Multiculturalism: Canada’s Biggest Mistake?

This week the National Post launched a series about “Canada’s Biggest Mistakes.” Written by different columnists, yesterday’s big mistake was deficit spending. In today’s installment of the “top 5,” columnist Barbara Kay sets her sights on multiculturalism.

I must admit I am not an avid reader of the National Post. In fact, I don’t think I had ever even heard of it prior to this column. However, Wikipedia informs me that it is a “voice for Canadian conservatives.” A brief perusal of Kay’s biggest hits, including as “Hug the Earth, kill the humans, ” “Barack Obama’s selective silence on his racist pastor, Jeremiah Wright,” and “The College Campus: Anti-Semitism’s last North American Refuge and Taking Back the Campus” helps me situate her on a political spectrum. In America, we call her David Horowitz and Bill O’Reilly. Well, enough of that, let us try to engage the substance of her argument.

Kay doesn’t mince her words on her stand:

Multiculturalism is Canada’s greatest mistake, but if it is any consolation, it is every western country’s greatest mistake. And now some of them are paying a terrible price.

Glibly, she is our shining light that cuts through the darkness:

The happy surface of multiculturalism is a street-enlivening diversity of skin hues, native fabrics, with a panoply of foreign cuisines on every corner — schwarma, pad thai, falafel, tandoori goat — not to mention the feel-good, meticulously painted-by-number rainbow of visible minorities one sees working in government agencies, non-profit organizations and university equity offices.

However, Kay tells us the reality:

Multiculturalism is idealistic in theory, but its real effect has been the entrenchment in our intellectual and cultural elites of an unhealthy obsession with a largely phantom racism amongst heritage Canadians that no amount of penance or cultural self-effacement can ever transcend.

In its ideological insistence on the equal value of all cultures other than ours (ours being the sole inferior one), multiculturalism’s main “accomplishment” has been to instill self-loathing in heritage Canadians, a sense of responsibility-free entitlement in identity groups, and the suffocation of critical diversity in the public form.

For Kay, it is a zero-sum game. Identity groups having pride in their heritage can only come about with the self-loathing of ‘heritage Canadians’ (translation: goray). However, this is the problem, for Kay only heritage Canadians are asli Canadians. She fails to see that multiculturalism was not merely a policy, but it was (and is) the Canadian reality. All Canadians benefit politically, morally, and economically from its vast immigrant populations. Helping them integrate sections of new Canadians into the general populace should be continued and celebrated.

Kay sense of history seems especially suspect, when she writes:

Even though Canada was a colony itself, and had never indulged in imperialism of any kind, Canadians were informed they must share in the blame because of their religious, racial and cultural association with former colonialists.

Although I am sure “first nations” Canadians may have a very different memory. Kay’s ideas seem to have a special virulence with the post 9/11 climate and the “War on Terr-a” (btw, doesn’t terra mean earth?). This seems to be exactly what is on Kay’s mind, in her examples:

“You can be a Pakistani al-Qaeda supporter first and a Canadian second, a Hindu-hostile Sikh first and a Canadian second, an aboriginal, a woman, a black or a gay first and a Canadian second — really, the personal being the political, as moral relativists are so fond of repeating — Canada: it’s all about you, you, you.”

But this is the continuing problem, not only in Canada, but also in other areas such as the United States. Those on the right side of the political spectrum take a certain ‘nativist’ tone and harp on a loss of ‘values.’ In America, this refers to the ambiguous “Judeo-Christian heritage” and I am assuming in Canada it also means something similar. However this critique is not limited to only a ‘nativist’ sentiment, but I have heard it espoused by assimilated immigrants as well (I use the word assimilated on purpose). In a comment on a previously discussed article, an internet commenter named Pradip Francis Rodrigues, from Mississauga, wrote:

Hats off to Jasmeet Sidhu for exposing the hypocrisy of South Asian culture. It has been an unending source of grief for many second-generation kids whose parents fulminate against the perceived depravity of Western culture that seemingly threatens their values….Unfortunately for many like Sidhu, her parents’ generation came here (they still do) clinging to their own culture.

Despite Kay’s criticism, I think the way out is greater cultural pluralism. The day ‘heritage Canadians’ (to borrow from Kay’s stupid terminology) no longer see the Sikh kirpan or the Muslim’s hijab as something foreign, but rather as something very much Canadian will be a great day for Canada.

Similar to Lal, I believe we do see ‘legal pluralism’ in the courts of Canada and the United States. However ‘legal pluralism’ are merely court verdicts and parliamentary/congressional laws and bills that offer some legal support to minorities, but are constantly and continuously contested. Legal pluralism is temporary. The real meaning of ‘legal pluralism’ only enforces the supremacy that is given to the state to make all decisions.

