This archival research review aims to examine what policies, federal, provincial, and local, have, or could potentially have, an impact on ESL teaching and learning in the province of Manitoba. A politically-motivated close reading of the language in the policies, and of the nature and intent of the practices they describe, reveals the institutional attitudes toward immigrants, English as a second language (ESL) students, and the nature of public education in Canada. The article demonstrates that there are numerous and considerable political barriers to the full inclusion of ESL learners in the educational system, and concludes that many federal, provincial and local policies support discriminatory practices.