II.2 Adjustment to Life in Canada

The early Greek immigrants to the United States and Canada tended to be similar in their backgrounds and in the lives they made for themselves in North America. They were male, usually poor, unskilled and with low levels of formal schooling, and they had little knowledge of any language but Greek. Those who had come from rural, agricultural work in Greece mostly entered a variety of poorly paid manual labor positions. They could be found working in lumbering, in the mines, textiles and other manufacturing industries, as well as on construction sites, the growing railways, and the docks of the port cities. Even those with a good education and professional training in Greece often had difficulty using these skills in a new country. In addition, lawyers, doctors, teachers and other professionals found that their qualifications were not always accepted outside of Greece. Many of them eventually went into business with family members and friends.

Earlier immigrants who had built up Greek restaurants and other small businesses provided jobs for the newcomers. They often paid low wages, but these earlier immigrants did provide housing, assist with strange governmental regulations and local customs, and help with the sponsorship of the newcomers’ relatives who had been left behind in Greece.

In both Canada and the United States Greek immigrants experienced some discrimination, especially in the period between the two World Wars. Many Greeks spoke with heavy, thick accents and non-Greeks found their long names almost unpronounceable. So difficult were those names for non-Greeks that many Greek families in North America adopted shortened versions of their original names. Thus the name Makristathis became Mackriss and the name Koutsoyianopoulos became Poulos. In several parts of Canada some early Greek immigrants were simply known or registered as Greek, and that designation stuck as the family name across the generations.

As still more Greek immigrants poured into the large American and Canadian cities, they formed “Greek towns”. In essence these were ethnic ghettos where the Greek immigrants spent the whole of their non-working lives. If they were employed in, or owned one of the Greek restaurants, bakeries or shoe repair shops, they also spent their working lives in those Greek enclaves within the larger cities. The heart of these communities was the kafenion, a replica of the traditional Greek coffeehouse where men of a Greek village talk and exchange news. In 1906 the Greek immigrant men in Vancouver were said to have had no organized social life except the coffeehouse. Co-existing with the kafenion was the taverna or Greek nightclub. Live music, dance, and games of chance provided entertainment there. The favorite Greek instrument called a bouzouki played traditional songs and melodies in those clubs.

Gradually, the immigrant men married and family life strengthened in North America. The growing presence of the Greek Orthodox Church, the various associations tied to it, and popular causes in the Greek communities took over much more of people’s leisure time. Slowly, the Greek immigrants began to move comfortably outside their Greek enclaves. “Greek towns” with their kafenions and tavernas, their restaurants, bakeries, small shops, businesses, Greek churches, and Greek newspaper offices continue to exist today in large cities like Toronto. They are lively places to which the annual Greek festivals attract thousands of visitors, most of them non-Greek. For the descendants of the Greek immigrants, most of whom now live far away, the “Greek towns” are no longer ghettos, but places where they can recapture some living aspects of their forefathers’ past.

Since the beginning of Greek immigration to Canada- which, as we have seen, was mostly male- many Greek men have married non-Greek women. The earliest immigrants were usually poor, and could not afford expensive trips home in search of Greek wives, nor the costs associated with bringing wives to Canada. They met non-Greek women in their jobs and living places, and they married them. For many others the attraction of a Greek wife who knew one’s language and culture was paramount to a feeling of personal comfort. Those who had the financial means traveled to Greece to find wives. During the period from 1950 to 1970 the situation improved somewhat as 10,771 Greek women entered Canada, usually for a variety of domestic positions. This was particularly true in Ontario and Quebec. Most women were single, so they added to the pool of Greek women available as potential wives for Greek men already in Canada. In time some of those single Greek women offered to sponsor a husband-to-be from Greece in lieu of a dowry. Through friends and relatives in Greece some Greek Canadian men arranged for brides whom they had probably never met to come to Canada. While nowadays most of us regard such “arranged marriages” as strange and unthinkable, the fact is that many of them turned out very well. Each spouse in the contract knew what was expected. They worked hard together, they grew together as partners, and they strove to maintain their Greek identity in a different, often hostile world. In time they became the heads of strong, united families.