What we need is actual ‘cultural pluralism.’ Cultural pluralism will occur when Canadians or Americans see the Muslim hijab or the Sikh kirpan as not something foreign or belonging to only a specific community, but rather a cultural and religious marker of members of its own society. What is your take?


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Permit me for asking 2 questions from an uninformed vantage point:

Why should the rights of Canadian immigrants who reached the land they call home a few hundred years ago, take prioirty over immigrants who reached the land (en masse) decades ago?

Surely multiculturalism began when the native Canadian peoples were 'westernised' from their 'savage' ways?
3 replies · active 302 weeks ago
wow this is horribly racist stuff...indeed very david horowitz et al. simply embracing/promoting pluralism or diversity isn't enough. we gotta fight against systemic racism (and other forms of oppression) and truly change power relationships in society.
Permit me for asking 2 questions from an uninformed vantage point:

Why should the rights of Canadian immigrants who reached the land they call home a few hundred years ago, take prioirty over immigrants who reached the land (en masse) decades ago?

Surely multiculturalism began when the native Canadian peoples were 'westernised' from their 'savage' ways?
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
Harveer Singh: Points well-taken.

Sonny: What is your suggested program for fighting systematic racism? More legal battles?
wow this is horribly racist stuff...indeed very david horowitz et al. simply embracing/promoting pluralism or diversity isn't enough. we gotta fight against systemic racism (and other forms of oppression) and truly change power relationships in society.
Harveer Singh: Points well-taken.

Sonny: What is your suggested program for fighting systematic racism? More legal battles?
I read the National Post from time to time and I can tell you that Barbara Kay is not a good writer at all. Her articles are clearly only targeted for a certain segment of the Canadian population (e.g. Caucasians). She writes racist articles, while at the same time denying that racism exists in society. Clearly she hasn't read her own stuff.

Debating multiculturalism is fine, but I wouldn't include Barbaray Kay in that debate as she doesn't have much to add in value.
Lynn Pambrun's avatar

Lynn Pambrun · 883 weeks ago

[quote comment="1571"]Permit me for asking 2 questions from an uninformed vantage point:

Why should the rights of Canadian immigrants who reached the land they call home a few hundred years ago, take prioirty over immigrants who reached the land (en masse) decades ago?

Surely multiculturalism began when the native Canadian peoples were 'westernised' from their 'savage' ways?[/quote]

OMG, what ARE they teaching at university level with respect to Native North American Indians. For one, we were NEVER savages. We lived in peace & harmony and took care of the earth long before any immigrant stepped foot on our shores. We had a well-run government without all the hypocricy and self-centredness that you see now. Even our history books tell lies because they are told from only one point of view: the caucasian race!

Wait until they start picking on another race. Us Indians have been living in this oppressive, greedy culture for generations and don't expect it to stop now that more immigrants are coming to take what is left. We don't mind though because from our cultural point of view our Creator is just weeding out those that are too greedy. So, I welcome you to Canada, and to the greedy culture. I hope it doesn't swallow you up like it has done to so many other immigrants. Live in peace with each other and we'll all be fine. There is an old saying my Indian Elders use to say and warn us about, it goes like this:

Another people shall come, from beyond the salt water, which will take the lands away from the Indian peoples and, by means of a drink, try to erase their minds.

The Old ones used to say that that drink was snake blood.

They knew that the Indian would accept this drink from that stranger and that they would thus die in great numbers, to the point of almost becoming extinct, but that in a future time, soon after a time when machines would start carrying men in the sky, the Native people would give back to the stranger the ill-fated drink and would begin to walk straight once more, to think correctly and to play a dignified and most beneficial role in the world. We have arrived at that time.
1 reply · active 302 weeks ago
I read the National Post from time to time and I can tell you that Barbara Kay is not a good writer at all. Her articles are clearly only targeted for a certain segment of the Canadian population (e.g. Caucasians). She writes racist articles, while at the same time denying that racism exists in society. Clearly she hasn't read her own stuff.

Debating multiculturalism is fine, but I wouldn't include Barbaray Kay in that debate as she doesn't have much to add in value.
Lynn Pambrun you wrote: "OMG, what ARE they teaching at university level with respect to Native North American Indians. For one, we were NEVER savages."

I don't think Harveer Singh meant that us brown/blacks are actually savages in the literal meaning. It seems as if he said it to show what whites have been refering to us as.

It seems like your Native American, the story you tell is very interesting.

