the effective functioning of the community, one which needed to be breached in order for the Portuguese culture to remain viable in their regions and to foster pride and self-esteem on the part of Portuguese youth. As one woman in Vancouver stated:

Our language is the most important thing that we need... After language come all the other issues. But, it is sad to see that there are few people from the second generation who speak Portuguese...

In Edmonton, one man described the urgency of the need to stem the loss of the Portuguese language in his region:

Our language, if we don’t continue with it [promote it], in a few years it is liable to die off here in Edmonton. This is something which I lament greatly... the fact of allowing our language and culture to pass away.

Participants in the Winnipeg youth group also described how many Portuguese youth are losing their culture and language and, as a result, are becoming isolated from their parents and their community. In particular, they mentioned that those youth who attend schools where there are few Portuguese or where there is little cultural diversity are frequently pressured to assimilate. These youth often do not speak Portuguese and sometimes have trouble communicating with their parents, not only because they don’t speak their language but also because they don’t understand Portuguese society. Intergenerational relationships are also strained by the inability to communicate well.

People in Winnipeg identified the isolation of the smaller and outlying Portuguese communities as an important issue affecting youth. They spoke about how the lack of communication between the different populations of Luso-Canadians does not allow young Portuguese-Canadians in more remote places, such as Winnipeg, to have a sense as to what exists in other Portuguese-Canadian communities nor to foster a greater sense of identity with the Luso-Canadians from other regions. Participants in the Toronto meeting also mentioned how they heard very little about other Portuguese communities and, as a result, they were not able to comment on national issues. As one participant in Winnipeg mentioned, there is a need for the Portuguese throughout this vast country to learn more about each other:

We know our community in Winnipeg. But, personally, I don’t really know anything about any other community in Canada. We know that there are Portuguese people in this city, or that city, all over Canada. But we don’t really know anything about [them]... they might have some good there in other cities that we could apply here...

Another participant mentioned how an organization, such as the Congress, could foster greater links and communication between the different communities and promote the sharing of such resources as people who are skilled in organizational development and social service materials in the Portuguese language.

Along with identifying the main issues which are affecting the Luso-Canadian population, the people who participated in this study also raised a number of other concerns which describe what participants saw as the role of community, Portuguese-Canadian parents, mainstream Canadian society and the school system in the perpetuation of the community’s marginalization. These descriptions will now serve to illustrate the fact that Luso-Canadians have taken upon themselves, their community and Portuguese parents the inordinate burden of responsibility for the perpetuation of their educational, political and social marginalization.

These descriptions were raised spontaneously by respondents in the questionnaire and throughout the course of the meetings; and people were not specifically asked to infer causal relationships. Many of these concerns, in themselves, provide further examples of marginalization within this community. However, these issues are here presented separately, as a means of better understanding Luso-Canadians’ prevalent sense of their, and their community’s, power of agency in these matters.

In discussing the educational, economic and cultural problems of the community, many people entered into analyses of the roles of community attitudes and practices in the perpetuation of these problems. Participants talked mainly about disadvantaging attitudes that were prevalent in the community (ex. a perceived “close-minded” mentality), as well as the lack of community structures and incentives which could provide support to students, (ex. role models). People also described what they saw as the failings of Luso-Canadian associations to be more open and sensitive to the needs of youth.

In many of the groups throughout the country, the issue that was most repeatedly raised when describing the lack of educational achievement of Luso-Canadian youth, the lack of English- and French-language fluency, and the lack of job retraining, was a perceived longstanding attitude in the community, which places a disproportionate value upon work over education. Most of these participants condemned the members of their own community for being more interested in working and making money than in education. As one person in Toronto stated: “people are not interested in learning” and “...they are not interested in anything. Only working and fixing up [their house]...” One Azorean participant in Toronto said of the attitude amongst his peers:

Azoreans do whatever they can so that they never go to school. They do whatever they can to go and work. They think that they get ahead this way but they only fall behind. Starting with myself. When I came to this country, I went to apply to study. The school said they would pay me $75 a week. I didn’t want to go to school. I went to work for $65.

In one Toronto meeting, a young Azorean participant described the problem as stemming from a long-standing “cultural model” of the Portuguese:

I think it might be - depending upon which part of Portugal - maybe the continuation of the idea that, when you get to a certain age, you start to take on some economic independence. [...] Well, it might not be said actually in words, but - there’s some kind of cultural intention there, where, you know ‘Well, I want to get a car. I want to start doing this... I gotta have the girlfriend, at that age... ...and move on and do other things’. That might be one of the cultural factors affecting it, which might have continued on, even to generations that were born here...

...I think it’s the kind of modelling. I mean... even if you have a middle-class family and you have a lawyer, and the mother is a teacher, or something, they’re not home a lot. But just the modelling that they present to the kids, I think, makes such a difference [...] What’s expected of them is much more. While, within the Portuguese families that came over from the Azores, and then started working construction, they might have had the stress for hard work, you know, ‘go out, you have to work hard and save your money,’ but not that stress on ‘look, go to education. Get that education.’

Participants in a few of the groups, most notably those in Sudbury, rationalized this emphasis on employment, by alluding to the highly impoverished situation of many Luso-Canadian immigrants, at the time of arrival in this country, as well as to their lack of marketable job skills. They brought up the fact that many Portuguese don’t learn English or devote themselves more fully to education, because of their immediate need to establish some measure of economic security upon settlement. One participant stated:

[How would I] arrive here, as I did, and go to school along with my wife... to learn English... if we don’t have anyone who will help us to survive in this manner? We go to school, how are we going to survive [earn a living] and learn English? We are going to learn English, how will we earn a living?

Similarly, when a few of the people in the Winnipeg meeting mentioned the fact that there are often night-school classes available, one person commented on the effort which is often required to study at night, after returning from physically demanding jobs:

...we go to work during the day... like donkeys... and at night go to school to learn English?

Similarly, another participant in the Maritimes explained how many Portuguese immigrants generally immigrated with little money and few possessions and thus had the immediate need to build the semblance of a base of economic security, in their new country:

Many would not go to school because, unfortunately, when they arrived from Portugal, they came with immediate necessities... to earn a living. Thus, they worked ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen hours a day. When they got home at night - poor souls - tired, usually hungry, they did not have time to go to school to learn English.

Since people normally emigrate in order to make a living, they end up figuring that at the end of some years they will learn the language on their own. So when they have a chance at a job, they leave [school] and go to work. I don’t think there are major problems with [the access to] language learning here.

Participants in some of the groups, such as the Maritimes, blamed the fact that many Portuguese don’t bother with retraining, education or language classes because there is a generalized ”lack of interest” in these matters amongst many people in the community:

I’ve been in Nova Scotia since 1959. Eight days after arriving, I started learning English at night-school... many others started and, when they would go to write exams, or to see how things were going, no one would show up. What I mean is, they would have to go to work and no one would show up. From then onwards, they started paying people... to go to school.... not even then would they show up...

Some of the people in the Montreal focus group also remarked on the readily available opportunities which currently exist to help people learn French and English

and lamented the fact that many people often leave language training behind in order to work more and earn more money. As one man stated:

The Portuguese have every means at their disposal to learn the language, whether it be French or English. If they don’t use them, it is because they don’t want to. I came to this country without any money, I did not speak English and I went to school... to learn English. I did not need anyone. So, I don’t see where the Portuguese can have problems in learning these languages. If they have never learned, it is because they have never tried to find out how they could learn them, or, they want to learn them without having to struggle...

However, a few other people at the Maritimes meeting attempted to explain this perceived lack of interest by describing some of the difficulties which Portuguese encounter in attending language classes.

One participant in Winnipeg described how the limited experience with formal education in Portugal of most of these immigrants had lead many of these to fear returning to school for E.S.L. or job-training instruction:

What I have noticed many times is that people are afraid to go to school. So, that this is not a problem of Canada, but rather a shortcoming of the Portuguese. They had four years of schooling in Portugal, they came over and since the easiest thing for them was to follow these paths... they used these. Because, in many cases, many people could better themselves and there is a great fear... fear of school... an inferiority complex... of going to school and not being able to learn anything. We have a very small percentage of people who would be able to overcome... ...the barrier of going back to school... the barrier of going back to English classes. This is one of the big problems of the first generation.

Another participant in Winnipeg criticized many Portuguese for developing an unhealthy reliance on their children, as interpreters and guides. According to this participant, this was one factor which prevented them from developing adequate language skills:

People that I know... ...arrived here with four, five or six children... ...These children would speak for them. They never got used to utilizing their own [English] language. They would go ‘wherever’.... and along would go their daughter... ...their son... ...their daughter-in-law... ...their grandson... ...and whoever else might go. They never had the need to use the [English] language. Their language was the interpreter. And many people became accustomed to interpreters, who were their children. And they became unable to function in that sense. And, it was for no other reason than that...

The Inability of the Community to See the Linkage Between Education and Economic Prosperity

Another problem identified in Toronto, in relation to this, was how many people in the community do not see the linkage between education (including job retraining) and economic improvement. As one participant stated at this meeting, those in the community “...do not see the value, they do not make the connection.” This has left the community in a very vulnerable situation, where most people also do not understand that the economy is changing permanently. As another participant stated:

...many Portuguese are not recognizing the fact that the economy is changing in a drastic fashion and that, in five or six years, a person with less than grade 12 and four or five years of College or University will not be able to get a job. These are statistics that will affect our community in an alarming fashion. If we think that the problem is bad now, it will be ten or twenty times worse in a few years.

One man admonished Portuguese youth for the ensuing lack of wisdom which many appear to him to demonstrate:

The young men and women of eighteen and nineteen years of age don’t know.... Even a tree knows better [than these young people]. When a tree gets into the sun, if the sun is up at a certain time the tree knows, ‘ok, I’ll point over here because here there is sun, and at noon there is sun here, and at three there is sun [here].’ This plant knows better [than these young people]. The sun is ‘over there’, it goes ‘there’. But, someone who doesn’t know anything only thinks like this, ‘ok, I’m going to make my ten dollars an hour because my father makes ten dollars an hour and I’m going to buy a house.’ In reality, there’s no way you’re going to buy a house with that money. Not now. Your parents lived in another time. But, they [these young people] don’t know...

As has been previously stated, throughout this study the people who participated in the focus groups pointed to the community’s lack of education and its lack of political involvement as the primary reasons behind the perpetuation of the problems that are marginalizing the Portuguese-Canadian community. These individuals - most notably those in Hamilton, Montreal, Ontario, Ottawa-Hull and Vancouver - attributed this lack of participation to a general apathy and lack of interest on the part of the Luso-Canadian community regarding political matters. This lack of interest was also the prime political issue identified in the questionnaire (especially the lack of participation on the part of youth). One man in a Montreal focus group lamented how the community had “a big problem... in expressing its opinion.” Another stated how the Portuguese “...have a horror of political life, of politics...” and explained how this was an inheritance which it had received from its past. One man in Ottawa-Hull stated how most people “turn themselves off” from political affairs and immediately say “We don’t live politics.” Another cited the overarching importance to most Portuguese of their home life, as one reason why the community is never aware of, or involved, in local political “problems” in Vanier:

...not any problem in Vanier, nor in any other place. Because, once again - there is the case that we’ve talked about - the Portuguese keeps so much to himself and to his home life [é tão metido em si, tão metido em casa]... that from the start he doesn’t concern himself with political issues.

The group in Hamilton described how most people in their Portuguese community see no need to involve themselves in politics and how - in general - the Portuguese do not go out to vote, or to become Canadian citizens. They also lamented the fact that the main reason the Portuguese become Canadian citizens is to be able to return to Portugal for longer than the allowed six month period (rather than to acquire the right to vote in Canadian politics).

For the young people in Winnipeg and Montreal (and questionnaire respondents) the most regrettable aspect to this lack of political interest among Luso-Canadians was the reluctance of many Portuguese-Canadian youth to become involved in politics. One man remarked about an apparent reluctance on the part of young Portuguese to vote: “There are many people who think ‘oh, my vote is not going to make a difference.’ Participants in Winnipeg also lamented the fact that many Portuguese youth don’t seem to care about politics or government. As one participant mentioned:

In terms of the entire Portuguese youth community, that is a very small number. I know a lot of people who just don’t even care about political discussions, or anything at all like that.

