A QUESTION OF IDENTITY

For some time now, Canada has been barrelling toward its future as a robust, multicultural country that embraces immigration and welcomes refugees. So far, the experiment — which had its official beginnings under Pierre Trudeau back in 1971 — has been going reasonably well.

Or has it? Almost a year ago, six people died in a mass shooting at a Quebec City mosque, and while sympathy for the victims was strong, so were social media attacks against minorities. In 2017, Muslims faced difficulty both in Quebec (with its niqab ban, for instance) and elsewhere (remember our MPs squabbling over condemning Islamophobia?). Polling suggests Canadians aren’t always the tolerant, open-minded folk we purport to be. The younger Trudeau was at pains to point that out at the UN this fall, in the context of Canada’s treatment of Indigenous People. We’ve got a long way to go, baby.

But we do need to get there, somehow. As the Citizen’s Alison Mah notes in today’s Observer, visible minorities made up 25.8 per cent of the total population of the Ottawa census area, according to the 2016 figures. In some Canadian cities, the census numbers were higher. In Toronto, it was 51.5 per cent; in Greater Vancouver, 67.3 per cent. The term “visible minority” itself is becoming obsolete.

As we enter 2018, Canadians, whether Indigenous, immigrant or of European origin, struggle with the implications of such numbers. Different cultures or countries of origin sometimes uphold different values. Do we understand and share the same core beliefs, the same broad support for the rights of individuals? To succeed as a country, we must. Or does tolerance mean tolerating everything? Erin Thiessen discusses this in today’s paper.

And just how deeply do we need to parse our multicultural identity? Themrise Khan poses that question in a thoughtful analysis of the census and other data-gathering tools, also in today’s Observer. Khan notes that the more we identify by origin, the more this will affect government policy. It is, perhaps, possible we’ll gather too much data and end up in a policy muddle.

The dearth of minorities on Ottawa city council and among those engaging with city government leads some to ask if discrimination plays a role. Mayor Jim Watson says he thinks the challenge may be more about communicating opportunities to minorities not already habituated to interacting with local institutions.

We know this: Canada is better for having all these diverse voices and being willing to encourage an open, ongoing conversation about how we live together. We look forward to this continuing in 2018. Meanwhile, however you understand your own background: Have a Happy New Year!