Chantal Hébert’s article, “Canada’s diversity model should be defended, not denounced”, deals with cultural diversity in Canada’s politics. It lists many politicians, “federal, provincial and municipal leaders” (Hébert 2016), who share the viewpoint that the Canadian model of cultural diversity should be defended and exported. The article argue that rather than looking for inspiration in some other country’s policies, we should stand by our multicultural, inclusive model. According to leaders such as Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard, Canadian identity isn’t static and there’s no reason why immigration and diversity shouldn’t be embraced. The article concludes that the fact that this discussion is in the limelight is a good
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We can start with the observation that “multiculturalism implicitly constructs the idea of a core English-Canadian culture, and that other cultures become ‘multicultural’ in relation to that unmarked, yet dominant, Anglo-Canadian core culture” (Mackey 1998:15). In essence this system doesn’t really serve those who come from diverse backgrounds as much as it enables white Canadians to keep differentiating themselves under the guise of tolerance. Ethnic minorities are still not seen as “real” Canadians, but part of this “cultural mosaic” which the white majority take pride in having as part of their country, while remaining the “norm”. Other groups such as indigenous people and immigrants become an internal Other, accepted but still marginalized in many forms, thinly veiled by the ideology that Canada’s multiculturalism means equality for all …show more content…
How can inequalities be fought if more than half of the country believe the problem is already solved and we go so far as to construct a national identity based on that premise? This is without mentioning that “(...) nationalist narratives of tolerance [disregard the] cultural genocide that Canada is founded upon.” (Mackey 1998:15) Can being Canadian ever really be synonymous with cultural diversity, given the country’s history of obliteration of another culture with repercussions so serious that indigenous people have still not rebuilt a strong presence from the ashes of the
We can start with the observation that “multiculturalism implicitly constructs the idea of a core English-Canadian culture, and that other cultures become ‘multicultural’ in relation to that unmarked, yet dominant, Anglo-Canadian core culture” (Mackey 1998:15). In essence this system doesn’t really serve those who come from diverse backgrounds as much as it enables white Canadians to keep differentiating themselves under the guise of tolerance. Ethnic minorities are still not seen as “real” Canadians, but part of this “cultural mosaic” which the white majority take pride in having as part of their country, while remaining the “norm”. Other groups such as indigenous people and immigrants become an internal Other, accepted but still marginalized in many forms, thinly veiled by the ideology that Canada’s multiculturalism means equality for all …show more content…
How can inequalities be fought if more than half of the country believe the problem is already solved and we go so far as to construct a national identity based on that premise? This is without mentioning that “(...) nationalist narratives of tolerance [disregard the] cultural genocide that Canada is founded upon.” (Mackey 1998:15) Can being Canadian ever really be synonymous with cultural diversity, given the country’s history of obliteration of another culture with repercussions so serious that indigenous people have still not rebuilt a strong presence from the ashes of the