Working site on citizenship and multiculturalism issues.
2015/07/20 1 Comment
For those interested, the detailed table of contents provides a sense of the scope and depth of the book.
Multiculturalism in Canada Detailed Table of Contents (pdf)
Book is on track to be out in early August.
2015/07/18 Leave a comment
More on the electoral aspects:
Late last month, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told a crowd in Quebec voters have told him, “We want new citizens to take the oath with their faces uncovered.”
“It’s classic wedge politics” that distinguishes the Conservatives from the other parties, said Emmett Macfarlane, a political science professor at the University of Waterloo. Even if it turns out to be a losing issue legally, it may be a winning issue politically.
“This plays well with the Conservative base. Despite the party’s success with new immigrants and ethnic communities … and spearheading connections to those communities, a lot of the base still has a view that minority cultures have inappropriate practices.”
Various polls have shown that a strong majority of Canadians agree people should show their faces during citizenship ceremonies.
“It is a common-sense view … and has resounding support in Canada,” said Salim Mansur, a political science professor at Western University in London, Ont.
The policy was introduced in December 2011 and is grounded in the belief citizenship applicants must be seen to be saying the oath. Those who refuse to remove facial coverings will not receive their citizenship.
2015/07/14 Leave a comment
Interesting documentary and subject:
Who is, or deserves to be, an American citizen is a simple question that gets complicated depending on what else is going on in the culture. Now that immigration is such a preoccupation for some, bills are periodically introduced in Congress to challenge the right of children born in the United States to undocumented immigrant parents to be considered citizens by birth. Check out the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2015 proposed by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa).
Documentary filmmaker Anne Galisky, who has chronicled the immigrant-rights movement for years, takes on the question in a new work called “14: Dred Scott, Wong Kim Ark & Vanessa Lopez.” The film had its Washington premiere Thursday night at the E Street Cinema. Galisky is lining up more screenings in the area and hopes to pitch it to public television. “Talk to us about bringing it to your school, your nonprofit, your place of worship,” she said to the audience of 75 at the premiere.
… At the time of filming, Vanessa Lopez is the 8-year-old American-born daughter of undocumented immigrant activist Rosario Lopez, now living in Seattle. Vanessa says she wants to be “either an artist, a photographer, a lawyer or a marine biologist.” With her unaccented English and her 8-year-old’s view of the world, she tries to puzzle through the thinking of adults who would deport her mother and grandparents and deny citizenship to children like her.
Vanessa serves as the heart-tugging emotional center of the film, while Galisky draws a direct narrative line from Scott to Ark to the Lopez family. Along the way, she interviews descendants of both Scott and Ark.
Galisky, whose previous film was “Papers: Stories of Undocumented Youth” (2009), said bills to undermine birthright citizenship may seem unlikely to pass, but “I think there’s danger even in calling birthright citizenship into question.”
’14,’ a documentary on citizenship by birth, premieres in Washington – The Washington Post.
2015/07/13 1 Comment
While this has been reported before (Immigrants more likely to fail citizenship test the longer they’re here), obtained this and related documents to see what changes may have been made to the citizenship test that could explain the significant increase in the overall pass rate from 82.7 percent 2010-13 to 90.3 percent.
While unfortunately the relevant memos providing options to the Minister have been extensively redacted (here and here), it is clear that considerable effort was made to improve test scores while maintaining the integrity of the test.
This detailed analysis confirms the importance of education:
Main findings: Regression results show that, after controlling for the effect of other individual characteristics in the model, a few individual characteristics are strongly associated with the citizenship test outcome. Among these characteristics, educational attainment stands out as the most important predictor of the test pass rate. The adjusted pass rate for immigrants with a university degree or above at time of landing is considerably higher than those with lower educational attainment.
Differences across immigration categories and countries of birth are also large. While applicants in the economic immigration categories obtain the highest adjusted test pass rates, applicants in the refugee immigration categories obtain the lowest test pass rates.
Applicants born in Afghanistan, Vietnam, Iraq, Algeria, Jamaica, India and Sri Lanka have the lowest adjusted pass rates.
Variables showing modest effect on the pass rate include: age at test, age at landing, official language ability at landing and mother tongue. The differences in test pass rates across categories of all variables are more pronounced for those with lower educational attainment.
Educational attainment at time of landing: • Overall, the test pass rate increases with an applicants’ educational attainment at time of landing. The pass-rate for applicants with Bachelor’s degrees or above is about 20 percentage points higher than those with secondary or less education and 8 percentage points higher than those with trades/diploma/apprenticeship schooling, but 3 percentage points lower than those with Master or Doctorate degrees.
