Young, well-educated and adaptable people: Chilean exiles, identity and daily life in Canada, 1973 to the present day

"This dissertation describes the challenges and changes to lifestyle and identity experienced by twenty-one Chileans who came to Canada as exiles between 1973 and 1978. It is based largely on the testimony of the exiles themselves, augmented by research conducted at archives in Canada, Chile and the 'united States as well as primary and secondary sources that focus on modem Chilean history, Canadian immigration history, and the subject of exile. The experiences of the people I interviewed are contextualized by relating them to the events that pushed them out of Chile following the coup d'état of 11 September 1973, and the process by which they gained entry into Canada despite being from the wrong side of the Cold War ideological divide. Once resettled in Canada, the interviewees became part of a community whose primary raison d'être was to denounce the military government that ruled their homeland and denied them their place in the Chilean nation. The development of a culture of exile gave Chileans in Canada both a sense of continued belonging to their vision of the national community and also an outlet to express their condemnation of the regime that had made them outcasts. At the same time, I argue that the Chilean exiles of the 1970s eventually experienced transformations in their sense of personal and collective identity as the years passed and they became connected to their Canadian surroundings through work, family life and a new sense of belonging. The integration of many Chilean exiles into Canadian society, in turn, illustrates how immigration and refugee policy at the time favored the admission of ""young, well-educated and adaptable people"" who could become successful immigrants and bring benefits to the country, regardless of their ideological beliefs."