A few participants remarked that this phenomenon went hand-in-hand with the low number of Portuguese who actually ran in elections, and whether or not young people knew anyone personally who was involved in the political process. One participant stated that, if he didn’t know a particular candidate he would be ”...pretty much out in the dark. I wouldn’t really care much about it. Because I don’t really know anyone involved in the system.” Another participant remarked:

A lot of them don’t get involved because they just don’t care.... ....Or, half of them don’t know anybody that’s in politics. And so, even if they want to get involved, they can’t, because they don’t have anybody to talk to.

That’s my experience too. I got involved because I knew someone who was involved. And I know other friends of mine, from the Portuguese community who got involved, because they know someone who was involved. And, so you have someone... you know someone... that person brings you in and, you try to bring other people in. So, you’re comfortable that way. But, I don’t think, and I know I wouldn’t be comfortable going into a candidate’s office and saying ‘Hi my name is... and I’d like to help you.’ I think a lot of students are not comfortable doing that.

This person also mentioned that, if an issue directly affected young people, (such as, for example, allowing the raising of tuition fees), young people would talk about it. However, she felt that they might not even yet be at the stage where they would be comfortable writing a letter to the government. All of the young participants in Montreal confessed that they lived mostly within a daily routine of school and home, which rarely included any type of political involvement.

The group in Winnipeg also cited how Portuguese youth are beginning to become active in leadership roles in university, but how they generally tend not to be involved in such things as student councils; although they did mention how there is much more involvement at the high-school level. But here, once again, their participation is often influenced by whether or not they know someone who is involved. One participant stated:

Again, it’s a limited few. If you know someone involved, you’ll get involved too. If you don’t, you won’t. Unless you’re very ambitious and it affects your career, or you think it’s going to help your career...

However, the people at the Winnipeg meeting described how the newer generations of young people are becoming much more vocal and involved than their previous generations of youth. The people at the Montreal meeting further mentioned that given the right opportunities or encouragement, more youth would begin to participate. One young gentleman commented:

They go to school and come home. I’m one of those who wants to do something... The others, they would if there were something [some programme] for them. But, since there isn’t, they don’t try to do anything.

I think there is a lack of willingness [to get involved]. And, if the government, or whatever other organization could promise something, or initiate something for youth, to raise their interest, if youth would apply themselves, it could be that more people would become interested and we could even achieve something.

A few of the focus groups attributed the lack of involvement of Portuguese-Canadians in the political process to their lack of formal education, to a lack of knowledge regarding the political process and to the fact that the vast majority of the community is employed in lower-wage, lower status occupations, many with little job security. According to these groups, these are factors which lead most Portuguese to focus upon their economic survival, to the detriment of other aspects of their lives.

Participants in two of the Toronto groups, as well as in Ottawa-Hull, described how the non-involvement of people in their region was the result of a lack of knowledge of the system. As one man in Toronto said: “More than 90% [that] go to vote, they don’t know what they’re doing.” Another woman in the November Toronto meeting explained:

Besides not having a general knowledge of the philosophical position of each party... of the levels of government... they don’t even know for whom they are voting; if it is for the municipal... provincial... or federal elections. So, when there are conventions for the election of the general president of the Liberal or the Conservative party, then people are totally lost.

This same participant also described how this lack of knowledge extends to the available social services, which she claimed were adequate for the local community, but many of which she said the community had little awareness.

Some of the participants in Ottawa-Hull also cited how there is a lack of information on political issues and a lack of education amongst the Portuguese community, which prevents them from understanding and successfully interpreting much of the information that is available to them. Participants described how most of the lack of interest and information occurs at the municipal level, while many people are more aware of provincial and federal matters.

Another important point which was raised by people at the Hamilton meeting was the lack of experience amongst most Portuguese in political involvement. People in this group felt that the legacy of the long-running dictatorship in Portugal left most Portuguese with a lack of skills, experience and education in becoming more involved politically, in Canadian society. For example, they mentioned how most of the directors of the various Portuguese community clubs do not have the political experience or the education to be able to represent the community to the government agencies.

Participants in Vancouver also described people in their community as strongly politically opinionated but poorly active in politics. According to the group, while most Portuguese are vocal amongst themselves, they are not willing to spend the time or money necessary to become involved in politics. They are too overly concerned with their own economic well-being to risk involvement in politics. They are also not involved in the Portuguese political scene. One man explained:

The Portuguese here in this region are very ‘politically-vocal’ but not active within politics. They are people who read the paper and talk through the perspective of the newspapers political slant, but they are neither updated nor active within Portuguese politics that is integrated within Canadian politics. They can’t, for example, debate the fisheries problem, related to Portugal and Canada because they don’t know the issues, only what they read in the paper....

....The other problem... ...is really the economic aspect, which doesn’t allow them to enter into the political system, to get to know it, to study it and to debate it, within the actual government. Because, the vast majority of people work - as it has already been said - to make their money, and they don’t spend their money to go against, or in favour of, their ends or their progress... ...in another location.They are not about to spend their time or spend their money, because they.... prefer their community. There is not doubt that it is like this...

While noting that little can be done to encourage the older generations to enter political life, some in the Vancouver group felt that organizations such as the Congress should encourage youth to become more involved in the political arena.

People in one of the Toronto meetings saw many of the problems affecting Luso-Canadians, particularly the underachievement issue and the lack of leadership, as stemming essentially from - what the participants termed - the “closed mentality” of the community. In deconstructing the different elements of this mentality, people mentioned how they perceived that the community was marked by a widespread “lack of culture” or “education” (“falta de cultura”)[6] , a “lack of economic ambition,” and a willingness to admit to, confront and question certain problems.

All of these problems that we are here facing arise practically from only one term ‘mentality’: That is what is very important. And... our community.... suffers... from a very closed mentality....

These comments were raised mostly by the younger participants. However, one older individual also talked about how the academic underachievement problem was a sign that this closed-minded mentality was being perpetuated amongst Luso-Canadian youth.

[Our] children today continue with this closed mentality. They don’t know anything (‘eles não conhecem nada’), they do not know the things that this country has to offer.... they go and copy their parents..

Other participants also described how many of the problems which occur in the community have arisen from a widely-held stigma which Portuguese hold about themselves and their place in Canadian society. According to these individuals, the Portuguese in Canada see themselves, and their community, as less educated and less capable of succeeding economically, than those from the mainstream and other groups. These attitudes invariably affect those in the younger generations, by imprinting on them a tradition of low academic expectations and an exclusive focus upon economic subsistence. In exploring the reasons for the underachievement problem, one individual in Toronto stated:

I think that people have gotten used to the stigma which exists in the Portuguese community, which is, that they know how to read or write very little, so that they have to have [can only have] a job in construction or cleaning... It’s a problem which ....Canadian society got used to and a stigma to which the Portuguese became accommodated. They accept perfectly the fact that they are only construction workers and cleaners, and they live within this stigma perfectly content.

In describing the community’s lack of involvement in cultural matters, another person at a separate Toronto meeting stated of the community’s image of itself:

According to what was recently said [In the Toronto Sun by a Portuguese-Canadian City of Toronto Councillor], we are an illiterate community. Unfortunately we are. Many of us.... only think about the cheque at the end of the week. Basically, that is it. It is the eternal problem which is money. But, the aspect of culture never surfaces... Certain things should be done, or that the individual should do for himself, and these are not done. This is also where the problem of the children arise because, they are raised in the same environment as the family. It comes through the parents to the children, and onwards, successively.

The Lack of Willingness of the Community to Take Responsibility for Its Own Problems

Participants in the same Toronto group also attributed to this mentality the absence of strong leadership, the community’s unwillingness to face its problems, discuss difficult issues or to confront authority. They decried the fact that the community - and in particular its leadership - does very little to admit to, and openly discuss, problems such as underachievement and to confront them. One participant mentioned: “They do not want to talk about these [our problems]. They would rather remain ignorant.” Another participant discussed how the community still doesn’t know the nature and severity of its biggest problems, simply because the community has been reluctant to discussed these issues.

The Community’s History of Reacting to Problems, Rather Than Being Proactive

According to some of the participants in Toronto, a lack of proactive action in their local community is another issue which what has allowed the perpetuation of the current situation of underachievement. The younger participants especially felt that this has led to a lack of preparation for the future on the part of our community and that there is a need to begin to set clear goals.

In summary, this is how one participant discussed the issue of underachievement and the community’s lack of a proactive response:

There are a lot of problems... that we have, for many years, failed to face... we allowed our eyes to remain closed, we let the issue escape us and now, we are seeing the result of this negligence on our part.... The responsibility is ours, as a community, that we closed our eyes to the reality of the situation.

...the community hasn’t matured yet... hasn’t reached its age. A lot of ideas are old ideas... The community isn’t yet to par. It’s still not yet taken responsibility for its own problems. We need strong leadership... We need centralized, strong leadership... and... goals set. We’re always trying to solve problems, we’re not saying ‘this is what we’d like to see in ten years’. The first thing we need to do is admit we have problems, instead of hiding, (like with this education thing).

The Failure of the Portuguese-Canadian Media to Truly Inform and Educate Community Members

According to these participants, one sign of this lack of responsibility is that the Portuguese-Canadian media concentrates excessively on unimportant events and matters, (such as dances, feasts, petty rivalries between community members, etc.) and ignores, or deals only superficially with, community problems. This sentiment was echoed by participants of a later Toronto meeting who described the Portuguese media as “...a group of people who have been more interested in their own benefit, than in the benefit of the community...” and who lamented the lack of cultural and educational content on Portuguese-Canadian television.

Participants in Toronto reiterated the need for the community to take on responsibility for its own problems. Many felt that, even in those situations where practices outside the community’s control have led to certain problems (for ex. educational “streaming”), there is still much responsibility upon the community for not reacting effectively enough against those realities. Regarding the education issue, one young participant said:

I disagree when I hear people saying ‘the system has failed us’. Yes, they have, in many ways. But we’ve failed ourselves. We let the system fail us. It takes two to work together.

In discussing the lack of educational and political participation of the community, those people in Vancouver, Toronto and Hamilton described how there was a generalized lack of role models for youth in the community. Participants in Vancouver mentioned how parents are often the only examples youth have for role models and, thus, how young people are often a reflection of their parents, their values and habits. One young man spoke about how the lack of “heroes” in his life and in those of other Portuguese youth often resulted in a lessening of their career aspirations and in a romanticisation of their parents’ working-class origins and lifestyle:

My hero is (sic) my parents and Jesus.... When a little kid thinks, ‘what do I want to be when I grow up?’ and he sees his father come home from work, he doesn’t see his father come home going ‘Oh, my back! I worked so much today!’ [His father] can say that one thousand times... ...but [the son] doesn’t see this as much as he should. [He thinks] ‘My father didn’t need to study - he has the fourth grade - and he makes money, he has a house’...you know...

My dream is to have a house, to provide for my children and, that’s it.... to be secure... ...I can’t say... ‘look at Mister H,’ because I don’t know what he does.... I can’t say ‘look at the Consul’ because I’ve never seen him. And, if he hasn’t been active in my life...

According to the group, the community needs the resurgence of other role models to illustrate to youth how to aspire to new goals and to illustrate to them how to survive the realities of the new global economic system.

There are Few Mechanisms in the Community to Provide Academic Support to Portuguese-Canadian Students and Parents

Another problem that was identified was the lack of academic support mechanisms, to help students throughout their progress in school. Participants in Ottawa-Hull and Vancouver described how the parents in their communities have little or no resources to which they can turn, if their children are experiencing academic difficulties. For example a few participants in both meetings mentioned the lack of tutoring services in their communities for students with academic weaknesses.