I think the conservative whites are just upset because America's starting to turn brown again. We might be a different kind of brown but we're all made of the same soil, and some of us are still wise enough to recognize that.
Lynn Pambrun's avatar

Lynn Pambrun · 883 weeks ago

[quote comment="1571"]Permit me for asking 2 questions from an uninformed vantage point:

Why should the rights of Canadian immigrants who reached the land they call home a few hundred years ago, take prioirty over immigrants who reached the land (en masse) decades ago?

Surely multiculturalism began when the native Canadian peoples were 'westernised' from their 'savage' ways?[/quote]

OMG, what ARE they teaching at university level with respect to Native North American Indians. For one, we were NEVER savages. We lived in peace & harmony and took care of the earth long before any immigrant stepped foot on our shores. We had a well-run government without all the hypocricy and self-centredness that you see now. Even our history books tell lies because they are told from only one point of view: the caucasian race!

Wait until they start picking on another race. Us Indians have been living in this oppressive, greedy culture for generations and don't expect it to stop now that more immigrants are coming to take what is left. We don't mind though because from our cultural point of view our Creator is just weeding out those that are too greedy. So, I welcome you to Canada, and to the greedy culture. I hope it doesn't swallow you up like it has done to so many other immigrants. Live in peace with each other and we'll all be fine. There is an old saying my Indian Elders use to say and warn us about, it goes like this:

Another people shall come, from beyond the salt water, which will take the lands away from the Indian peoples and, by means of a drink, try to erase their minds.

The Old ones used to say that that drink was snake blood.

They knew that the Indian would accept this drink from that stranger and that they would thus die in great numbers, to the point of almost becoming extinct, but that in a future time, soon after a time when machines would start carrying men in the sky, the Native people would give back to the stranger the ill-fated drink and would begin to walk straight once more, to think correctly and to play a dignified and most beneficial role in the world. We have arrived at that time.
Re: Lynn Pambrun, my apologies if any offence was caused, my sarcasm didn't some off too well! kprincess got it right, I was actually referring to the manner in which imperialist Europeans tend to think that they gave civilised society to the many nations of this Earth when they invaded and took control. South-East Asia suffered the same fate as the North American natives did, but to a much lesser extent. In my understanding native americans lived a truly efficient lifestyle in tune with the Earth, which was totally destroyed upon the arrival of the British, French and Mediterraneans. Today they speak of their heritage in a nation which they usurped from others, the hypocrisy knows no bounds!
3 replies · active 522 weeks ago
Lynn Pambrun you wrote: "OMG, what ARE they teaching at university level with respect to Native North American Indians. For one, we were NEVER savages."

I don't think Harveer Singh meant that us brown/blacks are actually savages in the literal meaning. It seems as if he said it to show what whites have been refering to us as.

It seems like your Native American, the story you tell is very interesting.

I think the conservative whites are just upset because America's starting to turn brown again. We might be a different kind of brown but we're all made of the same soil, and some of us are still wise enough to recognize that.
Re: Lynn Pambrun, my apologies if any offence was caused, my sarcasm didn't some off too well! kprincess got it right, I was actually referring to the manner in which imperialist Europeans tend to think that they gave civilised society to the many nations of this Earth when they invaded and took control. South-East Asia suffered the same fate as the North American natives did, but to a much lesser extent. In my understanding native americans lived a truly efficient lifestyle in tune with the Earth, which was totally destroyed upon the arrival of the British, French and Mediterraneans. Today they speak of their heritage in a nation which they usurped from others, the hypocrisy knows no bounds!
1 reply · active 302 weeks ago
I'm tired of people in the punjabi community play the native card. Since when did people in the punjabi community start caring the native people.

I'm really sorry about what happened to the native community. But it was the Britsh and French that bulit this country into what it is today. Canada is one of the best country in the world and one of the most welcoming to new immigrants.
One thing I find really funny is that the same people who support multicultrism here. I wonder how they feel about it in the Punjab. Last time I checked. Many people from other parts of India, many of them of low caste are moving to the Punjab to work. Many punjabi's in the west are upset that these newcomers are not adapting to there culture. They are also worried the sikh population in Punjab is down to 52% and wants sikh's to have more kids.
The population of Toronto and Vancouver make up close to 8 million with 3.5 millions minorities with about 800,000 of them being South Asian.

But the rest of Canada has about 25 million with 2 million minorities with about 400,000 south asians.

I grow up in small town 7 hours east of Vancouver in which the whole area had about 60,000 people with about 25 south asian families[mostly punjabi's] and rest of the area was 98% white. My parents came in the early 70's from Punjab and moved there less then year after coming to Canada and have been there for almost 35 years. My parents have never any problems with racism. They have many friends that they made when they 1st came and still are friends.

