Multiculturalism in the Pointe-Claire
Neighborhood
By: Kellie Pottyondy
Sophia Tsinas
Presented to: Professor Mariusz Galczynski
Multicultural Education
October 22nd, 2014
“Until we get equality in education, we won’t have an
equal society.” –Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice
of the United States Supreme Court
Multiculturalism in Pointe-Claire
School Selected: St-Thomas High School
Location: 120 Ambassador Avenue,
Pointe Claire, Quebec, H9R 1S8
History:
-Founded in 1960
-Second largest school within the Lester B. Pearson School Board
-Member of the International Baccalaureate Program
-Formerly a Roman Catholic School
Academics:
-Over 1300 students enrolled
-Contains an Honor Role List for student achievements
-All students must take three years of Spanish courses and serve
ten to fifteen hours of community service
Cultural Awareness Field Trip:
Grade
selected:
Secondary
3
(Grade
9)
Theme: Multicultural Awareness Day at St-Thomas High School
Goal: The theme of this field trip is to have students become more aware that cultural
differences and backgrounds are surrounding them in every day life.
Since grade 10’s have a World History class, and the grade 11’s have a UN Simulation that they
do every year, the grade 9’s will now be given the opportunity to do some local investigating
about the cultural and ethnic variety we have in our very own neighborhood, to learn about
different cultural backgrounds and their place here in Canada.
Action plan: We will be going to 5 common local places to see and meet different people
working/ living in the neighborhood, asking them questions and positively enforcing a
multicultural integration between students and their fellow school neighbors. This will allow
students not only to learn about a variety of cultural backgrounds, where they come from,
their native languages, their religion etc., but also to communicate with and see how our
population here, even in Pointe-Claire is a multicultural one. We will address problems such as
racism and discrimination, hearing stories from actual people and will then proceed to list all
the commonalities between these people and ourselves and will finish the field trip by
searching for and brainstorming ways put an end to discrimination.
Route and Stops:
Stop #1 Lakeshore General Hospital:
160 Stillview Avenue, Pointe-Claire, Quebec, H9R 2Y2
Stop #2 Shoppers Simply Pharmacy:
175 Stillview Avenue, Pointe-Claire, Quebec, H9R 4S3
Stop #3 Le Cambridge Residence for the elderly:
340 Blvd. Hymus Pointe-Claire, Québec, H9R 1G8
Stop #4 Restaurant Sahib:
225 Blvd. Hymus, Pointe-Claire, Quebec, H9R 5C7
Stop #5 Métro Plus :
325 Boulevard Saint-Jean, Pointe-Claire, QC H9R 3J1
Map/Route:
Start of the Adventure
Starting Point: St-Thomas High School
Stop #1: Lakeshore General Hospital
Lakeshore General Hospital, first of five stops and closest stop to St-Thomas high school,
is amongst the suburban area of Lakeshore, Pointe-Claire. Built in 1965, Lakeshore
General Hospital is an institution that is open to the public, taking in patients of all ages
ranging from infants to the elderly.
Stop #1: Lakeshore General Hospital
Main Goal: Showing students that people of all backgrounds can be a part of a
community and have prestigious jobs.
Protocol when at hospital:
-Students will be split up into groups of five
-Students will have a designated group to interview (i.e. nurses, doctors or
patients)
-Students will have to ask about cultural the interviewees’ cultural
backgrounds, place of birth and region of studies
-Student will then have to ask about their viewpoints on multiculturalism and
diversity in the hospital environment (Is it important? Is there a multiculturalist
diversity in the staff? How has multiculturalism impacted his/herself?)
-Students will then have to write a summary of what they deducted from the
interview while drawing on the different ethnicities of either nurses, doctors or
patients
-Students must then draw a conclusion from their interviews and contrast the
different ethnicities/religions found in the hospital through an oral
presentation
Stop #1: Lakeshore General Hospital
Possible talking points/discussion topics:
 What different ethnicities did you encounter?
 Did the interview in question grow up in
Canada? Did he/she grow up in Quebec? What
kind of backgrounds does he/she come from?
