"Canada is the first country in the world to have an official multiculturalism policy. The policy is now over three decades old. While considered an entrenched principle in Canada, questions about its actual status and relevance still arise. The M Word records the history of various immigrant groups who are not officially recognized in the history books. It also interviews a number of prominent Canadian to take the pulse of multiculturalism today, including Haroon Siddiqui, Allan Gregg, Candy Palmater, Jack Jedwab, and Uzma Shakir. Areas covered include: immigration and Canada's nation building; rise of Quebec nationalism and the Royal Commission; multiculturalism designed in a bi-cultural framework; the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; the three great waves of immigration in Canada, and their criteria; residential schools and their effects on First Nations culture; Chinese railroad workers; head tax; "Continuous Journey Regulation of 1908"; Pier 21; Japanese internment; slavery in Canada; treatment of 'visible majority' immigrants to the 1970s; 'visible minority'; Post 911; and, reasonable accommodation."