Friday, September 4, 2009
A poll in the Globe and Mail on Canadian policy towards immigrants shows that 79% of the voters believe they should be "integrated into the mainstream" while only 21% believed in "respect for different cultures". This was out of 10,959 people mind you, but that still says something. And although it might not be in the forefront of peoples' minds right now, but this does raise some serious questions about us, and the disparity between official Canadian policy of multiculturalism and actual attitudes of Canadians. Is the mosaic so ingrained in our culture now that it can't be changed? Do we pay lip service to Multiculturalism just to seem less like our southerly neighbours?
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2 comments:
I think that multiculturalism is a fantastic and central part of Canada, but the mosiac format has the unfortunate side-effect of sealing people off in cultural niches. The melting pot of the US is the opposite end of the spectrum, where people are so blended that individual flavours are lost. There needs to be more ways for people to share their Canadian identities in addition to celebrating their different cultural heritages.
My 2 bits.
I agree, I think by having pressure as a country to be a more accepting place, we say we are multicultural, but as it's been a part of our country for so long, I think we take it for granted. Perhaps what those 78% or however many it was, were thinking that by integrating into the mainstream, by Canadian default they would remain secure in their culture. I think society needs to actively care about what makes our country important again.
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