 What struggles does he/she face when dealing
with language in the work environment? Is
everyone perfectly bilingual? What does one do
when another only speaks one language?
 Is there a diversity of ethnicities in the hospital?
 What stereotypes did you have before
interviewing the various members of the
hospital? (Ex: Did you believe that members of
minority groups could not be successful in
becoming a doctor?)
 What conclusions did your group draw from
the visit to the hospital? Did you see a diversity
between the patients and the staff?
 Why is the incorporation of multiculturalism in
public sectors of a community important?
Stop #2: Shoppers Simply Pharmacy
Shoppers Simply Pharmacy, second stop out of five, is located in a small shopping
complex directly across the street from Lakeshore General Hospital, which is convenient
for patients who need to renew their prescriptions.
Stop #2: Shoppers Simply Pharmacy
Main Goal: Showing students that not only is Canada a multicultural diverse
country internally/population-wise, but that it also promotes multiculturalism
through the external commerce trades with products from other countries.
Protocol when at pharmacy:
-Students will break into small groups of five
-Students will have to find five different products that have been imported
from external countries
-Students will then have to construct a chart inscribing the different products
they found and what countries they came from
-Students will have to identify which countries are repetitive in their findings (Is
there a particular country that the products seem to come from?)
-Students will have to conduct research on the country in question
-Students will then have to present there products in front of the class by
stating the capital of the country of which the products at hand stems from,
what religion is practiced in say given country and one fact they did not prior to
their research
Stop #2: Shoppers Simply Pharmacy
Possible talking points/discussion topics:
 How does commerce between countries promote
multiculturalism?
 Which countries did you identify when finding new
products?
 What did you know about these countries prior to your
search? What did you learn after your research? Did what
you already know match what you found?
 Why do we import products from other countries? Why
not use what we produce in Canada?
 What do you know about the laborers and trade systems
of the countries studied?
 What is their economic status? Does their status match
that of Canada? How do these two contrast either
similarly or differently?
 Do you know anyone from the countries studied? Do you
have any relatives that live in these countries?
 What conclusions did you draw after the visit to the
pharmacy? How does multiculturalism touch us through
commercial exchanges?
Stop #3: Le Cambridge
Le Cambridge, third of five stops, is a residential old folks’ home where nurses and
staff members occupy and take care of the seniors citizens of Montreal. Built in
1989, Le Cambridge offers it’s services to citizens of over fifty-five years of age with
over five hundred and thirty rooms available.
Stop #3: Le Cambridge
Main Goal: Having students learn about where the elderly residents of Le
Cambridge came from, the advantages they had coming to Canada, the possible
disadvantages or problems they’ve had since they’ve been here.
Protocol when at Le Cambridge:
-Students will break up into groups of five.
-Students will interview and interact with the elderly of the home.
-Student’s will ask them where about their backgrounds (Are they from Canada?
Where they born in Quebec? If not, find out about their move to Canada. How did
they adjust? Where they ever victims of discrimination?)
-Students will ask them questions about their cultures (What traditions do he/she
have? What religion does he/she follow? What traditional meals come from their
place of origin?)
-Students will ask to learn a sentence in the native language of the interviewee if
he/she is not originally from Quebec.
-Students will present to the class the multiple nationalities they encountered as
well as the information they learned about the customs and traditions of the
interviewees.
Stop #3: Le Cambridge
Possible talking points/discussion topics:
 What did you learn from the people you
interviewed? Where they all originally born in
Canada? Where they from elsewhere?
 What customs and traditions do the interviewees
follow? How are these different those of Quebec?
 Was their road to immigration difficult? Did they
have trouble establishing themselves in Canada?
Did they have difficulty with the transition of
language? Did they find jobs easily? Where they
ever victims of discrimination?
 What did you know about these countries before
the interview? What did learn after having done
the interview?
 What prejudgments/stereotypes did you have
prior to the interview? Were you correct or were
you corrected?
 How is immigration essential to the promotion of
multicultural diversity in Canada?
Stop #4: Restaurant Sahib
Restaurant Sahib, forth of five stops, is a well-established Indian restaurant in the PointeClaire district that offers catering and take away services to its clients.
