The ethnic vote? They’re Canadian citizens
I keep hearing, during this overlong federal election campaign, that this, that or the other party is doing something to court the minority or “ethnic” vote. Odd — I never hear that the Liberals, Conservatives or NDP are courting the white vote.
It’s as though there’s this huge voting bloc, the ethnics, who mark their ballots based on their race, religion or skin colour alone.
Like lemmings, apparently, these “ethnics” all rush to vote for whichever party’s candidates show up at a community centre, don some colourful “ethnic” garb for a photo op and sample semi-exotic “ethnic” cuisine.
The “ethnics” do not appear to be separate, thinking individuals. Rather, they are a monolithic bloc who can be expected to vote a certain way because they have, for example, brown skin. Could we please stop this? These people are Canadian citizens, and just like all other Canadian citizens, they have the ability to think independently, intelligently and to vote for a party based on its stance on issues that are colour- blind, race- blind and ethnicity- blind.
Note to politicians: Just because a Canadian citizen is a visible minority does not mean that individual is a recent immigrant. One’s skin colour or ethnic heritage remains the same forever, even when that person has lived in Canada for 50 years, or was born here. Moreover, to lump these Canadian citizens into a single category called “ethnic” is ridiculous, since that term encompasses a vast array of countries, regions, cultures, languages and heritages.
When politicians slap on Smithbilts, dress in the requisite fancy cowboy shirt, and toss pancakes for a photo op at the Stampede — the nearest thing to an “ethnic” event for “old- stock” Canadians — nobody says things like, “Aha! Those wily Liberals are courting the white Canadian vote!”
Yet, if Jason Kenney, for example, were to turn up at the Khalsa Day parade staged by Calgary’s Sikh community, he’d be accused of trying to woo the “ethnic” vote.
“The long campaign. An opportunity or a liability in wooing the ethnic vote?” is the headline on a blog post by the Multilingual International Research and Ethnic Media Services, which cites the New Canadian Media Weekly’s report on “what must now be an accepted fact of Canadian politics — that the New Canadian vote is critical in a three- way federal race. The paper goes on to profile the Conservative party approach with the example of members like Jason Kenney, who have made inroads with new Canadians in recent years by promoting the value of multiculturalism and attending cultural events like the Khalsa Day Parade.”
As a member of an “ethnic” group whose representation among the electorate amounts to about one per cent, but a supposedly single- issue group whom Stephen Harper is consistently accused of courting, I find this sort of pronouncement annoying. It assumes that “ethnic” voters are so simple- minded that a politician attending a parade is enough to sway the votes of thousands of people. I can say in no uncertain terms that if Justin Trudeau, Stephen Harper or Tom Mulcair showed up at our synagogue’s sukkah just now — you can look up that word, non-ethnics — it would make no inroads with this Canadian.
“Ethnic” voters are no more swayed by window dressing and hyperbole than is anyone else. To suggest that they uniformly are, carries unpleasantly racist undertones.
Speaking only for myself — because contrary to popular belief, “ethnic” communities do not appoint spokespeople, anymore than white, Christian Canada has an appointed spokesperson — Israel is not top of mind for how I vote.
The Canadian economy, climate- change strategy, pharmacare and other domestic issues take precedence. And just like every other “ethnic” voter, I have no idea how anyone else in my “group” intends to vote, because everyone thinks for themselves.
We are all Canadian citizens. Let’s drop the nonsense and assumptions about the “ethnic vote.”
There is no such thing. There are only citizens who love this country — and their opinions, issues and priorities are as diverse and complex as everyone else’s.