One participant made the suggestion that, building a social centre might help to bring youth and the elderly together, so that the latter could assist the former with informal tutoring and maintenance of the Portuguese language. One more person suggested that Portuguese professionals could offer eligible students letters of recommendation, to help them enter desired programmes. Support could also be provided through such services as a resume-writing service, which would help students in their job searches. Volunteer “mentors” could also be made available, who could counsel students on how to structure their career advancement

There are Few Community Incentives, to Encourage Luso-Canadian Students to Continue their Education

Along with the lack of information and support, the group in Vancouver also identified as another important issue the lack of incentives in the community that are designed to reward academic success. For example, the participants mentioned that virtually no scholarships exist to encourage success amongst Portuguese students entering academic, vocational or business-oriented study. Some of the people in this group also suggested that a system be developed to encourage student progress. For example, public recognition should be given to students who excel, or who overcome academic difficulties. Similarly, community organizations could offer material incentives to successful students, (ex. trips, tickets to shows, electronic equipment such as computers or television, etc.)

People in the Winnipeg and Montreal focus groups discussed the ways in which local Luso-Canadian associations were failing to support the development of youth in the community and doing little to create a positive identification with the Portuguese heritage amongst young Canadians of Portuguese descent. On the one hand, they described how there is a reluctance on the part of many youth to participate in Portuguese community clubs and associations. On the other, they also described how many Portuguese community groups are doing very little to combat this tendency, by including adolescents and young adults in the planning and realization of their activities.

Portuguese Associations and Organizations are not “Open” to Youth and not Receptive to Youth Initiatives

Participants in both Montreal and Winnipeg voiced the general feeling that Portuguese associations are not really “open” to youth. According to these young people, while many older association members say that they are interested in youth participation, they are not really willing to allow young people the freedom to structure their own activities. One young woman stated:

They say they are, but it’s the same old thing.... They don’t make much of it, in a way that Portuguese youth can become interested.

The group in Winnipeg mentioned that youth involvement and their acceptance as leaders in local organizations are growing. However the group lamented that these do not happen as frequently as they should and that participation by newcomers is often thwarted. One participant remarked:

Unfortunately, when you have these associations that we have, a lot of times, it’s the same people who are always involved. And, it’s very difficult. Even though a young person might want to get their foot in the door, a lot of times, their foot is kicked out...

Another young man in Montreal told of his experiences working for a Portuguese-language radio programme which was supposedly directed towards youth:

The programme was badly organized and, they did nothing to attract youth. For example, young people’s music is the more modern music. And, for them it was always that Portuguese folklore (o malhão), and I don’t know what else... Youth aren’t going to listen to that. And, this was a programme geared towards youth, it had to be for youth. I remember one time, we wanted to put on ‘Chutos e Pontapés’ [The Portuguese equivalent to the “Rolling Stones”] and the gentleman went and said. ‘Well, you can’t put on that music because people don’t want to listen to it.’ Yeah, but, if this is a programme for youth, this is the kind of music that we have to put on.

When speaking of Portuguese-language community school in Montreal, one woman commented on how this institution organized few activities for those youth who were studying in the grades above primary school. Furthermore, she also stated that the school administrators were not really interested in activities and events for this age group.

Luso-Canadian Associations Have Few Activities Which Are Geared Towards Adolescents and Young Adults

A few of the participants described how, as children, they had been involved in Portuguese community activities, but had grown apart from these events in later years. Some of the reasons they cited for this included, the lack of events which were specifically geared towards their age group and the competition from other activities in which their non-Portuguese friends participated. One woman complained that the activities of most Portuguese associations are geared mainly to the older generations.

A related concern was that Portuguese associations did not conduct any outreach to involve more young people in those youth-oriented activities which they did offer. One young man noted:

We don’t hear about [their activities]. The ones who know are those who go to [the particular club], the ones who are aware of the fact that there is a youth group. But, the other youth, they don’t know about these things.

Participants in Toronto also criticized Portuguese-language television and community newspapers for being irrelevant for their age group and for generally lacking quality. They lamented the fact that the most important Portuguese community television offering was a Brazilian soap opera and they called for more Portuguese programming. They also mentioned how the local community papers ran many articles that were generally irrelevant to their age group.

Portuguese-Language Community Schools Can be Structured in a Manner Which Better Serves Youth

Young people at the Montreal meeting described their relationship to the local Portuguese-language community school and how certain aspects of the way the school related to its students could be improved.

Most of the participants at the Montreal meeting commented on how they initially had not liked Portuguese school, but afterwards gained an appreciation of its value. The participants cited a number of benefits of Portuguese school: These included gaining an appreciation of the historical importance of the Portuguese in world history and also associating with other Portuguese youth. One young woman described that she attended Portuguese school to be with other Portuguese and: “...to make us feel... to have a certain environment. I don’t know... One doesn’t come here just to learn the material.” Another young man reiterated the importance of “...knowing where we came from and where we are going.” Another man said:

When I got to the secondary level, I began to see how we learned more about the culture and I began to see how Portuguese wasn’t something which got in the way, and that knowing the language wasn’t something that interfered. When going to get a job, the more languages you speak, the better... That’s when I found out that Portuguese was going to be necessary... I’m coming to Portuguese school, I think it’s difficult, it’s hard... but, I want to at least pass and get my diploma.

Yet, despite their recognition of the value of their Portuguese school experience, some of the people at this meeting also cited a few issues which they would like to see changed in the way the school was operated:

A few participants complained about the financial burden of having to purchase their own schoolbooks, many of which are only valid for one year. One participant made the suggestion that the school provide the books to students, then take them back at the end of the year. Another participant described the fact that the Portuguese school day may be too long and how some of the material is repeated. Finally, a few participants complained that Portuguese school classes are sometimes unruly and undisciplined and commented on how this detracts from their work. One woman said:

...I come to class and here are the others playing around. They should be at home watching cartoons instead of wasting my time. My grandmother is paying for me to come here, there are the expenses of having to buy our books, and I’m wasting my time, sometimes. And, we lose a lot of time here with ‘Be quiet back there! Girls, stop talking!’ For me, it is already an effort to come here. So that, when I do come, it’s to do what I have to do and go home. It’s not to sit here and wait for the others to make up their minds.

In discussing what they felt to be the origins of the underachievement issue, the harshest criticism voiced by most respondents was directed against Luso-Canadian parents and the negative role which they were seen as playing in their children’s educational choices. People attacked parents for placing a greater value upon working than upon studying, for using their children to supplement the family income, for not promoting the Portuguese language and culture within the family and, some, even for not caring very much about the general welfare of their children.

Ironically, those in the youth groups tended to be much less critical of the role of parents than those in the regular focus groups. The former tended to excuse the attitudes of parents by referring to their lack of education and the disadvantaged economic position of many Portuguese at the time of immigration, which led many of these to focus upon earning a living.

Many Portuguese-Canadian Parents Place Earning a Living, and/or the Purchase of a Home Ahead of Their Children’s Education

Most focus groups attributed the essence of the community’s educational deficit to what they perceived to be a deliberate and egotistical choice on the part of many Luso-Canadian parents, to place their immediate economic progress ahead of their and their children’s long-term educational best-interests. Participants in Quebec City, Hamilton, Winnipeg and in all three Toronto meetings indicted parents for such practices as: Not encouraging their children to continue their studies; not being more involved in their children’s education; actively urging their sons and daughters to go to work prematurely, in order to garner their pay cheques; and, particularly, for a perceived tendency to focus obsessively on the purchase of a home and on the liquidation of its mortgage.

Participants in all three youth focus groups also affirmed the importance of parental expectations in motivating students to either achieve, or drop out. A participant in one of the Toronto mixed-age meetings bluntly stated his view of this issue:

...there are many people who are not interested in their children going to school. They would rather see their children come through the door with $100 or $200 a week...

Another young participant in Winnipeg described the problem in a more discrete tone:

I guess my concern is parents. And I know before in the past, there were some parents who would not encourage their kids to go further because [they would say] ‘Yeah, finish grade twelve. But then go work... and then I’ll have half of your paycheque.’ or, ‘I’ll have your paycheque until you get married, and until you move out.’ And, I think that’s why some kids probably didn’t go further. Because their parents instilled in their mind, ‘work after grade twelve and make money.’ And, not looking at the long-term consequences of doing that.

A lot of Portuguese fathers and mothers... sit back and say ‘ok, education, education, education.. Oh! How much are you making? Fourteen dollars and hour? Ok. Stop! You’re at your perfect job; I don’t care if you’re a secretary, I don’t care what you’re doing...’

One participant in Montreal brought up the fact that many parents also pressure their children to go to work part-time, or in summer jobs:

Sometimes it’s the parents who force a little bit. They see that the young person is in school and [say] ‘Ah! You should go to work... to get some experience, because in this way, you will be better prepared for the future.’ It’s always like this... this big issue of working.

One young woman in Toronto remarked on how the lack of parental emphasis on education impacts negatively on the overall achievement of some of the Portuguese children which she teaches:

I think it’s all in the parents. [...] I notice the difference between the kids. I notice the ones that the parents push them. I notice the ones that the kids are basically there because it’s a day care centre for the parents. While they go shopping, just drop off the kids...

Another person described how Portuguese parents’ seemingly overriding preoccupation with earning a living keeps them from becoming involved in their children’s schooling:

...[they have] a job, they try to get another, and their children stay at home. They don’t get involved in school meetings. Parents are called to school many times, they never get to find out how their children are doing in school. It is a very big problem.

People in a few of these meetings described how some Portuguese parents will also impose their career choices on their children. One woman in Toronto stated that, in the more extreme cases, some parents will abandon their children when these do not follow their wishes, regarding important life choices: “If the son doesn’t rise to what they want...at school or at home, if the child doesn’t want to work.. they disown him.” Some of the Azorean participants at this meeting also gave their opinion that parents in their community are more likely than those from the Continent to impose their career choices upon their children, especially on young women:

...within the Azorean community, I believe that it is impossible to tell a parent, ‘I don’t want to be a teacher, I want to be a lawyer.’ This is considered unacceptable. If a parent says that his son is going to be a teacher, then they have to be a teacher, or else...

Another person in a separate Toronto meeting also described how in her community, young women are sometimes forced away from non-traditional occupations:

...if it is a young girl, who is saying that she wants to be a lawyer or a doctor, I think the family is liable to start laughing all at the same time, because, these are, traditionally, professions which pertain to men and not to a woman. And I think that the parents don’t really understand that this possibility exists... ...I think that within the Azorean family, the traditional values of which occupation a woman can, or cannot, exercise continues to exist. And youth in the Azorean community are under a terrible disadvantage.

People in a number of these groups described how the focus on economic progress amongst many Luso-Canadians is often expressed by a tendency to focus upon rapid home ownership and to limit their activities obsessively to those related to earning a living and caring for their house. The people in Winnipeg mentioned how living life in the exclusive function of working and owning a home is too narrow, how it doesn’t lead to healthy social and family relations, and how the demands of paying a mortgage on the limited salary of an unskilled labourer often causes many immigrants to fail to look after their, and their children’s, educational or training needs, (ex. learning English).

This lack of interest in activities not related to home ownership and economic security was also cited as the cause of a perceived lack of involvement in community development matters. People in two of the Toronto meetings complained of the fact that one always encounters the same individuals involved in community matters and spoke about how difficult it is to encourage new faces to become involved.

Participants in Montreal acknowledged that there are many Portuguese who do not care if their children leave school and go to work. However, this group mentioned that there are also many parents who place an excessive amount of pressure on their children to succeed in school. In fact, the influence of parental pressure to succeed in school was one of the major issues to arise in the Montreal focus group. One young woman commented:

There are many Portuguese parents who want their children to go to university. There are also others, I would guess that it’s half and half... who do not care if their children have secondary five or if they don’t have secondary five, for them it’s ok. But, there are Portuguese who, I think, would not accept that their children would drop out of school to go to work, because they know that for them, it wasn’t easy not having schooling and having to look for a job.

I think that there are many Portuguese which put a lot of pressure on their children, because there are many who did not have much schooling and... at a certain age, had to go to work.... and when they got here, they had children and they want the best for their kids. So, they put a lot of pressure on them [saying] ‘you have to go to school; you have to study; you have to get good marks... because I didn’t have that opportunity, and it’s a good one...’ and such.

My father.... only studied up to the fourth grade. And for him, that was enough... In Canada... he sees that, here, everyone has to go to secondary school, CEGEP, university [and] has to have a good job. That’s what he wants for me.... [...] My parents want me to go to school, get good grades... they want to see me with a stable life... that I’m going to have a job that’s going to last me my whole life.

