'Racist' junior high immigration assignment has advocates calling for curriculum change

Anti-racism advocates and a university professor are calling an assignment handed out at a junior high school in St. John's "racist" and say it could result in bullying and discrimination.

A textbook assignment that was sent to CBC News by a concerned parent asked students to write down two reasons why immigrants and refugees should be allowed into the country — and two reasons why they should not be.

The textbook provides a list of reasons why immigrants and refugees should be allowed in the country; for example, "Canada is a big country with room for many more people" and "Immigrants provide new ideas and skills."

Delores Mullings, a professor of social work at Memorial University, says she's concerned with the textbook's suggestions for opposing migration: newcomers "may take jobs away from resident Canadians," and "Some immigrants draw on social welfare programs and services," according to the textbook.

She said one of the most concerning suggestions in the textbook was one that read, "The changing ethnic makeup of the country will increase racial tensions in Canada."

"It's shocking that the school board would first still have a textbook like this. It makes me wonder who is reviewing the content that the students in the province are being exposed to," said Mullings.

"We are asking students to not only read but ingest and think about how to discriminate and stereotype against different groups of people who are coming into Canada.… It's xenophobic and it's racist."

The assignment was taken from a textbook called Canadian Identity, published in 2011 by Nelson Education for the Newfoundland and Labrador social studies curriculum.

Mullings said the assignment made her think back to how she felt as a young student in a Canadian classroom after emigrating from Jamaica in her teens.

"When I read things like that I remember feeling like I needed to crawl under my desk," she said. Mullings said such material can make for a difficult learning experience for some children.

"When certain kinds of material is introduced to the class, other students are turning around and looking at students that are perpetuated in some of these pieces of work."

Mullings also said the assignment could be devastating for some parents and children who have migrated to the province, which doesn't line up with the government's own immigration initiatives.

The Newfoundland and Labrador government welcomed 1,645 immigrants from January to November of last year and 406 refugees, more than half arriving from Afghanistan. In June the provincial government announced it would spend nearly $8 million to help meet its goal of attracting 5,100 immigrants annually by 2026.

Last year's provincial budget highlighted immigration and population growth as critical to Newfoundland and Labrador's economic future with Premier Andrew Furey saying the province had a "population crisis."