Citizenship Knowledge Test Results – Multivariate Regression Analysis August 2013
Citizenship Knowledge Test Results – Multivariate Regression Analysis Summary Deck 2013
2015/07/13 Leave a comment
Good comparative data on immigrant vs. Canadian-born sense of belonging to Canada from the 2013 General Social Survey.
No real surprise with findings (similar to earlier surveys), which officials included in their advice to the Government during discussions on Discover Canada and related changes to the citizenship test and requirements in 2009-10:
Immigrants were more likely than non-immigrants to report having a very strong sense of belonging to Canada (67% versus 62%).
However, this difference was not evident for all age groups. For example, among youth aged 15 to 24, there was no observed difference between the non-immigrant and immigrant populations (Chart 2). Conversely, among seniors aged 65 to 74, 80% of immigrants expressed a very strong sense of belonging to Canada, compared with 73% of non-immigrants.
In 2013, longer-term immigrants, that is, those who immigrated before 2000, were more likely to express a very strong sense of belonging to Canada (71%) than to their country of origin (29%).
This difference was less pronounced among immigrants who immigrated between 2000 and 2013, with 60% of them expressing a very strong sense of belonging to Canada and 44% having a strong connection to their country of origin.
Sense of belonging to Canada, the province of residence and the local community.
Also of interest, as noted in the National Post, was the strong attachment to multiculturalism:
Nova Scotia, Ontario and Saskatchewan citizens were the most likely to report a very strong sense of belonging to Canada, at 70 per cent each. With a population drawn from more than 200 countries and speaking 130 languages, Ontario is Canada’s most multicultural province — multiculturalism being a major factor in making people feel they belong.
Canadian first strongest ties are to country respondents tell survey on belonging
2015/07/11 Leave a comment
While I have not been blogging over the past month, I have been following events and these stories and reports caught my eye.
From a general perspective, the Environics Institute latest Focus Canada annual survey showed continued strong support for immigration and multiculturalism, including some notable increases in support (e.g., general support for multiculturalism, reduced fear immigrants not adapting to Canadian values, that immigrants can be as good citizens as Canadian-born) along with increased recognition of discrimination and the need for policies and programs to address it.
Jeffrey Simpson in the Globe reminded us of just how successful the Canadian model of citizenship, immigration and multiculturalism has been.
Citizenship
The Canadian government launched its first revocation proceeding, selecting Hiva Alizadeh as the test case given that he is a dual national of Canada and Iran, was tried and convicted in a Canadian court where he pleaded guilty (avoiding many of the issues raised during C-24 hearings regarding due process in foreign courts).
The remaining provisions of the changes to the Canadian Citizenship Act came into force on June 11, provoking the usual stories about how some were affected by the date chosen (no matter which date was picked, there would always be some affected by the transition. The release of ATIP documents on the Citizenship Act consultations revealed that ethnic groups were particularly concerned about longer residency requirements and increased fees, with some concerned about revocation, and many questioned why advertising was focussed on revocation provisions rather than the changes they were concerned about.
Minister Alexander’s Canada Day message repeated the historic naturalization rate of over 85 percent, despite his department knowing that the recent rate is lower. His conflating of niqab-wearing women with terrorists and his highly selective citing of Liberal government restrictions on immigration and related discriminatory practices were savaged by some commentators.
CIC has yet to provide an explanation for the significant drop (over 30 percent) in the number of citizenship applications in 2013 and 2014 (Full 2014 Citizenship Statistics: Declining Applications).
The Australian government, despite a vigorous internal debate on citizenship revocation, appears committed to a fairly draconian approach, applying to both single and dual nationals and the children of those convicted.
Multiculturalism
The usual Multiculturalism Day messages by political parties, with the Government (Ministers Kenney and Uppal) emphasizing “peaceful pluralism and ordered liberty,” sport and “the values of freedom, democracy and the rule of law” (no mention of human rights), the NDP Multiculturalism Critic emphasizing “tolerance, understanding and equality” and the Liberal Party leader emphasizing “acceptance, fundamental freedoms, and mutual respect.”
