During the fall semester, we will focus on specific communities in Canada and discuss question of representativeness and representation.

We will discuss literary texts, film and essays.

Students will write a critical review of a chapter from a recent work on multiculturalism.

See the Fall semester course outline (handout) for details.

Homework for our next meeting on October 20th:

Read “The Other Family,” “Ajax Là-Bas,” or “Dancing.”

Be ready to discuss a relevant theme in the story as well as the author’s background and views on multiculturalism. How might they relate to the story?

Read the information about writing a critical review essay and think about a text and a chapter focus for your own essay.

Please submit a brief proposal (about 250 words) for your final paper / presentation.

Here are a few things that you should include in the proposal:

A brief description of the topic and current thinking about it in the field / public opinion

Statement of problem or issue that you will address in the paper/presentation

An outline of the main parts of the paper/presentation, with (optionally) a brief discussion of the methodology you will employ

Topics for Presentation 2

1. Choose one essay from Charles Taylor’s book Reconciling the Solitudes. Outline the basic argument of the essay and discuss points of similarity and/or contrast with other writers on Quebec nationalism (Lévesque, Rolland and Trudeau).

2. Introduce Normand Lester’s The Black Book of English Canada, providing some background to the controversy and popularity of the book in Quebec. (See the translator’s introduction, for example.) Explain Lester’s aims in the book and choose topics from one or two chapters to illustrate the kind of attack he is making against English Canada. (Review of the book here.)

3. After the Revolution: Beginning with Chapter 10 of Dickinson and Young’s history of Quebec, discuss two or three important themes in Quebec’s post-Quiet Revolution era. Choose themes that you believe strongly illustrate the future challenges that Quebec and Canada face. If possible, discuss a recent event or controversy related to one of the themes you have chosen from the chapter (perhaps the last or most serious challenge that you present). You might try searching the homepage of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

4. Briefly explain the relevant background to the issue of “reasonable accommodation of minorities” in Quebec (See details below) and discuss the mandate and recommendations of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission by looking at the report’s introduction and “Priority Recommendations.” Choose one recommendation and discuss it in detail drawing on the relevant chapter(s) in the report. Download the report here.

Fifteen months after beginning its public hearings, the Consultation Commission on Accommodation Practices Related to Cultural Differences / Commission de consultation sur les pratiques d’accommodement reliées aux différences culturelles has issued its report. CBC coverage of the start of the Commission hearings is here. Its completion and report is here.

Quebec provincial premier Jean Charest instructed the commission to investigate Quebeckers’ opinions about immigrant integration. Hearings began in September 2007 over what is being called “the reasonable accommodation of minorities.” The commission, which traveled throughout the province, was chaired by McGill University philosopher Charles Taylor and sociologist Gérard Bouchard. Read the CBC report. Macleans’ Magazine online has this report from the commission meeting in Gatineau, Quebec.

One impetus for the Commission came in the wake of a small Quebec community named Hérouxville enacting a code of conduct for immigrants in January of 2007–aimed primarily at Muslims. Among the rules are the prohibition of stoning, female circumcision, and the wearing of veils–except on Hallowe’en.

The furor over the code was exacerbated by the ejection of a Muslim girl from a soccer competition in Quebec this summer for wearing a hijab, or head scarf. Read about the story as well as Canadians’ response to it.

In response to the code of conduct issued by the town of Hérouxville, 14 Muslim women met with town officials. Hérouxville later amended some of its rules. A number of other Quebec towns have rejected the Hérouxville code. Meanwhile, the CBC radio program “As It Happens” brings this report on a Muslim man who visited the town, published a poem expressing his feelings on the issue, and has himself been accused of racist attitudes. Listen to the program by clicking on the links in the page.

Some commentators see the response as indicative of Quebeckers’ throwing off the religious influence the Roman Catholic church during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s.

Another story from Quebec: CBC television news follows the plight of a Montreal taxi driver fined for having religious and personal items on display in his cab.

In 2006, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against a Quebec school authority that prohibited a Sikh child from wearing a kirpan, or ceremonial dagger, to school. According to the Court, the ban constituted a violation of freedom of religion under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Law Times has pointed out the role of Canada’s multicultural policy in the decision: “This judgment connects some important dots. It linked religious symbolism to the Charter’s commitment to multiculturalism and then linked both to public education, which instills necessary practices for living in a diverse society.”

Meanwhile, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported in October of 2007 that the reasonable accommodation debate could be potentially divisive throughout the country:

‘Them’ and ‘us’ split spreading nationwide, federal officials warn

BILL CURRY

From Friday’s Globe and Mail, October 19, 2007 at 4:15 AM EDT
OTTAWA — Federal officials have privately warned the Conservative government that Quebec’s debate over reasonable accommodation of minorities is spreading across Canada and could trigger “alarming” divisions in the country.