All large communities in Canada have Greek Orthodox Churches. Canada now has seventy-five of these across the country. While some Greeks do belong to other religions, particularly to the Roman Catholic Church, most Greeks are Orthodox. The Greek Orthodox Church makes a strong effort to perpetuate the idea of a spiritual community in which the members of a Greek community and the congregation are ideally one and the same. In many places in the Maritimes Provinces that concept is by and large accepted, but that is not necessarily the case in the larger cities of Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal. Surveys done in the Toronto area around 1970 found that only about 30% of the Greeks there were formal or kinotis members of the various Greek churches. The Greek Orthodox Church everywhere has set annual fees for all active parishioners. The surveys done in the 1970s showed that many Greeks in the Toronto area said that they had joined a church expressly for a family baptism or wedding, and that they did not intend to remain regular, dues paying members. This was particularly true in the case of low or moderate-income families.

One of the most striking aspects of Greek life in Canada is the fact that the majority (perhaps as high as 97% in the Toronto area) of the Greek immigrants came from semi literate and unskilled backgrounds, and they entered jobs which required few, if any skills. However, by the time of their retirement these same first-generation Greeks owned their own small businesses, or had moved into occupations which required considerable expertise. The restaurant business most of all was the Greek road to “upward mobility” and “economic achievement”. In the early years of the 20^th century this particular business did not require much knowledge of English or French, and there were no formal educational requirement to produce good quality, basic food. Operating a successful restaurant demands long hours and constant hard work, but most Greeks were, and are, accepting of that. Many Greeks are naturally outgoing and their personalities fit the easy give and take of a neighbourhood restaurant. The restaurants also provide employment for many members of an extended Greek family.

During the years of World War II Greeks from across Canada supported the Allied war effort, lending special support to the Greek Relief Fund. That Fund raised large sums of money, and through the Red Cross went food, clothing, and medical supplies to those suffering in Greece. The Greek Relief Fund continued to operate and send help to Greece during the subsequent Civil War. In the years 1950-74 as Greek immigration to Canada peaked and then declined, most of the newcomers were busy arranging their own lives and those of their families. However, Greeks throughout Canada continued to follow the tumultuous turning of events in Greece. Some supported one group or faction, some another. During the military dictatorship in Greece, which lasted from 1967 until 1974, Andreas Papandreou, who had been a leading opponent of the regime, lived in Canada and taught Economics at the University of Toronto. Greek Canadians everywhere felt drawn to Papandreou’s Panhellenic Liberation Movement. After the fall of the military dictatorship Papandreou returned to Greece where he became Prime Minister of the country.

Now as we enter a new century and millennium Canada is home to second and third-generation Greeks. The young people are more interested in Canadian politics than in Greek politics. In the past Greek Canadians were not actively involved in Canadian politics, but that is gradually changing. In 1999 the Toronto area had at least five men of Greek descent serving as City Council members. Mrs. Eleni Bakopanos is currently a Federal Minister of Parliament (Liberal) from Montreal, and serves as Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. Mr. Jim Karygiannis is the Federal Liberal Member of Parliament for Scarborough-Agincourt in Ontario, while Mr. John Cannis, also a Federal Liberal, represents the nearby riding of Scarborough Central. Several Greek Canadians sit or have sat in provincial legislatures. For example, in 1999 Dr. Marie Bountrogianni was elected to the Ontario Legislature as a Liberal representative for the riding of Hamilton Mountain. In the 1998 provincial election in Nova Scotia Mr. Peter Delefes became the elected New Democratic Party member for Halifax Citadel, but in the change to a Progressive Conservative government in the July 1999 voting, he lost the seat..

The second and third-generation Greek Canadians are increasingly well educated. While their parents and grandparents may continue to feel that they are more Greek than Canadian, the younger people are comfortable being both Greek and Canadian. Through their parents and grandparents’ hard work and their own diligent efforts many are now active professional and business people. They have moved into education, law, medicine, engineering and a variety of other fields. Many of them own well established, flourishing businesses, some of which have been in their families for years. Construction and real estate projects seem particularly attractive, as some individuals and families let go of the restaurants and stores of the past. Of course, many Greek Canadians continue to own small or midsize restaurants as well as other traditional stores and service-oriented outlets. They are nearly always well run, and they provide personal, quality service. The work ethic exemplified by the early Greek immigrants to Canada is everywhere alive and well.