Talk:German Canadians

"related groups" info removed from infobox

For dedicated editors of this page: The "Related Groups" info was removed from all {{Infobox Ethnic group}} infoboxes. Comments may be left on the Ethnic groups talk page. Ling.Nut 23:35, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

Germans in BC

The history section jumps from Ontario to the Prairies in 1896 without mentioning the huge role Germans had in British Columbia, not just in the gold rush either; I'll be back with more, but don't have any BC history books on hand (I'm in Nova Scotia these days, probably can get a snapshot of the "Old Dutch Cemetery" in the North End of Halifax btw). A good summary is in Strangers Entertained, a 1971 publication of the BC government on the provicne's ethnic groups. The Mennonite and Hutterite migrations/settlements should be mentioned here also...."I'll be back" (aber ich bin ein Norwegischer, nicht Deutsch).Skookum1 (talk) 17:57, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

There's an excellent account of early BC settlers who were German, Austrian and German-ethnic Bohemians and Transylvanians and others in Strangers Entertained, a BC Govt centennial publication in most BC public libraries; I have never had time to flesh out this article with content from it, though recall making Frank Richter and certain other early pioneer articles from it; BC's Mennonite population and the concentrations of German ethnics in the Lower Mainland and Cariboo and certain other regions should also be mentioned.Skookum1 (talk) 22:48, 11 January 2014 (UTC)

Nix to German flag

Other than my edit comment, ")rv decorative use of flags in infobox: contrary to WP:MOS", another reason NOT to have the flag of Germany on this page is because many Canadians of German ethnicity do not trace their lineage to Germany, but variously to Austria, Switzerland, the Volga, Romania (Transylanisns), Bohemia (what is now the Czech Republic) and eleswhere.Skookum1 (talk) 13:47, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

No consensus to move. Vegaswikian (talk) 17:36, 30 April 2011 (UTC)

Canadians of German ethnicity → German Canadian — Relisted. Vegaswikian (talk) 19:16, 23 April 2011 (UTC) As German American, German Brazilian, German Argentine etc. Alphasinus (talk) 05:48, 16 April 2011 (UTC)

• Oppose The majority of these people just aren't normally called "German Canadians". They're Canadians of German ethnicity. Let's not make up things. Noel S McFerran (talk) 17:14, 17 April 2011 (UTC)
• Oppose "German American" is US English, this is Canada, not the US. Using US English for topics that should use Canadian English violates WP:ENGVAR. 65.94.45.160 (talk) 04:09, 18 April 2011 (UTC)
• Support not per analogy to the American or Brazilian articles, but per Wikipedia:Use common names. Compare:
  • Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL
  • Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

The latter has about an order of magnitude more usages in Google Books than the former. cab (call) 14:40, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