One participant in Winnipeg also cautioned the group to be careful about making generalizations regarding parent’s lack of education and lack of encouragement of their children’s schooling. As this participant mentioned, in Portugal, most Portuguese of the ‘first generation’ did not have the financial means or the available educational structures to acquire a reasonable education. However, he felt that many Portuguese youth inherited family values and strengths which encouraged them to seek better opportunities than their parents:

...the family values, the strengths... to say ‘I can’t do it now, or I’m not as able to do it. But, I want you to go forward and progress and be able to make something more of yourself, than what I was able to.’ So, they see the opportunity there and they try to thrust you... into those positions, so that we can... ...follow whatever pathway we desire.

Portuguese-Canadian Parents’ Low Levels of Formal Education and Working-Class Status do not Allow Them the Skills to Better Assist Their Children With School-Related Matters

Participants in Quebec City, Hamilton, Winnipeg and Toronto pointed out that the problem of underachievement was intimately related to the education level and social class of Luso-Canadian parents. One person in Hamilton mentioned how many Portuguese parents do not have the formal education to adequately help their children, when these encounter problems at school. Another individual in Quebec City said the following of working-class parents in that city:

In the society in which we live, education is not much valued. Often, it is much more valuable to have a letter from a trade union than to have a diploma from a university.... ....A person who graduates from university as an engineer, or as an architect will earn ten dollars an hour or less, while the other who goes to work... in a construction site will earn fourteen dollars an hour...

One person in Toronto described the powerlessness of Luso-Canadian fathers and mothers, when faced with their children’s educational problems:

...sometimes parents, they’re not able to help the kids with schooling. Like, why am I hired to tutor their kids? Because, they don’t have enough English. They never learned... They only learned enough practical English to do whatever they need. And then, they just don’t have enough background to be able to - when the child’s having problems in school - ‘what am I going to do?’... ...The teacher might call ‘Your child’s having problems’, they don’t know where to turn. And that might be also, one of the factors. While, if you have an English parent, somebody knows ‘My kid’s having problems?’... ...They immediately try to take care of it, and handle it. While the Portuguese parents might have their hands crossed....

My parents couldn’t help me actually. They had the good sense to give me a tutor. That they called up all their friend’s daughters ‘Oh, can you help my daughter with this?’ Or, they’d call up... ...my cousins, or whatever.

People in a few of the groups discussed how this educational deficit of Portuguese parents have also left them unable to understand, or appreciate, the academic pressures affecting their children. One young woman in Montreal complained about how this lack of understanding leaves her feeling isolated:

Sometimes, our parents don’t have as much education as we do. They don’t understand that it’s difficult for us. It’s not the same thing. They don’t know what it is to... be in school, studying all of that material.... learning all of those subjects, [such as] chemistry... everything... is difficult. I’m being very honest. It’s difficult for a student...It’s difficult to have a head for all of these things. And sometimes, parents think that... it’s easy.

They also discussed how this lack of understanding often caused some Portuguese parents to fail to be satisfied with what would otherwise represent a good level of achievement. As one young woman described it:

I have friends who are Quebecois who, if I tell them ‘I got an 80 and my father is going to tell me that I could do better’, they tell me,’ but you have 80, how can that be, that’s a good mark. For me it’s good enough.’ But, I say that it’s not, because I know that my parents are going to say ‘Well, 80... You can do better, for example 90.’

People in Vancouver, Toronto and Winnipeg also discussed home most Luso-Canadian students and parents have very little practical knowledge of the higher-education system which leaves most Portuguese families with great difficulties in making decisions, relating to the many choices pertaining to college and university. One person in Winnipeg described his own situation:

From personal experience... ...my parents really push you to ‘go to university.’ But, if you need any help, they don’t know how. Because my parents only have a grade four education. So, they say, ‘why don’t you ask that person... or that person.’ So, we always draw upon people in our community... ...a Portuguese student who became a doctor, a student who became a lawyer. That’s the only reason that we’re able to do that, because of those who have already gone ahead of us, and finished their schooling. But, the problem is that our parents want to help us, but they can’t...

A related issue which was raised was the inability of some Portuguese parents to appreciate, or relate to, the pressures of their children who are in post-secondary education. Young people in Winnipeg cited how it is not uncommon for Luso-Canadian parents to sometimes enter into conflict with their older children, because the former are not aware of - or sensitive to - the requirements of university or college life. They spoke of the need to bring more information to parents and youth regarding the different options available in these institutions. One participant in Vancouver suggested the creation of a central information system which could help Portuguese students and parents. Another person in Winnipeg believed that this problem could be minimized through the promotion of workshops, which educated parents and students on the details of the education system and on the aims of particular degree paths:

I know that Portuguese youth could do it. I know they can. I just don’t think they have the tools to go further. If they had those tools, I know that they would go further. They just need those tools... ...Those tools are informing parents... Because a lot of these parents don’t speak English, and they don’t know the education system. Or they don’t even know what a Bachelor is... A Bachelor of Arts. They don’t understand what that is. Or what a commerce degree is. Inform them what it is. Inform students what things exist, i.e.. bursaries and loans... ...have pamphlets or information.. ...give out phone numbers of different departments...

Some Portuguese Parents do not Devote Enough Time and Attention to the Affairs of Their Children

Participants in the Toronto meetings also attributed this lack of emphasis on education and the apparent lack of involvement in their children’s education to what they felt was a general tendency amongst some Portuguese-Canadian parents to ignore the matters of their children. One woman said:

...the women concern themselves a lot with their work, and many times it seems like not with their children....they have a job, they try to get another, and the children stay at home. They don’t go to community meetings. Parents are called to school. Many times they don’t go to see how their children are doing. It’s a very big problem.

We’ve reached the conclusion that men... fathers, don’t dedicate themselves the least bit to their children, because they don’t want to. Because, if they have the time to go to the café, they would also have an hour to dedicate themselves to their children.

Participants in the Toronto groups also described how this preoccupation with work, on the part of Portuguese parents, often results in Portuguese children being left unattended for long periods of time. One participant said:

The problem is also that parents don’t spend too much time with their children. The parents work, the children wander the streets, parents come home, the children wander the streets...

And what about the children? [Their] parents go to work. Afterwards these parents get a part-time job and the children stay home alone at night. At the end of the day, they go to bed, they don’t do their homework. The next day, they go to school... and the parents even speak badly of the teachers. The teachers... these have to seek out the parents, they leave school, they go telephone the student’s mothers... There are things which are not even worth discussing... how can the children ever be good if the parents are not good parents?

Some Luso-Canadian Parents Preserve Outdated Traditional Values and Cultural Norms

Participants in all of the youth groups ascribed the wide cultural difference between young people and their elders to the fact that many Portuguese-Canadian parents have not kept up with world-wide cultural changes but instead have maintained rigidly traditional practices and values (many of which are no longer even followed in Portugal). One woman in Toronto told the following story, to illustrate the manner in which differences in even subtle cultural norms have affected the relationships between parents and children in her region:

I know over there there’s this perfect example that just shocked me totally. Now, there’s this girl... ...she just got married... ...And she never got along with her mother, never. She was the only child.... ...throughout her whole life, her mother constantly putting her down... ...because she was very social, and she would talk with everybody, but it didn’t necessarily mean that she would do anything with everybody. But that’s how the mother took it. So, she always had problems. She’d compare her to everybody, and stuff like that. Her daughter just got married. She just had a boy and she named her boy... ...honestly, I don’t even remember the name, it was some weird name.. ...an ugly name. But that’s the name she wanted for the kid. Her mother went to the hospital and she asked, ‘what’s the name you gave the kid?’ and she said it. The mother got so mad, she started screaming at her in the middle of the hospital, ‘you had no right to name your son. I’m the one that should have named him’, and all of this.... blah, blah, blah, blah... rushed out of the home, hasn’t talked with her since. The daughter had to move... ...to get away from the mother, because she couldn’t take the stress anymore. I mean, her only daughter, her only grandson, I mean... And like her, (there are) plenty. Those parents, oh! It’s horrible! Those kids! I mean, I was lucky to have my parents.... ...the kids that were there... ...it’s pretty sad.

Some in the focus group in Winnipeg also spoke about how many Portuguese-Canadian parents tend to isolate themselves from the broader society and have little involvement with activities or groups outside the Portuguese community. Those in Montreal further felt that many parents in that city are often too focussed on matters in Portugal and do not change to adapt to their new society. According to these participants, this focus on Portugal also creates the situation where many Portuguese parents are unable to understand their children’s point of view and the demands of the society in which they live. One young woman in Montreal said:

I hear almost every Saturday, or during the week, the problems that [other Portuguese youth] have with their parents and, they are always fighting with their parents. They don’t understand our point-of-view. It is always a struggle between parents and children, in terms of points-of-view. Parents... concern themselves a lot with Portugal. But, we here... concern ourselves much more with what is happening here in this country.

Another person in Quebec City spoke about how this tendency towards traditionalism, when expressed in a setting that is devoid of Portuguese community cultural activities and promotion serves to increase the alienation of the young Luso-Canadians in this region from their roots:

There are many Portuguese here.... who have the idea that in Portugal things were this way or that and, when they talk to their children they say things like ‘If this was in Portugal, you wouldn’t be able to do this’... These are things which don’t help young people to want to be near to their Portuguese roots. So what is their reaction? It is to run away from these roots and to identify ever more with the country where they are living. It is this confrontation. And, here in Quebec, it is possibly even stronger because we have nothing Portuguese here. The only thing which we have is a restaurant... once in a while there is a Portuguese course in the university... But, there is nothing else.

The people at the Montreal meeting noted that the age of the parents had a great deal of influence over how traditional they are, with regards to such things as their children’s patterns of socialization. In general, participants felt that the younger the parents, (or the younger the age at which they immigrated), the more understanding and accepting these are towards the lifestyle of young people in this country. Those in the Winnipeg meeting also cautioned against regarding traditionalism as a negative legacy and noted that the traditionalism of Portuguese parents also endows many Portuguese youth with strong family and work values.

Some Luso-Canadian Parents Place Harsher-Than-Average Restrictions on the Freedom of their Children to Associate With Their Peers, Date, Work and Study in the Fields of Their Choice

The most widely-mentioned source of friction, between parents and children, was the fact that some Portuguese-Canadian parents do not allow their children - and especially their daughters - to have the same freedoms and choices as other Canadian youth, in such areas as socializing with friends, job selection and romantic involvements. For example, participants in Montreal cited that, quite often, the types of disagreements which arise between youth and their parents occur because Luso-Canadian children feel that their parents do not allow them to associate in the same manner as others with their peers and to date as freely as these. One woman, in Ottawa-Hull, explained how, when some young girls reach the age of 14 or 15, their parents begin to restrict their movements and keep them more at home:

...their friends at school tell them that they are going out to the movies, they go here, they go there... And they begin to feel like their parents don’t give them the same freedoms...

...If someone wants to go out... to a discotheque, their parents will say ‘No. In my day one didn’t do that’, or if someone wants to go steady at a certain age [their parents say] ‘Ha! In my day, it wasn’t like that’... In general, these are the types of conflicts which young Portuguese have...

My mother... came here when she was 16. My father was 20. I don’t have problems with my parents. They are understanding... However, when I sometimes want to go out... or I want to do things that they never did when they were young, they are much more hesitant to let me do those things... such as going out with my friends, just go out for a little while, they immediately get worried, [and say] ‘we don’t do that’ and ‘what is everyone else going to think’. They are used to the mentality of those which came from [Portugal]...

In addition, the participants also described how many parents have not yet realized that society in Portugal has changed in their absence and that practices and values around such issues as dating and socializing have become much more liberal.

