Diversity and multiculturalism

A defining characteristic of Canada is its diversity, also called multiculturalism (these aren't quite the same but in conversation they often are equated). To a considerable extent this is a deliberate policy choice: Canada unlike the United States, encourages immigrants to preserve at least some cultural traditions of their country of origin. The metaphors are melting-pot for the United States, which actively encourages immigrants to shed their original identity and become American, and mosaic for Canada, which tacitly encourages immigrants to become "hyphenated" Canadians, to preserve their original identity while also becoming Canadian. Very early in our Canadian lives I became aware of this and embraced it with enthusiasm. I discussed it with a school friend who was a diplomat in the Australian High Commission; he defended the official Australian policy which resembled the American in referring to "assimilation" - a variant of the melting-pot. I made it clear that I preferred the tolerant, 'ecumenical' Canadian policy. One Canada Day in the early 1970s, we biked from our home to Parliament Hill, where Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was strolling casually among the cheerful, friendly crowds, without visible security (those were the days!). That year the Canada Day celebrations included a display of dancing by ethnic groups from Greece, Portugal, Ukraine, Philippines, other countries; we watched and applauded some of this while standing next to Pierre Trudeau before he strolled on, not before he had autographed a little paper Canadian flag for Wendy. Since then on other Canada Days we've seen the same rich mixtures over and over again. There are regional aggregations of ethnic groups, Sikhs, Hindus, Chinese in southern BC, Ukrainians in Alberta, more Ukrainians along with Icelandic people in Manitoba, Italians, Portuguese and Spanish in Toronto, as well as the largest Chinese community outside China, Haitians and francophone North Africans (Algerians, Moroccans) in Montreal, Somalis, Italians and Portuguese in Ottawa. Very rarely the ethnic tensions and hostilities of their original countries have transplanted, but happily these seldom seem to take root or last for long. I recall a sad falling-out in the early 1990s between two Yugoslav classmates who had been good friends until one, a Serb, and the other a Croat almost started fist-fighting in a seminar-tutorial class; and there have been ethnic gang wars, turf wars, in the lower mainland of BC. And of course, there are very large numbers of people all across Canada whose ancestral roots were French, British, Irish, where ancient historical tensions very occasionally surface. In parts of Nova Scotia, there are more Gaelic-speakers than in Scotland; and many Newfoundlanders speak with accents that can be mistaken for Dublin, Limerick or Cork. When I first came to the University of Ottawa in 1969-70, the class lists of the medical students contained names almost entirely from France or the British Isles. By the late 1970s I began to notice names from South and South-East Asia, as well as Italian and Slavic names. On the last class list I officially received in 1992-93, about one in five names looked Chinese, and so did the faces of the class members. Almost all spoke with Canadian accents however, and all or almost all were fluently bilingual in English and French; many had a third and some had fourth and a few had a fifth language. But underneath their skins of varying colours and their names from all over the world, they were all Canadian first and foremost. Most were Canadian born or had come to Canada as infants. From what I see at a distance of present-day medical student classes, they are much the same, the same rich cultural mix that not infrequently leads to assortative mating that takes no account of skin colour, family name, religion. The most wonderful wedding we ever attended, other than our own, was that of two good friends I'd known since their first week in medical school. One was from a 'High Anglican' family, the other from a devout Hindu family where marriages were arranged in infancy. Those two worked on their respective parents for 4-5 years to win them over and agree to accept, even to welcome the marriage which was a lovely blend of Christian and Hindu rituals. There's hope for humanity in such blending of diverse cultures, skin colours and historical origins. Amid all the troubles of this world I take great comfort from that.