The success and failure of multiculturalism
On Oct 8, 1971, Canada made a “tryst with destiny,” to borrow a phrase from India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and made a pledge to build a new egalitarian society.
A day will come when Canada will redeem its pledge.
Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau introduced the Multiculturalism Bill in the House of Commons with these soaring words:
“National unity, if it is to mean anything in the deeply personal sense, must be founded on confidence in one’s own individual identity; out of this can grow respect for that of others and a willingness to share ideas, attitudes, and assumptions. A vigorous policy of multiculturalism will create this initial confidence. It can form the basis of a society which is founded on fair play for all.”
Canadian multiculturalism will go down in history as a great experiment undertaken to humanize migration across the globe.
It is nearly 50 years since the multiculturalism came into effect. You may ask: Has multiculturalism lived up to the Canadian dream?
I argue here that multiculturalism has not lived up to the Canadian dream, at least not in the egalitarian sense, and that there is enough blame to go around — to the multicultural community, to the government, and to Canada as a nation.
The underlying premise of multiculturalism was that by giving them freedom to speak their language and practise their culture, the newcomers will become secure, confident and proud Canadians. In this respect multiculturalism has been successful.
But the dream that multiculturalism would produce a new kind of global citizen who may live anywhere but who will promote goodwill and human values everywhere has not worked. In this respect multiculturalism has failed. It failed because it did not succeed in creating intercultural-group linkages, a shared sense of unity and purpose.
Paradoxically, rather than feeling confident and outward-looking, firstgeneration immigrants as a group tend to be inward-looking, busy with their own cultural/religious groups,
and remain isolated.
Of course, it can be argued that this should not come as a surprise as first-generation immigrants are expected to be busy with their life in the new country, putting bread on the table, and looking after their children’s education.
That may be true, but it is also true that without soaring ideals and secular values, multiculturalism will wither away; worse still, it can turn Canada into a land of ethnicity, religious enclaves, and possibly even worse — bases for disenchanted youths and international terrorism.
Let me give two examples of how multiculturalism can work or fail, from my own experience:
Faced with post-independence rift between communities in South Sudan, members of the local South Sudanese community approached McMaster University seeking help to bring the two communities together for a dialogue.
A symposium on conflict and peace building in South Sudan was organized in 2014 as part of McMaster University’s annual Gandhi Peace Festival. The symposium was a success, and South Sudanese-Canadian community is busy working as a group to build peace in their ancestral homeland. This is multiculturalism at its best.
As a result of repercussions following Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s military action against the Sikh Temple to drive out militants, a section of Sikh community in Canada has been
waging a militant campaign for a separate Sikh land, Khalistan, in India.
The bombing of Air India 182 in 1985, killing all 329 on board including 280 citizens or permanent residents of Canada, is understood to be carried out by members of this group.
Sikhs are a successful community. Tens of thousands of Sikhs visit India every year. Sikhs and Hindus live in peace. It is of concern that Canadian politicians would engage in opening healed wounds and risk community harmony and make Canada-India relations look bad. This is not in the best spirit of multiculturalism.
The Canadian government has failed multiculturalism by not developing long-term policies and support for inter-group linkages and meaningful engagements. To make matter worse, political parties are engaging in ethnic politics for votes. This must stop or it will produce cultural castes that will kill the Canadian dream.
And as a county, Canada is also failing multiculturalism. The recent statistics of systemic racism against blacks, and prejudices against immigrants are disheartening. Canadians need to be reminded that multiculturalism applies to all Canadians, not just immigrants.
Much work remains to be done before Canada will be able to redeem its pledge.