As we have heard from Dr. Paterson, nationalism and the notion of a national identity is inherently imbued with ideas of race. This should not come as a huge surprise, as we have not scene very much cross-cultural marrying until recent history as many countries tried to achieve the ‘perfect’ nation-state. Daniel Coleman talks about how this played out in Canada; the British connection for many early settlers tended to dominate their notion of what our nation should look like, giving the term Canadian a specific whiteness that was (and remains) a misnomer. Recently the government has tried to make reparations for the damage it did to non-white communities, and the Canadian Multiculturalism Act (The Act) serves as one of those ventures. It is an attempt to cast away the whiteness of being Canadian that was previously propounded, but it still retains many elements of race and ethnicity which may hamper the effort it is intended to make.
The Act explicitly sets out to “recognize and promote the understanding that multiculturalism reflects the cultural and racial diversity of Canadian society”. This is a great step, as it definitively rejects the white focus of previous attempts at nation building and acknowledges the multiplicity of people that call Canada home. The Act also acknowledges “that multiculturalism is a fundamental characteristic of the Canadian heritage and identity and that it provides an invaluable resource in the shaping of Canada’s future”. This point is especially important in that it acknowledges the Aboriginal and French influences that were just as important as the British ones as Canada was growing up. The Act goes on to propound ideas that counter racism, promote inclusion, and most importantly suggest that the governments intends to educate the populace on what multiculturalism really is, why it is important, and how we currently misunderstand it.
Rosy picture. So things are looking good then. Right?
Not really. Godlewska et al. find that Canadian are still ignorant as to what First Nations’ cultures entail, let alone how the history of those cultures has been misrepresented in many instances. On top of that, Campolieti et al. find that recent immigrants to Canada are, economically speaking, the furthest behind any other immigrant cohort over the last forty years, yet they are assimilating faster than ever. What happened to the celebration of multiple cultures? One reason (among many) The Act has failed to make an impression on the Canadian culturescape is its emphasis on differences in race and culture. It does not suggest that Canadians share a heritage or culture, but rather, as noted above, that our nation exists in the form of a collection diverse cultures and races. I think it may be difficult to convince a group of people that they are the same through their otherness. Given that our past initiatives have failed, where do we turn to bridge the gaps between immigrant, First Nations, and ‘white’ cultures? Is it imperative to move away from a collections of others and towards defining what exactly a ‘Canadian’, or can this group of otherness effectively, happily, and willingly conglomerate into a distinct and cohesive nation?
P.S. While this blog does not explicitly deal with issues surrounding Canadian canon building it certainly could be of use, especially if we can find a way to answer the ending questions.
Works Cited
“Canadian Multiculturalism Act (R.S.C., 1985, C. 24 (4th Supp.)).” Legislative Services Branch. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. <http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-18.7/FullText.html>.
“Population by Selected Ethnic Origins, by Province and Territory (2006 Census) (Canada).” Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. <http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/demo26a-eng.htm>.
Anne M. C. Godlewska, Laura Schaefli, Paul Chaput. “First Nations assimilation through neoliberal educational reform”. The Canadian Geogrpaher. 57.3 (2013) 271-279.
Michele Campolieti, Morley Gunderson, Olga Timofeeva, Evguenia Tsiroulnitchenko. “Immigrant Assimilation, Canada 1971-2006: Has the tide turned?”. Journal of Labour Research. 34.4 (2013) 455-475.