Internal government documents show Jason Kenney, the federal secretary of state for multiculturalism and Canadian identity, personally requested a comprehensive briefing on the issue earlier this year.

The deputy minister of Canadian heritage, Judith LaRocque, responded with a detailed analysis from the department. It outlines how the issue first appeared in court rulings on labour matters and has grown into a heated political debate that draws in issues of immigration and multiculturalism.

“There is now a sense of urgency to more clearly define and explain the principle of reasonable accommodation, as alarming shifts regarding the split between ‘them’ and ‘us’ may occur,” the briefing says. “This is of particular concern in Quebec, at a time when the government is putting programs in place to close gaps affecting minority groups.”

The document notes that while the debate is focused on Quebec, it is also taking place in the rest of Canada, “albeit on a smaller scale for now.” The paper informs Mr. Kenney that the “politicization” of the debate in Quebec suggests a “a certain split in Quebec between the French Republican model of managing religion in the public sphere and the traditional Canadian multiculturalism model.”

The briefing notes, which were obtained by Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin, surface as the Conservative government prepares legislation forcing voters to show their faces when casting ballots. The measure responds to recent controversy that current laws allow voters to wear a face-covering veil.

At the same time, Mr. Kenney and Prime Minister Stephen Harper are singing the praises of multiculturalism like never before. Mr. Kenney has twice cited a commitment to multiculturalism in the House this week to explain why the Prime Minister sent Rosh Hashanah greeting cards to Jewish Canadians.

“Most MPs [in the opposition] only do it at Christmastime, but because we believe in multiculturalism, we share holiday greetings on important festivities for all communities based on publicly available lists of information,” Mr. Kenney told the House of Commons yesterday.

The Prime Minister also gave a strong defence of reasonable accommodation in a multicultural Canada last month during an appearance at New York’s Council on Foreign Relations. His recent Throne Speech pledged to extend official bilingualism programs for minority communities.

The Globe and Mail reported earlier this week that the Conservative Party has created an “ethnic outreach team” overseen by Mr. Kenney and Mr. Harper. According to an internal party document obtained by The Globe, the team targets specific ethnic voters in a bid to “replace the Liberals as the primary voice of new Canadians and ethnic minorities.”

The plan differentiates between ethnic groups, noting that only 79 per cent are viewed as “accessible” by the Conservatives.

Meanwhile, the Parti Québécois is introducing a bill to establish a “Quebec citizenship” that would require all immigrants to have an “appropriate knowledge” of the French language to be sworn in as citizens of the province. PQ Leader Pauline Marois said the Quebec Identity Act will enable the Quebec nation to fully express its historical heritage and fundamental values.

Quebeckers have been seized with the issue of reasonable accommodation as a public commission tours the province, hearing the views of citizens and experts on the sensitive subject. At times, the public forums have become heated, singling out specific minorities in a negative light. For the most part, the dominant issue has been debate over whether public displays of religion should be allowed in the workplace.

Earlier this month, Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe waded into the debate, delivering a speech to university students blasting the “Canadian ideology of multiculturalism.”

Drawing clear battle lines with the Conservatives, Mr. Duceppe also called for the recognition that “Quebeckers form a francophone nation in America, not a bilingual nation.”

The Bloc’s criticism of official bilingualism is not too far from the views expressed by Mr. Harper himself in his earlier years with the Reform Party and as director of the National Citizens Coalition. The contrast between his current and former comments suggests the Prime Minister has moved a fair bit from his earlier views.

In 2001, 10 months before he returned to active politics to lead the Canadian Alliance, Mr. Harper wrote in a published column: “As a religion, bilingualism is the god that failed. It has led to no fairness, produced no unity and cost Canadian taxpayers untold millions.”

In his early days as the policy expert for the Reform Party, Mr. Harper’s writings devoted little attention to multiculturalism.

Mr. Harper was quoted at a 1991 Reform Party convention as saying bilingualism and multiculturalism are the “pet projects of a political priesthood” that don’t represent the wishes of Canadians.

*****

Key events in debate over ‘reasonable accommodation’

A government briefing note prepared for the junior minister responsible for multiculturalism, Jason Kenney, outlines key events that have fuelled debate over “reasonable accommodation.”

March, 2006 Supreme Court rules a Sikh student can wear his kirpan, a ceremonial dagger, to school.

October, 2006 British Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks out against face veils.

November, 2006 Montreal YMCA frosts its windows so that the boys at a Hasidic religious school don’t see women in their exercise clothes.

December, 2006 André Boisclair, then the Parti Québécois leader, suggests that the wooden crucifix be removed from Quebec’s National Assembly.

December, 2006 A judge in Toronto orders the removal of a Christmas tree from the lobby of an Ontario courthouse because it could offend non-Christians.