The Government reversed a new policy requiring “pat-downs” of turbans, following protests by Canadian Sikhs (likely reflecting their political importance), leaving Minister for State for Multiculturalism Uppal to explain why an exemption for one form of religious headgear (the turban) and not another (the niqab). While there is a difference between covering one’s hair and covering one’s face, ironic that this decision took place in the same month as families of the Air India bombing commemorated the 30th anniversary, the largest terrorist attack in Canadian history with some families noting that some temples have pictures of the Sikh mastermind behind the bombing.
A thoughtful discussion of the challenges health care professionals face in dealing with accommodation requests for different groups, and the processes used to decide what can be accommodated and what not.
Declining support for immigration and multiculturalism post 9/11 and 7/7 in Britain was significant (56 percent in 2015 believe multiculturalism makes Britain worse compared to 32 percent in 2001).
Meanwhile, French Prime Minister Walls notes that Islam is “here to stay in France” while highlighting unacceptable behaviour (antisemitism and hate speech). In addition, despite the formal separation of church and state in France, some have initiated programs to have a more open approach to discussing religion in schools.
In a significant discrimination case, the US Supreme Court ruled that the actual results of policies and programs trumped the intent of these policies, providing a basis for challenging systemic racism and discrimination in future cases.
Canadian antisemitic incidents are reported as rising given B’nai Brith reports (which contrast with Statistics Canada police-reported hate crimes report which show a decline).
An interesting opinion piece that tries to assess the boundary between criticism of Israeli policies and antisemitism provided some nuance to debate on either side of the issue. As Israeli governments provide more support to the Israeli Rabinate, a divide may be emerging between American Jews and Israel.
A good discussion on some of the issues around providing Holocaust education to German Muslims, how it gets tied to the general Israel-Palestine issue, and the efforts by the German government to develop programs to reduce radical Islam by establishing centres for the study of Islam. Meanwhile, the Netherlands postpones the release of a report showing antisemitism among Dutch Muslim youth.
An account of how “trying white food” is part of the experience of children of immigrants, which complements the increased interest by “white people” in ethnic food, highlights one aspect of integration.
Google quickly learns the limits of its image recognition software when its software labels Blacks as gorillas, but quickly deletes the gorilla label as an interim step to ensuring better image recognition. Appears that software too can be subject to implicit bias and should be made to take the Implicit Association Test (IAT).
New Canadian Media held its first workshop for integration and settlement agencies on how to engage the mainstream media in ethnic community issues.
An amusing yet relevant discussion on when multiculturalism advertising can become offensive, using examples from the 1970s (particularly McDonalds and advertising targeted to Black Americans) and some tips to avoid crossing the line.
Following months of wedge and identity politics around Canadian Muslims (the most recent being the Bill tabled just before the House rose banning the niqab at citizenship ceremonies) and the threat of Islamic-inspired extremism, the PM makes a more positive gesture in hosting an Iftar dinner at 24 Sussex.
President Obama delivers one of his best, and arguably one of the best ever, speeches on racism in America and the need for action in his eulogy at the Charleston funeral for those gunned down by a white extremist. Worth taking the time to view in its entirety:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK7tYOVd0Hs
Nell Painter, recapping some of her insights of her book The History of White People, notes that “whiteness” is often defined by what it is not (“blackness”) and that we need to move beyond such binary expressions of identity.
Extremism
A reminder that right wing extremism has been a greater threat in North America than Islamic-inspired extremism provides again a note of nuance to current security and related debates.
A Canadian government-funded study demonstrated that there are various paths to radicalization, showing that despite rhetoric, the Government is sponsoring sociological research.
An interesting counterpoint to ISIS/ISIL’s destruction of non-Islamic (and non-Sunni) monuments can be seen in Israel considering restoring the historic Islamic site of Khirbat al-Minya, the ruins of an Umayyad palace complex on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Immigration
As been mentioned before, and as apparent in the analysis I did for my forthcoming book (Multiculturalism in Canada: Evidence and Anecdote), immigration is becoming increasingly dispersed beyond the larger urban centres, given housing costs and economic opportunities.
An ATIP request indicates profiling and bias in CIC’s review of potential marriage fraud, although the guide has subsequently been revised, with examples highlighting the extensive documentation required.
Following the Toronto police carding debate, and likely other but less high-profile debates elsewhere in Ontario, the Ontario government decides to develop and implement a province-wide policy.
The Quebec government provided fewer resources to organizations delivering integration courses as part of overall austerity measures.
Other immigration stories of interest included accusations of racial profiling of Roma travellers and the effective ending of the live-in-caregiver program and the impact on childcare needs,
Other
Rick Salutin wrote a good piece looking at the history and definitions of “barbaric cultural practices” providing perspective on the current government fetish to use the term for political marketing purposes.
