Working site on citizenship and multiculturalism issues.
2013/10/12 Leave a comment
The latest poll. While the numbers are up for the Charter, not clear whether this will translate into a majority PQ government. And on real issues – economy, healthcare, and education – the government is not doing well.
Sondage Léger – L’appui à la Charte se solidifie | Le Devoir.
2013/10/12 Leave a comment
Some good reflections on the teaching of history and national narratives, and the risks of being both too critical and not critical enough. Citizenship guides like Discover Canada tend to focus on the positive (but not exclusively); high school history texts may have a more balanced picture:
Trop verser dans l’histoire « glorifiée », afin qu’elle forge ce sentiment identitaire, est aussi risqué. « Il y a aussi un danger de tomber dans une vision nationaliste et de faire dire à l’histoire certaines choses. On peut intéresser les jeunes à l’histoire, et elle aura toujours une part de politique, mais on devrait laisser aux historiens le soin de transmettre l’histoire. Au final, je trouve que c’est aussi grave d’avoir une visée politique que d’avoir une visée cachée dans l’enseignement de l’histoire, qui est celle d’inculquer l’ouverture à l’autre. Pas parce que c’est une mauvaise chose, mais parce que ça peut être fait ailleurs et que l’histoire de l’humanité, c’est l’histoire du bien ET du mal. »
Identité ou citoyenneté? – Transmettre le sentiment d’appartenance | Le Devoir.
2013/10/12 Leave a comment
Interesting poll comparing support for bilingualism, multiculturalism, biculturalism, and official languages. Fairly significant age and regional differences, but nothing too surprising:
Selon Jack Jedwab, ce sondage permet aussi de faire des recoupements fort révélateurs. « Par exemple, le sondage démontre que les répondants qui sont les plus favorables au multiculturalisme sont aussi ceux qui sont les plus favorables au biculturalisme. C’est que, dans leur perception, le multiculturalisme n’est qu’une extension du biculturalisme. À l’inverse, les répondants les moins favorables au multiculturalisme sont aussi ceux qui sont les moins favorables au biculturalisme, leur perception identitaire étant plutôt celle de la singularisation. Il est donc faux de prétendre que les tenants du multiculturalisme sont opposés au biculturalisme et au bilinguisme. Ce sont plutôt les opposants au multiculturalisme qui s’opposent aussi au biculturalisme et au bilinguisme. »
Du bilinguisme au multiculturalisme – Selon qu’on est anglophone ou francophone… | Le Devoir.
2013/10/11 Leave a comment
On some of the tensions within the Chinese-Canadian communities, between mainland and Hong Kong origin, between earlier and recent arrivals. Habacon gets multiculturalism right, and the kind of discussions that increasingly take place within families.
Including tensions and discrimination between ethnic communities, not just between the mainstream and ethnic communities, as part of the new multiculturalism priorities in 2010, was overdue.
Multiculturalism isn’t an excuse to import traditions that smack of bigotry.
2013/10/11 Leave a comment
Not a good sign when the Minister responsible for Montreal, Jean-François Lisée, wants the mayoral candidates and other Montreal politicians to be quiet on the proposed Charter. Likely this will only invite more comment, and draw further attention to opposition to the Charter. While it may play well in the hinterland, we will see the overall impact over the next month or so.
PQ unhappy its values charter has become an issue in Montreal mayoral election
2013/10/11 Leave a comment
On martyrdom in various religions.
The meaning of martyrdom: Ways to bear witness | The Economist.
2013/10/10 1 Comment
The respective rates of “comfort” with interfaith marriage are not surprising:
The article would have benefitted from actual intermarriage rates compared to attitudes, as overall intermarriage rates have generally increased, albeit from a small base.
Attitudes are not limited to the “mainstream;” as the article notes, many within communities also want their children to marry from within the community, either to preserve their faith, pass it on to children, or at least theoretically have fewer compatibility issues.
Douglas Todd: British Columbians grow more wary of other religions, interfaith marriages.
2013/10/10 Leave a comment
Interesting insights from Charles Taylor, on how the model of laicisme ouverte was a tactical move to find a compromise that should work with the population. A valid call, even if the fundamentals are still questionable:
Sure enough, Taylor conceded in our latest phone conversation that the recommendation was a political compromise, meant as “a prophylactic.”
He revealed: “We did struggle over that for weeks.
“We didn’t have any real concern that wearing a religious symbol would make someone an unreliable official. It was never that we mistrusted the judgment of a kippa-wearing judge.
“Rather, we feared that the idea would run into stiff resistance. We wondered, ‘Is the population ready for this?’
“We looked at it from the point of the accused — would they find it traumatic (to be judged by someone visibly non-Christian)?
“So, we said, ‘Let’s go for this limited recommendation now, and at a later date when the population feels confident enough with diversity, we can loosen the whole thing.’
“We were recommending it as a prophylactic. It was a scaling down, so that it might provide a way out.”
Hijab is what Marois really wants to banish: Siddiqui | Toronto Star.
And Québec solidaire, the small left-wing party, notes that an election is not the best means to have a discussion on the proposed Charter, human rights, and accommodation:
Charte des valeurs – Une question trop complexe pour être un enjeu électoral, croit QS
2013/10/10 Leave a comment
Not surprising, and consistent with the narrative of Discover Canada, our guide for new citizens, focussing on an arsenal of battles and wars, a smattering of sports and a nod to the Arctic. A bit narrow, however.
Canada’s 150th anniversary plans big on battles and birthdays | Toronto Star.
2013/10/10 Leave a comment
The continuing slide to the right in France’s immigration and integration policies, likely to be counterproductive in a country that has largely failed in integration.
What seems lost on the republicans, however, is that as coercion takes the place of persuasion, young Muslims are showing even greater fervour for their faith than their parents. But with a population of five million Muslims expected to near seven million in a decade or so, few politicians appear willing to defy public opinion by abandoning the stick for the carrot….
As Dominique Reynié, director of the Foundation for Political Innovation, observed in Le Monde: “Twenty years ago, Valls’s remarks on the Roma would have come from [Front National founder] Jean-Marie Le Pen. In 2010, president Sarkozy’s remarks were shocking. In 2013, worse language emanates from the Socialist Interior Minister. Almost 80 per cent of French voters agree with him. President Hollande shows his de facto support. It is a testimony to the rightward slide of the [political] landscape. All of France is hardening.”
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Multicultural Meanderings 