A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

any other country as their "home and native land." For many of these pilgrims who had gone through the wilderness experience of war, revolution, famine, confiscation of property and the restriction of religious freedom, Canada appeared to be in a very literal sense the "promised land," and so they affectionately called it "Canaan."' The "open door policy" of the Canadian government 2 was largely determined by economic considerations. The country covers the whole of the North American continent north of the United States (excepting Alaska) and constitutes an area larger in size than the whole of Europe. What Canada desperately needed was settlers of the right kind, especially after the opening up of the "Great West" shortly after Confederation. Hence the Mennonites, and other religious pacifist groups as well, were admitted into Canada because of their desirability as farmers for a pioneer country. A statutory provision for exemption from military service dating as far back as 1808, and subsequently confirmed by a special Order-in-Council in 1873, gave Mennonites the assurance that their religious convictions regarding war and military service would be respected. 3 Mennonites have come into Canada in a number of successive "waves," and it might be well to briefly identify these at the outset. The first group came from eastern Pennsylvania to the Niagara Peninsula in 1786 to settle in Welland and Lincoln counties of what later became the province of Ontario. In the years immediately following, 152 MENNONITE BRETHREN COME TO CANADA 153 others came, locating principally in three centers: Waterloo County, the Markham district, and the Niagara district. They were among the pioneers of Canada and by their favorable reputation in community and province they paved the way for other Mennonites to enter the country later. A second large influx of Mennonites took place between the years 1874-80, when some eight thousand of them left the steppes of the Ukraine to settle in the newly established province of Manitoba on the so-called "East Reserve" and "West Reserve."' Jacob Y. Shantz, a Mennonite layman of Waterloo County, played a significant role in establishing these settlements. As mentioned in the previous chapter, the Mennonites who migrated to Canada belonged to the more conservative groups, coming largely from the Chortitza, Bergthal and Fuerstenland colonies, and from the Kleine Gemeinde of the Molot- schna. According to all available records, no Mennonite Brethren settled in Canada at this time. The third and largest wave of Mennonite immigrants to Canada (also from Russia) came in the years 1923-30. This movement brought well over twenty thousand Mennonites into Canada, the majority of whom settled on farms in the prairie provinces. This contingent included a large number of Mennonite Brethren. The fourth and last wave of immigration came after World War II, when approximately seven t