This tight control over their daughter’s activities was restricted not only to dating habits and friendships, but also ranged to job, school and career choices. In fact, some of the participants themselves described in detail how they were under the constant threat of being “disowned,” should they engage in activities contrary to their parents wishes. One woman told the story of how her father’s rigid expectations have often translated into threats to disown her, if she does not make the social and career choices that he wants:

...my father, he’s a nice guy, a great guy, whatever, but, he’s just so expectant of me. I’m the only girl, I’m the only child....oh.. he’s been wanting to kick me out of the house so many times... First because, my friends aren’t educated, they’re Portuguese but ‘they don’t know what they’re talking about,’ and ‘their parents don’t have an education.’ Next because all the guys I’ve dated, or I’ve liked, are all construction workers, who have no education. Like, I’m totally the opposite of what I should have been. But, to him... because I don’t look at anybody else except Portuguese people.. and he has well ‘if you go out with him, I’m kicking you out of the house, I’m never your father again, I will disown you.’

She continued to describe how her father’s control over her extends to the type of jobs that she is allowed to hold:

When I was about 13 or 14 I wanted to work, he never let me. The only job I could have is teaching (...) that’s the only thing he would let me do. He would not let me work. So, once I was 16, I got a job teaching (...) He was in heaven. I hate it! I’m doing it now, I hate my job! I get paid really well... like really, really well, but it’s not something I like. But, if I were to quit that, and find another job.... I was working at (a) Bakery, I loved it. Getting $6 an hour, it was my favourite job. I had so much fun there. I met different people. It was something... I’m very social and I loved working there. My dad, when he found out I was working at the Bakery, he stopped talking to me, for about a month or two, because I was working there.

Another young woman in Montreal also told the story of how her own father had forced her to give up her summer job, in order not to place excessive demands upon her studying:

My father was forced to give his entire salary [to his parents], not only from one of his jobs, but from both of them. He got to the point where he was working at three jobs and my grandfather kept all the money. But, it wasn’t even to save it for him. It was to help pay expenses... For me, [his experience] affected me in this manner...: My father prohibited me from working. I work during the summer, but that’s it. And, this happened to me last summer: I got a job during the summer, but under the condition that, when school started, I would leave it. I knew this but, well, I got another job so I could work on the weekends, even when school started. My father was more than angry. He got home to my house, screaming... I can’t even begin to imagine. And I had to leave the job. I worked one weekend. My father made me leave it. There was no discussion, no negotiation, nothing. I had to really leave it. So, he doesn’t make me go to work, but he also doesn’t let me work. This is something that I would like to do, so that I would be able to set aside some money, because I know that things are difficult... He’s doing exactly the same thing [as my grandfather]. Exactly.

The rigid control which some of the participants’ parents appeared to exercise over the choices made by their daughters did not appear to exist over the young men in the groups. Many of the male participants described a situation where they had very few restrictions imposed upon them by their parents. One young man in Toronto stated:

“In my experience... both myself and all the guys I know, their parents don’t give them any problems. They basically do what they want to do.”

Another described the relaxed attitude which his father displayed, the first time he went out with his friends:

When I first told my mom, I was going to go out with my friends somewhere, she got all hysterical. My father was all relaxed on the sofa. Finally, he said ‘yeah, you can go’, and then I showed up at 4:00 o’clock in the morning, but mom was still there. All hysterical. My father was already in bed.

Despite his father’s calm demeanour, this young man nonetheless stated that it was still necessary for him to slowly “break the barriers” to going out with his friends at his own discretion.

One aspect of the tendency of some Portuguese parents to dominate their the dating practices of young people was the difficulty described by some of the participants in Winnipeg and Toronto that some parents have in accepting their children’s involvement in intercultural or interracial romances.

The participants in Winnipeg described how Portuguese parents tend to prefer that their children marry those from white, European ethnic groups and from the same cultural and religious background. This may mean that intercultural or interracial couples often have trouble being accepted and integrating. As one participant described it:

“I think that, if Portuguese married a white person.. a white non-Portuguese, it would be much more accepted [than if] they married a non-white... ...person.”

One young woman in Toronto described how her previously very “liberal” parents recently shocked her by telling that she should move out of the house, if she did not give up her romance with a non-Portuguese boyfriend:

I’ve been having a lot of problems with my parents lately... And, the main issue is because of my boyfriend, because of the fact that he’s not Portuguese and then they don’t like that, because in their mind, I was supposed to be getting married to someone who was Portuguese. And, the problem got really serious because, my parents, basically about a couple of months ago, told me ‘you either choose the family and leave him, or you choose him and move out’. And then, we decided, we broke up for a while. But we’re now back together again, they don’t know about that. (laughter) And, what they don’t know doesn’t hurt them.

Despite these examples, one participant in Winnipeg remarked that, he felt language and religion were more important factors in determining acceptance by Portuguese parents than race:

I think language and religion are probably the two most important. If you have somebody, even if they are of a totally different race, but they can speak the language and they... ...practice the same religion - and language more so than religion - they’re probably more well accepted. And, we have that example in the community, with [the person] who used to be the pastor of the Portuguese church in our community. He was basically well accepted in the community. And, he was from India.

Some Luso-Canadian Parents Do Not Care if Their Children Learn the Portuguese Language and Culture

Some of the participants in the Winnipeg youth group attributed the phenomenon of the lack of the Portuguese language and culture in the younger generations to the lack of interest of some parents in maintaining their Portuguese heritage. As one participant stated:

I know of some families, for example, their parents just want to become assimilated...Canadian. They don’t teach their kids Portuguese, they don’t come to the Portuguese centre. They just don’t give two hoots. They don’t care what their kids do with their culture.

Another participant felt that this was not an issue which is particular to the Portuguese. According to this man, the majority of young people - of all ethnic groups - don’t focus much attention upon their ethnic background, while many even actively deny their heritage. This occurs regardless of whether or not their parents want to assimilate:

From personal experience, where I work in a Portuguese business, we have parents who come in who can barely get by speaking English, and their children can barely speak Portuguese. And, it seems that, it’s not the parent’s fault, that they are trying to assimilate, because if they were, they would be more fluent, or at least attempt to be more fluent. And, I don’t know if it’s the family which is causing the problem. But, I really think it’s the youth. And certain youth get pulled, probably, in a different direction, from keeping a strong heritage.

The group in Vancouver also described how some Luso-Canadian parents have actually led their children to reject the Portuguese culture, through their exaggerated focus upon home ownership and work, and by their lack of participation in the activities of their new land.

A few of the focus groups also blamed the disappearance of the Portuguese language and culture on the fact that many Portuguese-Canadian parents do not speak Portuguese at home, to their children and do not make an effort to maintain their cultural and linguistic traditions. In the opinion of a number of participants - including a few of Azorean background - this tendency was especially acute amongst Azorean families. One woman commented on the surprise expressed by her friends and family members at discovering that she is maintaining her children active in the Portuguese community:

I am a mother of three children and I have always had a lot pride in my sons being active in the Portuguese community. However, people with whom I have spoken, including members of my family, and people my own age, are very surprised that I have maintained my children involved with the association, the church, the Portuguese school and other cultural activities.

Another participant, of Azorean descent, also spoke of the loss of her distinctive Azorean culture and of the lack of support which the community itself affords the maintenance of this culture:

Being Azorean, I notice that there is a great lack... [i.e.. a great need] for people to pay more attention to our culture, especially the part of the Azores. This even shocks, at times... The way in which I have my children here, at school, at church, and I see that people are so wrong and that they haven’t even been able to understand us. For example, myself, or another person, who wants to bring our children closer [to our culture], we are the ones that are always [told].... ‘oh! I don’t know why! I don’t know why! They’re wasting time. And tomorrow they are not even going to speak Portuguese.’ I think that this is behind it all in our culture.

People at the meeting in Saskatoon also cited how there seemed to be a lack of interest around the need for a Portuguese school in their region. One participant mentioned how there used to be local classes for Portuguese children, yet they were cancelled for lack of participation. As one woman mentioned:

There does not seem to be an interest in the community to send their children to learn the language, to have the social contact with other children of the same background, or learn about... their parents’ culture. There does not seem to be a unified community.

According to a few of the participants, some of those parents do not speak to their children in Portuguese and do not send them to Portuguese school because they attempt to use these to learn English. One person in Toronto stated: “It is an error which the parents make... many times they use their children to learn English.”

Other participants also stated how some parents mistakenly believe that having to learn more than one language will confuse their children, so that their English or French skills will suffer. One woman told her story:

I had friends... who called me vain for wanting that my daughter speak Portuguese, who told me that I would confuse my daughter’s head (because I had my daughter at the same time in Portuguese and English school).... I heard so much of this that, one day, I went to my doctor and said: ‘Doctor, I came here for the following reason: Do you think that it is harmful for my four-year-old daughter... ...to be in two schools learning Portuguese and English?’ And he looked at me, laughed and said, ‘Who told you that?’ I said ‘People tell me.’ And he said, ‘Don’t listen to what people tell you. Any child who is four years old has the capacity to learn four languages at the same time.’ From that moment onward, I stopped being worried and my child still speaks both Portuguese and English.

According to participants, the unwillingness of many parents to speak Portuguese at home often results in the loss of the child’s ability to speak either language well and in the adoption of their parent’s inadequate and incorrect repertoire of English or French. One participant in Quebec City gave this account of one Portuguese father who was trying to raise his children entirely in the French language:

I could never forget one Portuguese who told me that he would never risk speaking Portuguese to his children, because he was afraid that they would have problems in school. And, I say this with all sincerity, this individual’s French was horrible.. horrible! Even his Portuguese was full of mistakes. But, his French... he spoke half-Portuguese, half-French. And, he wouldn’t risk speaking Portuguese because he was afraid. This was something that I later found out that was constant. People thought that the fact of teaching Portuguese to their children would lead to complications.So they thought ‘In that case, I’ll speak to them only in French. So the children later would only speak a kind of hybrid language.

In many cases, the parents speak [a kind of] English that [is unpardonable] (...que aquilo é de dar com um pau em cima).So the child is going to pick up how they say things... that ‘slang’... If the father or mother speak English or French well, then it’s not too bad. But, it’s a problem for the child afterwards, to speak Portuguese... and, he goes to school already with that word [style of speaking] that is half Portuguese, half English, or half French, that he [heard] from his parents at home.

In order to counter this tendency of parents not to speak Portuguese at home, the people at a few of the meetings spoke of the urgent need to conduct education to parents about the benefits of speaking the language at home, to their children.

Despite also painting a negative picture of the survival of the Portuguese language in their area, the participants in the Maritimes group differed from their counterparts in affirming that many young people in this region had recently become interested in maintaining the Portuguese language. As one young participant mentioned: “...many people don’t know how to speak Portuguese, only English... and then, we want to speak to our parents and we aren’t able... because its half-Portuguese, half-English.” Another young man described how many young people are now wanting to return to Portugal, to find work:

Youth before did not want to learn Portuguese. But, I think that now many young people want to return to Portugal. And now they become more interested in learning Portuguese. They do not like living here anymore...

Another young woman described the length to which she has gone to become familiar with Portuguese ”I wanted to learn Portuguese, however, I am learning Spanish because there were no Portuguese classes.”

A few issues were raised in the focus groups which described the unsatisfactory way in which some of the participants felt that the young people in their community were relating to their parents and to their Portuguese heritage. These issues ranged from families encountering discipline problems with their children, to the presence of a culture and values gap and a sense of cultural duality amongst some Luso-Canadian youth (discussed in a previous section). Some of these groups ascribed at least part of these problems to a widespread lack of interest amongst young Luso-Canadians in their parents’ culture or feelings of “shame” and “inferiority,” amongst many Luso-Canadian young people, vis-a-vis their Portuguese heritage. However, it is important to note that these points were only raised in the smaller centres, where the community has a much more insignificant profile in the public life of the local society.

Many Luso-Canadian Young People Have Little Interest in the Portuguese Language and Culture

The participants in the focus groups in Winnipeg, Vancouver and Osoyoos, B.C. cited the apparent lack of interest of local youth in the Portuguese language and culture as one of the most salient reasons for the rapid disappearance of the Portuguese presence in their regions. The participants in Osoyoos described how many of the youth in the area are little involved in the activities of the local Portuguese community. The group in Vancouver lamented the fact that many cultural markers were dying out., (such as children kissing parents, etc.). They also stated how, while there are many youth who are ”dying to be Portuguese,” there are also others who are ashamed of their parents and their traditions. One young man commented: “Lots of young people under the age of 25 to 20, they don’t care, you know. They just... pfft....”