Daniel Savoie had his usual biting commentary of some of the weaknesses of current governments and their apparent inability to deliver programs and policies effectively.
The issue of Saudi financing of Islamic religious schools in Canada was reported on, with little indication that this funding was influencing the curriculum and approach (largely appeared to be for buildings and other infrastructure).
As part of Canada Day reporting, CBC interviewed foreign academics on their views on how Canada was perceived abroad, highlighting their assessment that it had worsened, not surprising given their more centrist and left-wing perspective. The cut to the Canadian Studies Abroad program in 2012 was again lamented.
Sadly, but not surprisingly, the Government does not make any changes to the mandatory Census questions that would improve the quality of the data, and continues with the voluntary NHS approach.
Will be back to my regular posting schedule on Monday.
2015/06/08 Leave a comment
Martin Regg Cohn on Ontario’s provincial flag and how it was a counter-reaction to the new Canadian flag 50 years ago:
While our flag looks and feels old, it is actually younger than the bold and modern Maple Leaf design of 1965. And was very much a reaction to the convulsive national flag debate led by then-prime minister Lester B. Pearson.
A former career diplomat, Pearson understood from his foreign travels that Canada’s emerging national identity demanded a flag that bespoke more than its colonial heritage. Yet in Parliament, Progressive Conservative opposition leader John Diefenbaker raged against the Maple Leaf as a betrayal of our British antecedents.
Tapping into that vein of resentment, Robarts’s PC government embraced the remnants of the discarded Union Jack design — and made it Ontario’s own ensign.
Until 1965, our national flag had featured a miniature Union Jack in the upper left quadrant and our coat of arms to the right — lumping Canada with other former British colonies boasting nearly indistinguishable and interchangeable flags. When Ottawa discarded that template, Ontario adopted it.
While retaining the Union Jack image, Robarts substituted Ontario’s Shield of Arms where the Canadian symbol had once been. The legislature quickly adopted the premier’s suggestion, though one dissenting MPP dubbed it a “revenge flag.”
And very much a reactionary response.
Parliament had chosen a flag for the future that captured the national spirit in early 1965. The Legislature had reacted, three months later, by travelling back in time to conjure up a flag of the past inspired more by tit for tat than tradition.
As Canada renounced the Union Jack, Ontario revivified its British roots, ever mindful of its official motto: “Loyal she began, loyal she remains.”
Do we dare display disloyalty to that design today? Is it time to revisit our faux flag?
It’s not a historical keepsake but a political quickie dreamed up by Robarts in the mid-1960s — just as another false idol, the Gardiner Expressway, was being completed. Should we be stuck with such symbols of short-sightedness for all time?
In Ontario, times change. But it takes time to build up momentum.
The British monarchy is in malaise — out of date and out of place in Canada, but difficult to dislodge. Just as our old Union Jack ensign could be confused for the British flag, so too Canadian postage stamps showing the Queen as our head of state are an anachronism (my airmail letters to British friends look like domestic mail to them).
But when I covered Australia’s ill-fated referendum on ridding itself of the monarchy in 1999, I watched voters quarrel over what would replace the Queen. The lesson is that you first need to marshal public opinion toward a durable consensus.
While many Ontarians clamour for an end to funding of separate schools, public opinion is still deeply split on ending constitutional protection for Catholic education. Until there is a consensus, there is no point launching a battle that will inflame religious passions, divide the province and end in stalemate.
As Ontario becomes less Loyalist and more modernist, demographic shifts will drive democratic change. In time.
How Ontario travelled back in time as Canada moved forward: Cohn | Toronto Star.
2015/06/06 Leave a comment
Unfortunately, all too characteristic of the Government in making it harder to vote (as in the case of Elections Act revisions), even if maintaining the 5 year rule makes sense:
Last year, an Ontario Superior Court judge struck down a rule that barred citizens living abroad for more than five years from voting in federal elections. The government has rightly appealed that decision, while also introducing legislation that will enshrine expats’ voting rights, but with a twist. Expats will get to vote – it will just be really, really hard.
So hard, in fact, that many of the 2.8 million expats around the globe may well not bother. Others will try but won’t be able to meet the onerous new requirements in Bill C-50.
Under the bill, currently in committee after second reading, Elections Canada will eliminate the international register of electors, the long-established list of expat Canadians eligible to vote federally. In future, expats will have to re-register for each election, and can only do so after the writ is dropped.