Now compare that to place like Surrey many newcomers move to an all punjabi neighborhood and make no effort to learn about the culture or make friends of other backgrounds.
1 reply · active 302 weeks ago
Suki: I have heard the "love it or leave it" argument many times. However, I do find it most amusing when it comes from members of our own community.

As far as hypocrisy, I wrote this article and do not see a problem with immigrants from UP and Bihar (locally called bhaiya) coming to Punjab. They are from a different region, not 'low caste' as you seem to refer to them.

Like you, I hope that Punjabis in Canada do learn about the culture of other Canadians. However, I hope that other Canadians learn about the culture of Sikh Canadians as they are just as Canadian as any other Canadian!
As far as hypocrisy, I wrote this article and do not see a problem with immigrants from UP and Bihar (locally called bhaiya) coming to Punjab. They are from a different region, not ‘low caste’ as you seem to refer to them.

I wasn't talking about you. But I have heard many ethnic punjabi's and seen on other sikh websites complaining about bhaiya, and other newcomers to the Punjab.
Like you, I hope that Punjabis in Canada do learn about the culture of other Canadians. However, I hope that other Canadians learn about the culture of Sikh Canadians as they are just as Canadian as any other Canadian!

But how many cultures would you have to learn. The problem is that most Punjabi's when they come to Canada move to Toronto or Vancouver area and live like they are still are in 1950's punjab. Alot of the newcomers are from the village and not very educated.

This is article about Calgary Muslim professor named Mahfooz Kanwar which better explains how I feel.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GU...
I'm tired of people in the punjabi community play the native card. Since when did people in the punjabi community start caring the native people.

I'm really sorry about what happened to the native community. But it was the Britsh and French that bulit this country into what it is today. Canada is one of the best country in the world and one of the most welcoming to new immigrants.
One thing I find really funny is that the same people who support multicultrism here. I wonder how they feel about it in the Punjab. Last time I checked. Many people from other parts of India, many of them of low caste are moving to the Punjab to work. Many punjabi's in the west are upset that these newcomers are not adapting to there culture. They are also worried the sikh population in Punjab is down to 52% and wants sikh's to have more kids.
The population of Toronto and Vancouver make up close to 8 million with 3.5 millions minorities with about 800,000 of them being South Asian.

But the rest of Canada has about 25 million with 2 million minorities with about 400,000 south asians.

I grow up in small town 7 hours east of Vancouver in which the whole area had about 60,000 people with about 25 south asian families[mostly punjabi's] and rest of the area was 98% white. My parents came in the early 70's from Punjab and moved there less then year after coming to Canada and have been there for almost 35 years. My parents have never any problems with racism. They have many friends that they made when they 1st came and still are friends.

Now compare that to place like Surrey many newcomers move to an all punjabi neighborhood and make no effort to learn about the culture or make friends of other backgrounds.
Suki: I have heard the "love it or leave it" argument many times. However, I do find it most amusing when it comes from members of our own community.

As far as hypocrisy, I wrote this article and do not see a problem with immigrants from UP and Bihar (locally called bhaiya) coming to Punjab. They are from a different region, not 'low caste' as you seem to refer to them.

Like you, I hope that Punjabis in Canada do learn about the culture of other Canadians. However, I hope that other Canadians learn about the culture of Sikh Canadians as they are just as Canadian as any other Canadian!
Maybe Punjabis complain about people moving into Punjab because they often feel discriminated against in India. I recently went to india and some of my relatives were saying how they can't go outside of punjab and own property, but non-punjabis can own property in punjab. I'm not saying that punjabis don't discriminate, but I think at times there's a reason for some of the frustration they express. If we're not so loving to non-punjabis, then it might partaly have to do w/ the fact that india hasn't been prefect to us.

As for the uneducated punjabis in canada, i know that there are a lot of punajbis who arrive there. But hey, not everyone's gonna come into canada w/ a PHD. I'm sure there are plenty of uneducated goray there as well. Also, just because you're from a village and haven't attended a formal educational institution doesn't mean your completely "uneducated." My mom never went to school but she's the wisest woman I know of. More so than any of my professors or other peers. Just cuz you've gone to a university and beyond doesn't mean you're the smartest. College doesn't teach you everything.

I totally support multiculturalism, wouldn't it be hypocritical not to in this age of globalization? So you can eat Chinese food, wear indian style clothes, listen to hip-hop, but you don't wanna have to learn anything about their culture.

Also, Suki. maybe you never had problems w/ racism because you've had others to pave the road for you. I know I have a lot less problems w/ racism in California cuz I had the Blacks, Latinos, and Asians like Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez and many others fight for the rights that I am currently exercising.

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