Luso-Canadian Youth Feel a Sense of “Shame,” or “Inferiority” About Their Portuguese Heritage

A number of the groups spoke about how the cultural duality of youth is often underlain by a sense of “shame” or “inferiority” on the part of Luso-Canadian youth, regarding their origins. One participant in Montreal described how Portuguese youth were often ashamed to acknowledge their Portuguese background and how this prevented them from becoming more involved in community matters. The participants in Quebec City also talked, at length, about how Luso-Canadian youth in their region are often hesitant to recognize their heritage publicly and how they often hold deprecating notions of their parents’ culture and values.

The people in Toronto and Saskatoon spoke about the existence of discipline problems amongst some Luso-Canadian young people and spoke about how these often lead to family conflicts and rebellion. Those in the July Toronto group described this in terms of a “generation gap” between Portuguese children and their parents.

Participants in Saskatoon also cited how hard it was for the Portuguese in this city to control their children and to get orientation for such problems. One person complained that children come home and don’t obey their parents: “At home, the parents don’t have any control over them.” Another participant called for the creation of a local centre which could assist Portuguese families in these matters.

The young people here, often, don’t want to subject themselves to the ideas that the older generation bring to them... it’s annoying. Afterwards, there are splits. They start to think that they are already adults... Many times they don’t take the best path. It’s a situation that no one can do anything about, in my opinion. We try to give the best that we can to our children.... Our children take their own path... It is really a pity that there aren’t more Portuguese in this city, that there isn’t a centre where people can meet and associate. many times, certain problems which exist, they would exist in the same way... however, they might not be as difficult to bear, as difficult for us to accept; especially for people who have no family support and who feel all alone, in a country that is not totally alien to them, but which still continues to be a bit alien. This is the reason why I say, maybe I won’t be here very much longer.

Participants in a number of these groups saw these clashes and discipline problems within the family as signs of a wide cultural gap, or conflict, between Portuguese parents and their children, who are immersed in the culture and values of the host country. They saw this “value conflict” as the main issue behind many of the problems between parents and children (this was also one of the main points identified in the youth focus groups).

In describing some of the issues which affect the decisions of young Portuguese-Canadians regarding their education, the individuals in this study also discussed a number of issues related to the manner in which societal forces, outside of the Luso-Canadian community may influence these choices. People spoke of such issues as peer pressure, the recruitment of capitalist market forces of consumers and low-paid workers and the disparaging manner in which the Portuguese language and culture is viewed within mainstream Canadian and Quebecois society.

When asked his opinion as to why many of his friends dropped out, one participant described how the difficult demands of school combined with peer pressure in the Basic and General levels, where he had studied, worked together to induce Luso-Canadian students to quit school prematurely:

...they just got sick of it... ...they get sick of it and so, the easy way out is just to drop out. That’s it. [...] But then, you go out... One guy I know doesn’t have a job. How is he going to get a job, after? You tell him to go back. [...] Going back in their 40’s, to get their OSSD, or their OAC’s.... it’s ridiculous... ...also peer pressure, with your friends. One guy’s going to think of dropping out, he’s going to tell his friend like ‘Yeah! Life is so good outside! No pressure. No homework. No nothing.’ But, that’s not the facts. The fact is, what are you going to have? A job in the future?... ...You’re going to have nothing. If I apply for a job now with him, he applies, who’s going to get the job? I have a better resumé than he has, because I have a... ...college diploma, and he has nothing.

This participant further described how his friends often pressured him to actions which would prejudice his progress:

I’d just be with them during the day. When they’d go for smokes, I wouldn’t go with them... ...Usually, you’d get pressured to leave the class with them, to skip off. They’d go ‘oh, if you don’t skip off, you’re not part of the gang.’ I never did that. What’s the point of doing that. You’re in class for something.

Capitalist Market Forces Induce Young People to Prematurely Become Consumers and Workers

Some participants blamed the North American capitalist economy for creating a situation where young people receive immediate rewards for leaving school and few for delaying their gratification and acquiring a higher education. According to one participant in Winnipeg, the twin demands of North American industry for cheap labour and their need to tap the youth consumer market have created the situations that actively incite young people to engage in immediate consumption. This particularly affects lower-class youth, since these must enter into a much greater and longer phase of delayed material gratification than their middle-class counterparts, before they are finally able to purchase those goods to which they aspire. According to this person, this is a major factor which leads Luso-Canadian students to drop out of school prematurely:

Any boy, today, at sixteen years of age is offered his licence. And, they offer him the licence not for the sake of offering him anything, but, in order to give him an instrument, so that he can start spending money; and, for him to start spending money, in order to work; and in order to work, to take the place of an adult; to work without any benefits; and so, in order to work at night, during the day, on Saturday, on Sunday, at any time, with a minimum salary, without any guarantees... And the boy continues being deceived. Because, he continues making money to buy a car. His life is made extremely easy. At eighteen years of age, he can go drink a beer. At sixteen, he can cruise around in a car [...] It’s extremely easy. And, it’s much more pleasant for a boy - if he doesn’t have a strong preparation and a source of very strong support - to go to work to have a car, than to continue studying, without having a car. But, what’s needed is to say to them that, when they get to be twenty years of age, and they become men, they are going to be fired from this job. Because this job has to be given to another sixteen-year-old boy.

In a related comment, one young person described how many Luso-Canadian youth rebel against their parents’ focus upon work and against the lifestyle sacrifices that are demanded of their family, in order to purchase a home. According to this participant, this tendency has contributed to the dropout rate, since - while many young people see schooling as one way to a better life - many others are no longer willing to put off doing and buying the things which they have always been denied.

According to the first participant, what is needed to counter this tendency in the community is a “revolution in mentalities,” as well as the concerted placement of Portuguese-Canadians in positions of responsibility, where they can help to change these ideals and this capitalist system.

Disparaging Treatment of the Portuguese Language and Culture by Canadian Society-at-Large

The people in a number of the meetings attributed the problems of cultural duality amongst Luso-Canadian youth to the disparaging manner in which Portuguese-Canadians are sometimes regarded in this country. This was a theme that was particularly stressed in the meetings held in the province of Quebec. As one young woman in Quebec City stated:

[sometimes an older person says to a child] ‘Sing in Portuguese’ or, ‘Do this in Portuguese’ Sometimes this can be very amusing, very nice, but it is also very hard on a young person.... A young person does not like to be conspicuous, so what does he do? He puts himself at the level of everyone else... He stops speaking Portuguese. He starts doing exactly as others do, or else... The example of my brother is very good to show this. They called us names. My brother reacted in such a fashion that he always spoke French, so that he would never give the impression that he was of any other origin but French.

People also attributed these feelings to the discriminatory fashion in which the Portuguese language, culture and history are treated, in mainstream Quebec society. One person in Quebec City offered the following example from his own daughter’s schooling:

My daughter had a series of problems with a teacher, because she discovered that he didn’t teach history correctly. So... she started by confronting this teacher.... she got home and asked me for a number of pages of a survey which I had done on the Portuguese in North America and took it to school to show the teacher. This history teacher had never seen this. He did not know why Newfoundland was Terra Nova’, and did not know why Labrador was named ‘Labrador’, why the Bay of Fundy was called the Bay of Fundy...

No one knows that Jacques Cartier had a Portuguese captain and that the daily journal of Jacques Cartier was written in Portuguese and that what he knew he had learned in Portugal. No one knows anything about this. These are historical facts that... are present in our lives and that, when these are shown [to youth], they illustrate that the Portuguese have a history to be proud of, a unique history...

For these reasons, participants in a number of groups, and particularly those in Quebec City, Ottawa-Hull, the Maritimes, Northern Ontario and Vancouver stressed the importance of educating the community’s young people to the contributions which the Portuguese have made to Canadian history and in promoting the Portuguese language and culture.

In describing some of the issues surrounding the underachievement problem, some people in this study pointed to the school system, and its practices. These individuals commented upon a perceived lack of support on the part of schools, towards Portuguese students, parents and the Portuguese culture.

Participants across the country voiced a number of concerns regarding the way in which their children were being educated in local schools. The majority of people voiced the belief that their local schools were too lax in discipline. They also spoke disapprovingly of Canadian child-protection laws and procedures, which they believed outlawed spanking in the home and, thus, did not allow many people from giving their children a proper moral education. While many of the participants readily acknowledged that there are certain parents who use excessive measures in disciplining their children and while virtually all said that they have never had problems with their own sons and daughters, they also voiced their perception that Canadian practices exaggerated too far in the other direction. They felt these laws disempowered parents from giving their children proper discipline and they believed they also set some young people against their own parents. The groups also voiced other concerns related to the manner in which local schools failed to relate to Portuguese parents and students and to the Portuguese culture

Portuguese-Canadian parents perceive a lack of discipline and moral education in local schools.

Despite the prominence which was given to the issue of underachievement, the Portuguese-Canadians who participated in this study generally did not look to the schools for an explanation for this problem. Rather, the most often repeated complaint that was levelled against the education system was how local schools failed to discipline their children effectively.

Participants in one of the Toronto groups mentioned the existence of the “generation gap,” a fact which they often attributed to a perceived lack of discipline and the dearth of moral education in Canadian schools. Participants at the meeting complained about how children in school today are allowed to smoke in school and to wear “provocative” clothing. Another man spoke of the disrespectful way in which he perceives the schools have taught his son to relate to authority:

I speak in a soft tone to him and he [tells me off]. And I speak to him in this tone, almost with my heart in my hands [in a pleading tone]. So, for me, there doesn’t exist any education in school... within our schools themselves.

Some of the participants in Saskatoon attributed the problems in disciplining young people to the lack of moral education in local schools. One person suggested that the churches should work more closely with the schools. Another woman stated:

The Canadian government has to take a little bit more seriously the problems that families are having in educating their kids. The schools have to take a little bit more responsibility in teaching kids what’s right and what’s wrong. They spend more time at school than they do at home, and most parents have to work, they have no choice.... If the Canadian government wants to solve some of the future problems that they will have, with these kids, is to educate them between what’s right and what’s wrong in school and take more responsibility in that, because the parents cannot do it by themselves.... sooner or later its going to hurt the country.

Schools are not working with Portuguese-Canadian parents to keep these informed and to reflect their wishes regarding their children’s education.

Another criticism of the education system was how schools did not allow parents the freedom to take actions which these deemed necessary to help their children academically. One participant in the July Toronto meeting also gave an example of how his request to transfer his son from one school to another was repeatedly denied:

I wanted to change my son from one school to another, exactly because of a serious attendance problem that he was having. I submitted the papers, all the papers to transfer him.... the school refused him. Every day they refused him. Every day he couldn’t go to school... He was three months at home without attending school.

I had my oldest girl in this school, and the youngest in another, and I wanted to put both in the same school. They did not let me withdraw her to transfer her to another. I think this is wrong.

Another complaint from the group in Quebec was how schools were not doing a good job of informing Portuguese parents about the functioning of the education system and about important changes.

Schools are ignoring the wishes of Portuguese-Canadian parents, regarding the manner in which they would like their children to be taught and disciplined.

Although participants in all three Toronto meetings placed the bulk of the responsibility for the underachievement problem on the attitudes and practices of Portuguese parents, a few individuals in two of the groups also voiced concerns regarding the way in which their local schools were providing service to the community. Some of the participants - like those in one of the Toronto groups - blamed the values and culture gap between Luso-Canadian parents and youth on the lack of discipline and moral education that they believed exists in Canadian schools. These parents felt that their local schools did not discipline students effectively. At the same time, they also felt that these did not allow parents to exercise control over their children in such issues as home discipline and the freedom to send their children to the school of their choice.

Another criticism of the education system was the way in which the contributions of the diverse Canadian ethnic groups in the formation of Canada were not being taught to children. One participant lamented:

The teaching of the history of Canada, for example, or the history of Quebec, teaches us also about the role which the Portuguese have played, or that other ethnic communities have played in the development of the country - which is something that is completely lacking in today’s curriculum.

