Becoming Canadian by Elke Winter » Institute for Research on Public Policy

The more classic citizenship as integration perspective by Elke Winter of University of Ottawa:

At the level of discourse, Winter observes that there has been a potentially troublesome shift in how Canadian citizenship is presented. In her view, depicting prospective citizens as fraudulent and mischievous can fan insecurity and distrust in the population. This holds true for singling out specific religions and cultures as potentially less adaptable than others. She also raises concerns about the increased emphasis — in the citizenship guide and elsewhere — on Canada’s military history, British traditions and the monarchy. In her view, this runs counter to the ethos of multiculturalism, which replaced the dominant ideology of conformity to Anglophone norms around 40 years ago. Winter concludes that we should monitor these developments, not least because they convey messages that may be counterproductive to the successful integration of immigrants from diverse backgrounds.

While there is merit to her views on the content of Canadian citizenship, there is much less so on her dismissal of the need for greater program integrity. Citizenship policy aims to balance facilitation – being relatively easy to acquire, and meaningfulness, being more difficult through a more consistent set of requirements and assessment. She is correct that the changes introduced by Minister Kenney remained within the overall Canadian approach to citizenship.

And a bit surprising that she didn’t read the sections in my book, Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias: Resetting Citizenship and Multiculturalism, that covered many of the changes that she described. But her reliance on media and other academics meant she missed some of the important details that would have nuanced her arguments, in some case reinforcing them, in others weakening them. Examples include:

• Discover Canada focusses section focuses too much on the minor revisions and doesn’t discuss the language level of the guide (well above CLB 4, the required level);
• Citizenship test does not mention absence of focus group testing, which contributed to a harder experience and requirement for retest (and education was the key determinant of success);
• Winter’s discussion of fraud tends to discount the importance of program integrity, important by itself as well as to ensure general support for immigration, citizenship and multiculturalism;
• Citizenship ceremony changes were more widespread than the presence of the military and/or RCMP. Rather than distributing the Charter, a new booklet was provided, with about half of the content referring to the Crown. And the niqab was a secondary issue, and Minister Kenney’s position on religious freedom and the niqab evolved over time. Citing the court challenge to the Oath to the Queen as indicating increased support for change is an overstatement at best; and,
• Changes to the language requirements were changes to the process, as the formal requirement – administered inconsistently in the past – remained at CLB 4, unchanged.

Becoming Canadian » Institute for Research on Public Policy.

Citizenship changes work against immigrant integration, report finds – The Star