Stop #4: Restaurant Sahib
Main Goal: Giving students’ insight to Indian culture by allowing them to see
the different custom meals and traditions offered that are not necessarily
known to students of Canadian heritage.
Protocol when at Restaurant Sahib:
-Students will split up into groups of five
-Each group will have to decide on a different main meal to taste
-Students will be asked to evaluate the content of the menu in order to
contrast it with traditional Canadian and even Quebec meals
-Students will interview the restaurant owners/employees and ask them about
Indian culture (i.e. traditions, most distinctive meals, customs, etc.)
-Students will also interview clients and ask their perspective on the restaurant
itself
-Students will then have to present to the rest of the groups what differences
they found in the meals in comparison to ordinary Canadian/Quebec meals as
well as the new information they learned about Indian culture
Stop #4: Restaurant Sahib
Possible talking points/discussion topics:
 What did you know about Indian culture prior to
your visit at the restaurant? What stereotypes did
you have? Were they correct or incorrect?
 Was there a multicultural diversity amongst the
staff and clientele of the restaurant?
 What were some of the primary meals that
represent Indian culture? How are these meals
similar/different from Canadian/Quebec meals?
 What do the clients think of the restaurant itself?
Is it a family-oriented restaurant?
 How does Restaurant Sahib promote
multiculturalism in the Pointe-Claire region? Are
there many other Indian restaurants in proximity?
 What did you think of the restaurant? Would you
recommend it to a friend or family member? Why
or why not?
Stop #5: Métro Plus
Métro Plus, the final stop, is a chain
supermarket based in Quebec and Ontario
regions that sells everything from fruits and
vegetable to meat products. Known for their
fresh produce, Metro Plus is a business that
has been running since 1947 and is the third
largest grocer in Canada.
Stop #5: Métro Plus
Main Goal: Combining St-Thomas and École Felix Leclerc by having them work
together in order to promote multiculturalism between students of English
language and students of French language.
Protocol when at Métro Plus:
-Students will spilt up into groups of five
-Each group will be assigned a different ethic group
-Each group will then have to find five typical produce that represents the ethnic
group they were attributed
-Each group will have to come up with differences/similarities between the food of
the ethnic group they were attributed and the food that best represents
Canadian/Quebec meals
-Each group will have to present their items to the rest of their piers by bringing
forth the ethnic group they were given
-Each group will then have to compare and contrast their own findings with the
findings of the rest of the teams (What were the differences/similarities?)
-Each group will have to explain how the exercise relates to multiculturalism and
diversity
Stop #5: Métro Plus
Possible talking points/discussion topics:
 What did you know about the ethnicity that was
given to you prior to the visit of the restaurant? Were
you familiar with customs and traditions of this
particular ethnic group? What did you learn?
 Had you ever noticed the diversity in produce in
groceries stores before? Was there a multicultural
diversity amongst the clientele and staff?
 Is there one ethnic group that you felt was
predominate? Do you believe that there is a reason
behind that? (Demographically, could it be that your
ethnic group is very present in Montreal, therefore
having a larger demand on produce? Geographically,
could it be that the locations where the produce is
manufactured are closer to Montreal, therefore
easier to transport? Climate/land-wise, could it be that
their produce is found in a location who’s
climate/land is similar to here, thereby making it
easier to produce in Canada?)
 How do you think the visit to the supermarket
promotes multiculturalism?
End of the Adventure
Ending Point: St-Thomas High School
Wrap-Up Discussion:
 What did you learn from Multicultural Awareness Day?
 Why is multiculturalism important in our society?
 Did you find that the field trip opened your eyes up to others cultures
you weren’t necessarily familiar with beforehand?
 Did you know that there were that many signs of multiculturalism in
your neighborhood?
 What were some of the cultures you stumbled upon during the field
trip? How are these cultures similar/different from Canadian and
Quebec cultures?
Get together in groups of five and do further research on an ethnicity
that you aren’t familiar with. What are the customs and traditions of
these ethnicities? Where are they located in the world? How can we
incorporate multiculturalism into our society? Why is equality important
in our society? Bring information, research, images and/or videos to
present it to the class.