The participants in Quebec City and Hamilton also criticized the education system for contributing to underachievement, by affirming that the schools in their region are not really prepared to serve working-class, minority-language parents such as the Portuguese, or to deal effectively with the problems of immigrant students. Some of the participants in Hamilton also mentioned the “culture shock” which many students and teachers encounter when dealing with each other in school. Another participant in Quebec told the story of an acquaintance who was allowed to immigrate to that province and who completed one year in a local secondary school, but was later rejected entrance into a French-language C.E.G.E.P., on the basis of his lack of French. This participant appealed to the school on behalf of this student by saying: “You want the immigrants who arrive to speak French, but you refuse them in the C.E.G.E.P., because they don’t speak French. This makes no sense at all.”

The School System Makes it Extremely Difficult for Students in Basic and General Levels of Study to Move to a Higher Level

From the discussion of some of the participants, it also became apparent that, under the current system of streaming secondary school students into different levels of study based on ability levels, the school system places severe barriers to the advancement of Basic- and General-level students, who who want to progress to levels where they will be eligible to enter post-secondary education. Two of the participants in the Toronto group described being forced to repeatedly start again, and repeat previous academic years, in their attempts to enter the Advanced level. One young woman told her story:

When I first came to Canada, what the school did to me was incredible. Because I didn’t know how to speak English, they put me in the General level, when I started high-school. And then, I started getting really high marks above people who were born here. And then, I tried to go on to the Advanced, for the following year, and then they told me I had to start all over again. So, instead of putting me in advanced grade 10, they made me take all Advanced grade 9. So I repeated grade 9 with all General, then I repeated Grade 9 with all advanced, before I could move on... ...I graduated, I think with 52 (credits). I took spares in summer schools, and everything... ...And then, at graduation they gave me a best achievement award, because I kept on going back and tried to raise myself up.... .....Because they wouldn’t let me just go to straight Advanced...

Another participant described the same barriers, in his attempts to advance from Basic level studies:

The same thing happened to me. I went from Grade 9 Basic to 10 Basic and then 9 General to 12 General, 9 Advanced, 12 Advanced, plus 13 Advanced... ...And same thing with English. So, basically, I got 49 credits in high-school. Basically, half of those were English and Maths... ...Plus 3 honour rolls. Which could have been avoided if they didn’t label me that way.

There is Labelling and Condescending Treatment of General and Basic-level Students

Participants in Toronto also described the effects of labelling on General and Basic-level students and how this may lead to many of them dropping out. The same young man in Toronto illustrated how he was labelled by his teachers, the struggle which he went through to escape from Basic and General level studies and the difficulty which this caused in his relationship with his parents:

They labelled me as a basic student, so the teachers kind of tried to push me towards lower education, but, I strived, with my parents... I have the will and I got grade 13 math and grade 13 English. Now, I’m... ...not a good speaker... ...I’d go home every time and complain to my parents. My parents would say... ‘stick with it, go ahead with it, just think of it... ...the more education you have, the better it’s going to be for you’, so I kept going, going, going... Every day, at home, we’d have a fight or something about... school, or whatever. I take it out on them ... ...I’m supposed to take it out on the teachers, but... I just try to do the best I can.

Another participant highlighted what he witnessed to be the condescending manner in which students are treated in Basic and General levels:

I remember taking a general interest, auto mechanics course, that was offered by Brockton, [a former Basic-level school] when Brockton used to be around. And [the teacher] used to tell us that, this is the material that they used for grade 10 or grade 11 auto mechanics. Some of the things that you noticed, just being used to advanced courses, is really the condescending way that they treat those students. Like, you’d get handouts, and... ...it would have multiple choice questions. It would say something like ‘circle the answer in a RED pen’, like highlighted, in capital letters. And what is that, ‘In a RED pen’? I mean, it’s just, little things like that, you notice. And, I can tell, even though I never took a course at those other levels, I could tell if you were taking something at basic and general, you know, that people do see you and do label you as not very smart. And, obviously, if people are doing that all throughout school, it’s going to rub off on you and you’re going to start seeing yourself like that.

One man described how monotonous teaching styles often drive many people from language classes:

Many times, an immigrant will stop learning a language, not because he is not able to learn, or because the teachers are not eager to teach, but simply because it becomes monotonous, and the teaching-style is unpleasant.

There is a Lack of Accessible Child-Care, for Those Luso-Canadians Who Would Like to Learn English

The lack of child care was also cited as one reason why some Portuguese-Canadian parents have never learned English. One woman described the difficulties which many women had in leaving their children in daycare, in order to attend language classes:

...many women arrived in Canada with children.... They did not know anyone and they weren’t going to let their children alone at home to go to school.

Participants in Hamilton, Osoyoos B.C. and the Maritimes also spoke about the need to create affordable daycare for the Luso-Canadian children in their regions. In Hamilton, and the Maritimes people mentioned how there is a need for a daycare, where children can have exposure to the Portuguese language and culture. One participant in Osoyoos, B.C. mentioned that, in his location, there was only one daycare, which was also very expensive. This participant cited how a couple with two children would be better off quitting their jobs to raise their children, as they would lose more money by continuing to work and placing their sons and daughters in the available daycare.

Some Schools Discourage the Maintenance of the Portuguese Language, Culture and Identity

When asked whether their schools fostered, or discouraged, the development of a sense of their Portuguese identity, participants in the Winnipeg youth focus group stated that this depended upon the nature of the particular school and whether or not there is a large Portuguese student presence. The group felt that, the climate and practices of certain schools reinforced ethnic identity, while the environment in others actively dissuaded the expression of the ethnic differences between students. As one young woman explained:

I have friends who went to... how do I put it?... totally ‘white’ schools, with very few immigrants - in the south part of Winnipeg - who had to get assimilated, where they could not bring out their own culture. It was just not the thing to do. Because no one really understood. If you tried, no one would understand what you were doing. So you would have to assimilate yourself. And, when you were asked ‘what are you’, [you would say] ‘I’m Canadian’. ‘Well, what are your parents?’, ‘Well, they’re Portuguese. But, I’m Canadian.’ But, if you went to a school like my sister and I... a multicultural school, all different races. We have our multicultural events, and we are encouraged to speak Portuguese.

Another young woman felt that her experiences in school definitely did not encourage the maintenance of her Portuguese identity.

[My] Elementary school... ...was half Ukrainian and half English. All the little things we had happening in the school was all Ukrainian and that was it, just English and Ukrainian. And, when I went into high-school, it was French and English, and that was it...

The people at this meeting were of the opinion that the maintenance of a strong cultural identity was important for the development of most Luso-Canadian youth. They described how those youth who have a strong and positive Portuguese-Canadian identity tend to do well in many of their endeavours. However, they also mentioned how it was very hard for young people who attended schools with very few Portuguese to assert their ethnic identity, since - as one participant explained - most young people “...are very vulnerable at that age. And they don’t want to be the odd person out.”

While commenting on disadvantaging school policies and procedures, the participants in this study also attributed some of these practices to the presence of certain government policies, which impacted negatively upon the education of the community’s children.

Current Child-Protection Laws and Practices Prevent Luso-Canadian Parents from Effectively Disciplining Their Children

At the same time that participants complained of the lax discipline in their local schools, many of the participants, across various groups, also voiced a deep resentment that current Canadian child-protection laws and the procedures practised in school when confronted with cases of physical punishment disempowered parents from disciplining their children and often unfairly accused innocent individuals of being guilty of child-abuse. A participant in the July Toronto meeting gave his view of the attitude towards the corporal punishment of children in Canada: “In this country, we can’t touch them. And when we do, we always run into problems.”[7] Another man in the November Toronto meeting said:

...teachers are a little - how should I say this? - hard on parents and not on children. In this country, a father has a son, sends him to school, the son, for whatever reason, is bad...he gets to school, tells the teacher that his father hit him, then they go and take that father to jail. Well this is a very wrong thing. The first thing above all is that the father should discipline the child at home, but the teacher should back what the father does. Instead, it is the opposite. The father who is trying to educate his son, if he gives him a little “nudge”, the son gets to school and the teacher sends the police to pick up the father.This happened with a case that I know.... a child that was very rebellious, our neighbour.... one day he hit his leg and went to school and told the teacher that his father had hit him. And, the teacher.... they went to his home, asking questions of the father, and to the boys, if the father normally beat his children.... This is something which is not right... If the neighbours had not said ‘no, no, the boy is bad. He does this and that’, the poor man would have gone to jail. Is this right? No, it is not. In this respect, Canada is very backward... Very!

One man in Ottawa-Hull compared the Canadian and Portuguese styles of discipline and complained of what he believed was the general attitude in Canadian schools regarding corporal punishment:

...the European style of discipline is much better than the Canadian. If a mother grabs her child, or without wanting to, gives him a hard pinch, or pulls his ear... [the child]... says ‘I’m going to call the police...’ Why? Because... in terms of discipline they are extremely protected. In their own school... they tell them, ‘if your mother happens to pull your ear, phone the police, or come to school and tell me.’ So, a social system is created that is so geared towards the child that she feels protected by that system. And, what’s happening today amongst Canadian youth? Robberies, murders, violence... because they have all the protection. Canadian society itself is saying ‘How is it possible at this moment for Canadian youth to be in this state, to be doing such insane things?’

If any of my children told me ‘I’m going to call the police...’ I would immediately pick up the telephone, dial the number and [say] ‘Now, talk to the police and, when the police get here, take me in front of them, so that they can see for themselves.’

P1- How do you expect them to give [students] good direction if the School Boards will not permit this. They permit something which is totally different than what we believe, than that which is our mentality?

P2 - In school the discipline (‘educação) that they give them is to tell students ‘If you father hits you...’

I do not agree very much with the education system.... with regards to discipline. I don’t agree that one should be asked to enrol one’s child in ‘Religion and Morality’... and what is the moral that is given to children? The first message on morality that they give to children is ‘if your father should give you a slap in the face, come and tell us or call the police...’

...at home we give our children one kind of education [i.e.. in terms of discipline] and when they get to school, they receive exactly the opposite. So, it is not even worth enrolling our children in ‘Religion and Morality’. That is not ‘morality’ that is an ‘immorality’. So, they - instead of... teaching children, educating [in terms of discipline] - no... they are going back on the discipline that the parent is giving at home.

One person in the Ottawa-Hull meeting spoke at length of the need to explain current child-abuse laws and practices to Portuguese parents and to give them workable alternatives to physical punishment. According to this man, when a child is removed from the home, there is a shock between the Portuguese family and the justice system:

... [They say] ‘But, what’s this? Am I not the father of these children any more?’ They don’t understand... ...this is one of the biggest problems that I have encountered, in my experience, the lack of knowledge amongst parents about how to discipline their children, that there are alternative methods, not only [the one] of physically abusing their son or daughter, and that they have to know the laws of Canada well, that this is a criminal offence, that they may be sent to prison, as was the case with one Portuguese... If there was a [professional counsellor] who could not only help our people, giving them advice and therapy, but who could also be a mediator between these government bodies and Portuguese families, to explain, provide information and educate...

The participant suggested that seminars could be given at the beginning of the school year, to inform parents of these issues and to tell parents how to help their children in their academic achievement.

Participants in one group also engaged in a debate about possible solutions to the issues concerning the education of Portuguese youth. One possibility - which was suggested by one participant, specifically in relation to improving the contradiction between the permissiveness found in official schools and the more rigid authority demanded by Portuguese parents - was the maintenance of private schools for the community’s children. Another alternative was for the full government funding of Saturday morning Portuguese schools. This participant called upon the Congress to help local Portuguese schools secure such funding.

Portuguese Youth Are Excluded as Target Groups for “Affirmative-Action” and “Anti-Racist” Initiatives

A particularly contentious issue with some of the younger participants in the Vancouver and Maritimes groups was that, while they felt that the community suffered under many of the same structural discrimination and problems of access to education as visible minorities, they were not covered by the same “anti-racist” and “affirmative action” programmes that are designed to address those issues. According to some in the Vancouver group, this discourages many Portuguese youth from continuing to post-secondary education. One young man described how the experience of seeing himself excluded from these programmes adversely influenced his decision to enter medical school:

Myself, I wanted to go to Medical School, two years ago. And, I started looking, and I see all these little things, if you’re a visible minority. If you’re coloured, this, or if you’re handicapped, or if you’re a native Indian. All these items are for a minority, you have better chances for a scholarship, you have better chances to get in. And I stopped. I wanted to go into medicine and I stopped. I wanted to go into medicine because, I think I’m a very people-person... ...And, because of that, I thought medicine would be my perfect job, or lifestyle. And I can’t... I know because I’m going to be treated as just a white Canadian man, which not that they’re prejudiced against, but, other people are given more chances.

