Multiculturalism in its controversial glory: Is Canada a ‘country without a core culture’?

[pampango]

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Just name it, and we have it here, in Canada, the land of 200 languages —
including the two official ones. No matter where people are originally from,
nearly 90% of us primarily speak English or French at home.

Canada is a multicultural country. We know that. We are taught it in school and, for Canadians, especially those living in big cities, we see and hear it around us everyday; written on restaurant signs, advertising delectable ethnic cuisine, and on crowded subway cars and buses where chatter abounds in a multiplicity of tongues.

English. French. Chinese. Russian. Spanish. Tagalog. Creole. Just name it, and we have it here, in Canada, the land of 200 languages — including the two official ones. No matter where people are originally from, nearly 90% of us primarily speak English or French at home. It is a robust number, and yet, beneath it, is a head-scratcher of a figure: more than two million speak neither English or French at home, while some 6.6 million people, more than the number of people in greater Toronto, most often speak something other than French or English at home.

Salim Mansur is a political scientist at the University of Western Ontario. He has been described, including in the pages of this newspaper, as Canada’s “angriest moderate.” And what makes him so angry is that nobody, he says, not the media elite, politicians or even the academics, is willing to have a frank and open dialogue about multiculturalism in this country. He argues that Canada, before it became beholden to a Kumbayah notion that everybody should get along and be free to do so in whatever language they choose to speak was, at its core, a liberal democracy.

We had this discussion at a Tim Horton’s in Brampton, where other men in turbans sat drinking coffee, presumably sharing the news of the day, chattering away in their native tongue. Mr. Singh and I chattered away in English. It was a snapshot of multiculturalism, in all its glory. It didn’t feel like a failure to me, as Mr. Mansur suggests.

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http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/10/24/multiculturalism-in-its-controversial-glory-is-canada-a-country-without-a-core-culture/

Even in a country committed to multiculturalism it remains a controversial concept for some while polls show that it (and high immigration levels) are very popular in Canada.

[Bosso 63]

1. What about hockey and beer?

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. I was about to mention hockey

Only half facetiously. My cousin's son has: 2 British grandparents, who moved to Canada; and 2 Asian-American (Texan) grandparents, whose daughter moved to Canada. And he is mad keen on hockey (too young for beer).

[marmar]

3. In Toronto, for example, multiculturalism IS what gives the city its character.......

....... all the ersatz high-rise condo buildings certainly don't. The city's identity very much flows from its multiculturalism, and it gives it an energy and vitality that few places can match.

[Spazito]

4. This argument is so bogus, imo...

The concept of multiculturalism IS part of our core culture, a key part, imo. I tend to find those who have a problem with it using the bogus question about a "core culture" are all too often hiding a bigotry against immigrants.

We ARE a liberal democracy and part of that is shown by our cultural diversity brought about by being a multicultural society.

[Tikki]

7. + like a million...

Tikki

[JackRiddler]

5. Of course not, but the question is bogus.

Cultures are never entirely universal and they always are always subject to change, dissent, diffusion, evolution, re-definition, and contesting definitions.

[laundry_queen]

6. Geez, not this shit again

LOL, I need the graphic that goes with that...

this has been a question posed about/to Canadians since the 1800's. For some reason, many Canadians are really insecure about who we are as a nation, or that there is any change from the old English/French to a new multiculturalism. I remember us discussing this in class back in the 80's.

While it may seem like we don't have a 'culture', part of our identity is the fact that we have many cultures living together (mostly) peacefully.

I think it's important to remember also that over time, the newer immigrants' descendants will eventually become more 'western'. It's just, at the moment, immigration is at really high levels.

I'm of Ukrainian decent on my dad's side. My ancestors came over in 1895-1900 and kept their language and traditions for 3 generations. I'm the first generation that doesn't speak Ukrainian. My dad, as a child, didn't even celebrate Dec 25 as Christmas - Christmas to him was Jan 7. That has been lost now.

I don't doubt, over time, the same thing will happen to more current immigrants - perhaps more slowly because of larger numbers - but eventually it will happen. In the meantime, I love walking around the city and seeing all of the cultures, the multiple languages and accents, the great foods of each culture.

And Canada is a liberal democracy still. Multiculturalism hasn't changed that.