That means an overseas Canadian would have about 36 days, the minimum length of an election campaign, to write to Elections Canada to request a ballot, wait while officials examine the extensive paperwork the bill requires, receive a ballot in the mail, make their mark, and then return the ballot by mail.
Critics say many long-time expats won’t be able to produce the new documentation required, which includes proof of the voter’s last Canadian address provided by a Canadian company or government office. The alternative is to find someone in the voter’s last riding who will vouch that the person in question once lived there – a time-consuming process.
The Harper government says the goal of the new rules is to prevent voter fraud, the same canard that it used to justify the Fair Elections Act. There are widespread concerns that as many as 400,000 eligible voters will be unable to cast a ballot in the fall election because of the Fair Elections Act. If Bill C-50 is adopted before Parliament is dissolved, the franchise of thousands of expats could also be compromised.
We are not convinced that the right to vote extends to Canadian who have chosen to live outside the country for decades, or even a lifetime. The government was right to appeal, and we hope a higher court will side with it. But in the interim, that lower court’s decision has to be respected. The bill should not be recognizing a right with one hand, while effectively taking it away with the other.
Tory bill raises too many barriers for expat Canadian voters – The Globe and Mail.
2015/06/06 Leave a comment
Victoria Ferauge’s updated American diaspora and expatriate reading list:
“Sometimes we feel we straddle two cultures; at other times, that we fall between two stools.”
Salman Rushdie, Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism 1981-1991
Time for an update of the Flophouse American Diaspora Reading List – the best books and articles I’ve read recently about American people and communities abroad. New books are in green. As always, please feel free to add to the list.
This list has three sections: Upcoming titles – Books that have not been published yet but that I plan on reading; General books/articles – the larger view. Some talk about specific issues (like citizenship), others are studies, portraits or serious research about Americans abroad; Expat autobiographies – Accounts of Americans in different countries. These are not books that tell a potential American migrant how to live abroad. These are personal accounts that talk about what happens to American identity when it gets transplanted somewhere else for a year or two, or for a lifetime.
The Franco-American Flophouse: Flophouse American Diaspora Reading List.
2015/06/04 1 Comment
Observing the polarized debate within the Australian Cabinet over citizenship revocation, I can only wonder whether there was a similar debate behind closed doors in the Canadian Cabinet.
I suspect not. Despite the Harper government’s discipline, some glimmer of internal disagreement would likely have become known had it been major:
[Communications Minister and former Liberal party leader] Turnbull has warned that the fight against terrorism is “not a bravado issue” and emphasised the importance of safeguarding the rule of law in Australia.
The communications minister and former Liberal party leader said terrorists “want to destroy us because they hate the rule of law” and he argued a controversial proposal to strip sole nationals of their Australian citizenship raised “very big legal and practical issues”.
Turnbull’s comments provide an insight into the Coalition’s internal dispute over how to deal with the citizenship of Australians suspected of involvement in terrorism. The government has agreed to introduce a bill to give the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, the power to revoke the citizenship of dual nationals linked to terrorism, but deferred a decision on powers to deal with sole nationals after a cabinet backlash last week. Turnbull was among those cabinet critics.
“What is the essence of a democracy? Some people would say a democracy is one where the majority get to do what they want. That’s not a democracy. That’s a tyranny,” Turnbull said at a media conference in Queanbeyan on Wednesday.
“The genius of a democracy governed by the rule of law, our democracy, is that it both empowers the majority through the ballot box, and constrains the majority, its government, so that it is bound by law.”
Turnbull added: “Why does Daesh [another term for Islamic State] hate us? Why do they want to kill us? Why do they want to kill, destroy our society? They want to destroy us because they hate the rule of law.
“They hate the fact that the government has to stand up – can be stood up by citizens and held to account. They hate the fact that we have freedom of speech. They hate the fact that we are a free society governed by law not just by whatever the direction of one religious leader is from time to time.
“Our freedoms are absolutely critical and it is important that we have a debate about this but I just want to be very clear … some people like to suggest that some people are tougher on terrorism or tougher on national security than others.
“Let me say this to you – honest people, knowledgeable people, really well-informed people can have very different views about what the right measures are on national security and have very different views about the right balance between, say, citizenship and national security.”
Citizenship laws ‘not a bravado issue’ says Malcolm Turnbull | Australia news | The Guardian.
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Multicultural Meanderings 