Another participant in the Maritimes stated how Portuguese families are often amongst the lowest wage earners in this country and affirmed that, consequently, tuition fee increases would affect people in this community to a greater degree than those in the mainstream. On this basis, he made the following appeal for the Portuguese to be included in government programmes to assist educational equity:

...a lot of people - as in the Black association - may have certain scholarships... that help them along. I think that we should have something to help us.... the black students get all this help... we’re not a visible minority, or anything, but, in some aspects, I think that we should be getting some help from someone.

Thus, these groups called upon educational institutions and government to regard Portuguese students as eligible minorities for those programmes.

They also raised a call for colleges and universities to facilitate the entrance of Portuguese students who sought to serve within their community as professionals. Towards these aims, some of the participants urged the Congress to negotiate with post-secondary institutions for the adoption of guarantees of access to higher education for Portuguese youth. For example, universities entrance procedures should be altered to give credit to those applicants with unique linguistic abilities; ones which are needed to work in under serviced communities. Participants felt that this would be the best way to assure that there would be enough Portuguese-speaking professionals to service the aging community.

The Lack of Adequate Government Support for the Teaching and Promotion of the Portuguese Language and Culture

One issue which was seen by a number of the groups as contributing to the problem of the loss of the Portuguese language and culture from their region was the lack of promotion of cultural activities in their area, and in particular the lack of government support for the teaching of the Portuguese language and for the promotion of local cultural activities. The largest single group of specific responses (27 answers) to the answer on educational issues in the questionnaire were those that cited the lack of structures and facilities for the teaching and promotion of Portuguese. People commented on the lack of teachers, classroom space, material support and the non-existence of activities for the promotion of the Portuguese language and culture.

This issue was also raised quite frequently in the focus groups, where people regarded this mostly as a cultural, rather than educational, issue. The participants in outlying regions such as Osoyoos, B.C., Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury, Ontario, the Maritimes as well as Winnipeg, Manitoba decried the historic lack of assistance on the part of the Portuguese government for the creation of Portuguese schools in their areas and for the promotion of the Portuguese culture and language, in general. The participants in Osoyoos, B.C., Sault Ste. Marie and in the Maritimes specifically cited the need to bring to their regions a Portuguese teacher who could begin teaching the language to the community’s children. They also mentioned the need to provide the necessary support, in the form of books and other school material in the Portuguese language. Participants in Osoyoos saw the introduction of a Portuguese school in the area as one small step which could help to stem the rapid disappearance of the Portuguese culture in the region. Meanwhile, participants in the Maritimes specifically appealed to the communities in Montreal and Toronto, to help send qualified people to teach in this location. They mentioned that, while there is currently one woman who teaches Portuguese to community children, her services are too expensive and, because she is Brazilian, she is teaching their children Brazilian - rather than European - Portuguese.

Participants in Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie also commented how there is very little support for Portuguese cultural activities, in the Northern Portuguese communities. Those in Sault Ste. Marie complained that sports events are practically the only activities of any merit which are organized locally. People here cited how there should be more events which bring people together to celebrate and express their ethnic identity. Others lamented the general lack of “Portuguese culture”, especially amongst the younger generations in this region. One man in Sault Ste. Marie pleaded for more assistance for the local community:

The help which we have had until now from the Portuguese government has been very little. We’ve had some help, but it’s been very little. There is some help in Toronto, because there are many Portuguese there and more possibilities. I assume that we should have more help... or that we should have someone looking out for us. Just because we are far away, we should not be so far from our community... In this way, we’re getting further from our own people. We’re all alone... We need to have Portuguese culture. Our children need to learn our Portuguese language.

The group in Osoyoos called for the Portuguese and Canadian governments to support their local cultural activities (ex. sports events, ethnic festivals) with funds or even with other material aid.

One participant in Sault Ste. Marie attempted to account for this lack of cultural activity by referring to the fact that the Portuguese usually earn much less than those from other groups. As a result, they spend a lot of time working, taking care of the family and thus, don’t have time to travel, to enjoy life and to have more diverse cultural experiences. As this participant stated: “Other cultures... have more money, more monetary resources, in which they don’t have to worry as much as we do.”

The group in Montreal also raised a concern about the declining support on the part of Canada’s governments for the cultures and languages of this country’s ethnic and racial minorities. As one participant stated: ”There is a tendency to amalgamate all of the ethnic groups in a type of ‘melting pot... They are not too interested that we continue to promote our cultures of origin....“ The same participant went on to wax poetic on the situation of the increasingly scarce and unreliable government funding for these activities: ”The time passes between the falling of a few raindrops - when it rains at all - and we don’t even take notice...”

Related to this was the call of a few participants for Canadian government subsidies to be granted to Portuguese private schools; as one participant noted: “...to the same extent as the Jewish, Greek schools etc...“ Participants urged the Congress to assist local schools in applying for these subsidies.

Despite calling for more funds for the promotion of the Portuguese cultural activities, participants in Sudbury were of differing opinions regarding where this money should originate. Some felt that the Portuguese government could distribute funds for such projects, while others thought that the Canadian government should play a part. One participant outlined her view of the responsibility of the Portuguese community itself, in this matter:

...there is a great lack of Portuguese culture, exactly because there are no funds. Despite this fact, I think that we should not impose [on the Canadian government], a government which is already hard-pressed to give us funds. We - as Portuguese who feel a lack of Portuguese theatres or movies, or of other cultural exhibitions - should make the effort to get these things ourselves. Because, every time that we ask the Canadian government to give us funds for a cultural activity, without us fundraising ourselves, we are also imposing on the government a lack of money for other educational projects....

This same participant also mentioned how Portuguese immigrants should apply their money in Canada, instead of sending it to Portugal, as one way of investing in their presence in Canada and of aiding the promotion of Portuguese culture in this country.

The Inadequacy of Portuguese-Government Support for the Teaching and Promotion of the Portuguese Language and Culture

The people in various meetings across the country attributed some portion of the blame for the cultural conflict, the feelings of duality and “shame” on the part of young Portuguese-Canadians to the fact that the Portuguese government has traditionally provided very little cultural and linguistic support to the smaller and more remote Portuguese-Canadian communities. For example, participants in Ottawa-Hull lamented the fact that many Portuguese youth have never been made familiar with the Portuguese culture and language and cited this as one reason for the “confusion” of these young people. Another participant in Quebec City attested to the fact that Portuguese youth “...don’t have any notion of the richness of Portuguese history.” People in a number of cities, such as Edmonton, also attributed the lack of involvement of youth in Portuguese cultural activities to the lack of promotion of the Portuguese language and culture amongst youth.

In fact, some evidence to support this point of view (and to illustrate the value of cultural and linguistic promotion) is provided by the fact that these issues of (i.e.. cultural duality, conflict and “shame”) were much more often cited as problems by the groups in the smaller and outlying communities than by those in the major centres.

The Lack of Portuguese-Language Television, (ex. CFMT, RTP on cable), in the Remote Communities

A related issue in some of the remote communities, such as Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, was the lack of Portuguese-language television, which could serve people in the region. One participant Sault Ste. Marie spoke of how other communities in the region, who are in even smaller numbers than the Portuguese, are served by their own programmes, while the Portuguese are not: ”The Spanish have a television programme by way of Telelatino and they are in much fewer numbers than us... What is the reason that we couldn’t also have one through the same television programme?

Another participant also described how the eligibility requirements of some E.S.L. programmes make these inaccessible to many of the Portuguese. In particular, this person mentioned how the rules of the local LINC Programme (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada, sponsored by Human Resources Development Canada), do not allow Canadian citizens to participate in the programme and thus effectively bar those Portuguese who have acquired citizenship from attending classes. According to this participant, many older immigrants did not have the opportunity when they arrived in this country to receive E.S.L. instruction, because of work or family commitments. However, now that they have the opportunity and the desire to learn, they find themselves ineligible for such classes:

There is an organization... ...which offers classes in the English language for people that are isolated. However, there is a problem: The person must be Portuguese and can’t be Canadian. But, in our community we have people that have been here for many years... ...and we can’t place our Portuguese of forty or fifty years of age, who might now want [to learn English], who now have the opportunity, who have already raised their children, who have become independent... ...because access is not given to us. It is denied to us.

This individual went on to express his disappointment with the Congress and other Portuguese-Canadian organizations for never having raised issues such as this with the Canadian government.

The issues described in the previous pages by the Luso-Canadians that are scattered throughout this country, served both to reinforce as well as highlight the impressions that were conveyed through the census statistics of the previous chapter. This was that, this community is isolated and marginalized from an active participation in Canadian society by its disproportionately low educational profile as well as by its mostly unskilled, working-class status. People described as their main problems such educational issues, as the lack of English and French proficiency, the academic underachievement of the community’s youth and their social reproduction into the same economic roles as their parents. Economic problems that were cited included the high rate of unemployment, the community’s concentration in low-status, low-paying jobs, lack of skills upgrading and financial difficulties. People also felt that many community members did not attempt to integrate themselves into Canadian society and that Luso-Canadian youth often experience conflict (or lack of communication with their parents). Steretyping and discrimination was mentioned as a prevalent issue, but mainly in Quebec. Participants also lamented the community’s lack of participation in the political process and its consequent problems, such as lack of appropriate services. Disunity and division amongst community members was another problem which was said not to allow people the ability to mobilize on important issues. People further lamented the lack of promotion of the Portuguese language and culture, and the subsequent isolation and imminent disappearance of the small Luso-Canadian communities.

Finally, the participants also discussed, at length, some of the roles and attitudes of the Portuguese community, parents, youth as well as those of schools, society and government, in perpetuating these problems. Many people attributed the presence of these marginalizing issues to certain attitudes and practices that were prevalent amongst community members, who did not involve themselves in their children’s education, politics, job retraining, or the maintenance of the Portuguese language and culture. However, other also mentioned structural-societal causes, such as lack of discipline in schools, lack of proactive government policies at the promotion of the Portuguese language, etc.

Yet, most people also felt that the community’s difficulties can only be resolved by the promotion within the community of more education, especially with regards to learning the official languages, the promotion of higher education amongst the community’s youth and their parents and the seeking out of job-retraining programmes. Throughout their discussions, community members also described the links between the community’s continued marginalization and the large numbers of the community’s youth which are failing to achieve an adequate secondary and post-secondary education.

[1] In discussing the term “limit-situations,” Freire does not make it clear whether the term is his, or whether it was originally coined by Prof. Alvaro Vieira Pinto. (1960). Consciência e realidade nacional [Consciousness and national reality]. Rio de Janeiro: (no publisher cited), vol. ii, p. 284.

[2] Relatively few people answered the question dealing with national issues. Many stated in the focus groups that they knew very little about other Luso-Canadian communities.

[3] The high importance placed on this issue at the Toronto and Hamilton meetings was most certainly influenced by the prior release of the Every Secondary Student Survey (Brown, et. al., 1992; Cheng, e. al., 1993; Yau., et. al 1993) which showed how Portuguese students in Toronto Public Schools were dropping out in disproportionate numbers and studying at significantly lower levels, in comparison with students from other ethnic and racial groups.

[4] In this respect, it is also significant to note that 9 respondents, or nearly 9%, self-identified as “disabled from a work-related accident”.

[5] This is not the respondent’s real name, but rather a pseudonym to protect anonymity

[6] This is a difficult term to translate, since in Portuguese it connotes a sense of having formal education, cultural refinement, economic positioning and drive.The closest English term would be “breeding,” but without incorporating the sense of haughtiness.

[7] It must be noted, however, that despite their criticisms of the manner in which schools regarded discipline and physical punishment by parents, the participants in both groups also acknowledged freely that there were some parents who abused their children and that this was very wrong.