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Pierre Had a Dream
(Much of the text originally from Pier21.ca, "Multiculturalism in Canada")
In 1963, a Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism was appointed to examine the existing state of bilingualism and biculturalism in Canada, and to work towards developing an equal partnership between the predominant British and French elements within the country.
Montréal Constitutional Law professor Pierre Trudeau was hired to be its chair. He found, like Durham before him, many smaller but vibrant cultural groups throughout Canada, centered around ethnic churches and extensive "unofficial use" of "third languages" in schools and government, who expressed great concern that the emphasis on English-French bilingualism ignored the cultural contributions of the majority of the Canadian population who now belonged to other ethnic groups.
The commission addressed these concerns in their final report; recommending that minority groups be given greater recognition and support in preserving their cultures, (including Federal recognition of "third languages" adopted by provinces as official within their jurisdiction).
By the time of its publication in 1969, however, the Liberal government had been defeated, and the recommendations were adapted, alongside a new "colour-blind" points-based immigration system, and the Official Languages (Trilingualism) Act, 1969 into a new, multipartisan government policy of "multiculturalism".
After the trilingualism act, Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Lincoln Alexander unveiled the new immigration scheme and government policy in 1971 in an address to Parliament:
"No singular culture can define Canada, and we must accept the contention of other cultural communities that they, too, are essential elements in Canada. We accept the Commission's findings that Canada is not a bicultural nation. We are a Cultural Mosaic".
At long last, the governing policy of race and ethnicity in Canada had caught up to the reality. It marked the beginning of a new, more open era in Canadian society.