Earlier in Canadian history the vision of what the Canadian identity should be was very different. Today most people believe that there isn't a uniform Canadian identity. Back in the day however the Canadian government was all about assimilation and creating a white, English identity for Canadians. When Chinese immigrants came to Canada they were initially accepted and used to build the railway for cheap. After the railway was complete over a period of time a head tax was put on all Chinese immigrants. In my opinion I of course think this was wrong and that Canada shouldn't embrace a uniform Canadian identity. I say that however being someone that grew up long after these events took place.
To the same reasoning for the Chinese head tax the first nations people of Canada were systematically put into residential schools in an effort to assimilate them into the desired 'white English' Canadian identity that the government strove for. This was wrong and the pursuit of a uniform Canadian identity was BAD.
One of the debates within Canada is what nations founded Canada. Early in Canada's life the two nations that were considered founding nations were the Anglophones and the francophone. More recently however the indigenous peoples of Canada have been considered to be a founding nation by many. Others believe that there are really no founding nations because of the sheer number of different cultures present in Canada. I believe that there are many founding nations but that there are three main founding nations. The First Nations, French, and English.