• Oppose "Canadians of German ethnicity" is an accurate and factual description (the subjects are of German descent), while "German Canadian" is a term of identity, which people may or may not choose to describe themselves. Of the six famous Canadians identified in the infobox, only Klassen appears to be 100% of German (Mennonite) descent. Diefenbaker and Bachman are half German, Helfer appears to be a quarter German, the Klein article is unclear (although Klein's mother's maternal name suggests he is not 100% of German descent) and the article on Feist focuses more on her American background. I have no idea if any these six people identify themselves as "German Canadian". A huge number of Canadians are of mixed descent (as is obviously the case with this community), and they do not always identify themselves by double-barrelled "x-Canadian" labels. Such labels are clumsy when dealing with people who are less than wholly of one particular parentage: some may embrace the label, others do not. Even people who are 100% of one ethnic descent are sometimes uncomfortable with such labels due to the reasons that brought them to Canada in the first place (i.e. persecution, ethnic strife, war, etc.) In contrast, "Canadians of x ethnicity" is a straight-on, factual description - if the subject has (in this case) German forebears in their family tree, they are (partly or wholly) of German ethnicity. It isn't a term of identity that someone can quibble with or even dispute. The fact that the term "German Canadian" is commonly used does not mean we should use it; in cases where the common name of a subject is potentially misleading or inaccurate, then it is reasonable to fall back on a well-accepted and more accurate alternative.--Skeezix1000 (talk) 19:12, 18 April 2011 (UTC)
• Oppose - per Noel S McFerran. mauchoeagle 20:08, 23 April 2011 (UTC)
• Oppose Does this mean they were German and are now Canadian? does this mean they have dual nationality? It is very confusing and the US way of calling everybody an X-American should not be transferred to other countries who do not use the same terminology. Chaosdruid (talk) 20:28, 29 April 2011 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Dude? what is this "100%" German stuff, can you define German? You realize that Germans are the products of many different tribes and people who inhabited Germany over time. Same with every other nation. Especialy heavily mixed nations like France or England. You can't call someone who's already mixed with tons of things, and who's people all differ from each other an "ethnicity". The English people who came to Canada WERE NOT Anglo Saxons, they were not Celtics or any of the other groups British people like to claim they are. The truth is they are the products of all those tribes. Yet it astounds me how people still walk around talking as if the group is "homogeneous". When the truth is, one Englishmen could have more in common with a Scandinavian than he does another fellow Englishmen. One German could have more in common with a Pole, than he does a fellow German. People's concept of "Race" is skewed. These groups of people were already mixed when they came over to the New world, thousands of years of mixing. You think it just happened when they came to Canada & America? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:306:C4EA:CA0:756F:B745:8929:82C0 (talk) 04:45, 29 October 2012 (UTC)

New book -- for more on Mennonite Migrants

For more on Mennonite Migrants, this new book might be a relevant source: Out of Place: Social Exclusion and Mennonite Migrants in Canada by Luann Good Gingrich, 2016, University of Toronto Press. "Focuses on social services in a study of problems with the integration of some 60,000 Low German-speaking Mennonites who migrated from Latin America to Canada." per http://www.chronicle.com/article/Weekly-Book-List-September-9/237689 Jodi.a.schneider (talk) 19:52, 2 October 2016 (UTC)

Requested move 19 April 2017

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: Moved — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 15:11, 26 April 2017 (UTC)

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Canadians of German ethnicity → German Canadians – WP:PRECISE correct spelling Alexander Iskandar (talk) 06:05, 19 April 2017 (UTC)

• Support more concise and lines up with other similar articles like Spanish Canadians and Danish Canadians as well as German Americans and Japanese Americans. Snuggums (talk / edits) 23:43, 23 April 2017 (UTC)

• Support User CUDDLYGUMS presented good points. —usernamekiran (talk) 00:25, 25 April 2017 (UTC)

• Support. Per Consistency (one of the Five Virtues), we should move this article to match Afghan Canadians and so forth. Herostratus (talk) 03:53, 26 April 2017 (UTC)

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The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Map

Since I don't know how to edit images and the map's creator is inactive at the moment, can someone please edit the map at the top of the page to remove the 28-34% category, which isn't found there at all? Esszet (talk) 22:47, 31 May 2021 (UTC)

And is the US really needed at all? Esszet (talk) 22:59, 31 May 2021 (UTC)

Merge proposal

I propose merging Latvians and Baltic Germans in Corner Brook, Newfoundland into German Canadians and Latvian Canadians. Much of the page reads less like an article on the Baltic Canadian community in the town and more like an essay on the modern history of Latvia and Baltic Germans with an emphasis on this diaspora community in the middle of Canada. I feel it'd be better to take the important information in the article and merge it into those pages, perhaps with a broader focus on Baltic German Canadians and/or Latvian and German Newfoundlanders. Arctic Circle System (talk) 04:39, 30 October 2024 (UTC)

Some could also be merged into Corner Brook. Arctic Circle System (talk) 04:58, 30 October 2024 (UTC)