January, 2007 A Leger marketing poll says 59 per cent of Quebeckers (and 47 per cent of Canadians) consider themselves at least somewhat racist.

Bill Curry

In today’s class we will hear presentations on contemporary aboriginal issues in Canada.

I will lecture on aboriginal people in Canada, covering some of the main themes of the history chapters and the political situation of today.

Next time, we will begin the discussion of French and English relations in Canada, with particular emphasis on Quebec.

Readings for the next meeting are as follows:

A) Quebec Nationalism:

Cook, “The Evolution of Quebec Nationalism”

Levesque, “We Are Quebecois”

Rolland, “My Country, Canada or Quebec”

Trudeau, “New Treason of the Intellectuals”

B) Education in Quebec:

Magnuson, “Education in New France” and “The Clash of Two Cultures”

Refer to the Canadian Encyclopedia for terms, people, places and events that you need to research. You may also find some of the readings on Claude Belanger’s Quebec History / Histoire du Quebec website useful.

Choose one of the following readings and prepare to summarize the contents and answer the indicated question:

1. Ch. 18 “Economic Change,” Q2
2. Ch. 19 “Relocation from Traditional Lands,” Q2
3. Ch. 20 “New Political Organizations,” Q2
4. Ch. 21 “Developments in the North,” Q1
5. Ch. 22 “The Political Front,” Q2

Choose one of the readings and prepare to summarize the content and discuss the assigned question.

1. “Contact to Confederation”: Do Q1, page 37.
2. “The Numbered Treaties”: Do Q1, page 39.
3. “Resistance on the Prairies”: Do Q2, page 43.
4. “The Indian Act”: Do Q1, page 45.
5. “Banning Traditional Practices”: Do Q2, page 47.
6. “Residential Schools”: Do Q2, page 49.

You may find these handouts useful for class discussions: useful phrases for summarizing and explaining (PDF download). Also, this document on giving presentations may be useful for your upcoming presentations (PDF download).

Welcome to Multiculturalism in Canada. This blog contains course information, research links, and downloads of class materials.

In the first class, we will get to know each other a little. I would like to know about your professional background, research interests and skills needs.

Taking our consultation in mind, I will prepare a schedule of readings, activities, and research materials, and distribute it in week 2.

For the meantime, you can download a copy of the course description here (PDF file).

For next week, please read the excerpt from CharlesTaylor, “The Politics of Recognition” (PDF file). See the Class Schedule above for further information about useful background readings about Canada and multiculturalism, in particular about its colonial past and the history of immigration in the 20th century.

In January of 2007, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation debuted a new sit-com called “Little Mosque on the Prairie,” to much public fanfare within and outside Canada. Created by Zarqa Nawaz, the series focuses on the Muslim population of a fictional rural town called Mercy, Saskatchewan.

Below is a collection of stories related to the series and its creator.

“Muslim sitcom debuts in Canada” (BBC)

“Sitcom’s precarious premise: being Muslim over here” (New York Times)

CBC Homepage for “Little Mosque on the Prairie”

Transcript of interview on CNN with Zarqa Nawaz (December 12, 2006, 7:00 PM):

BECK: All right. Do you remember last month when there were six imams that were removed from a U.S. Airways flight for screaming Allah`s names, changing their seats to the exact same configuration of the 9/11 hijackers, all kinds of different things. I think there were five different things they did wrong.

Well, now those imams want money for their trouble. That`s great. It`s the great American lotto system. God bless America. You know what I think? I think it`s great material for a sitcom, seriously. Canadian Broadcasting Company is mining those zany scenarios like that one for its new comedy, “Little Mosque on the Prairie.”

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ve been praying this for months. It`s not like I dropped a bomb on them. If God thinks it`s suicide, so be it. This is Allah`s plan for me. I`m not throwing my life away. I`m moving to the prairies to run a mosque.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Step away from the bag. You`re not going to paradise today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: That`s funny, because I could see it happening like that. “Little Mosque on the Prairie,” is it going to be the “Two and a Half Men” for Muslims in Winnipeg? Zarqa Nawaz, she is the creator of a new and potentially controversial show.

Zarqa, two words for you that equal sitcom success: wacky neighbor. Is there a wacky neighbor in this one?

ZARQA NAWAZ, CREATOR, “LITTLE MOSQUE ON THE PRAIRIE”: Well, we have a lot of non-Muslims on this show that are, you know, a little bit concerned about their new Muslim neighbors, so, yes, definitely we`ve got our whacky neighbor.

BECK: OK, that was a really funny scene.

NAWAZ: Thank you.

BECK: But what makes it funny is it`s true. I mean, you could see…

NAWAZ: Absolutely.

BECK: You know what I mean? And what the real debate in is America is whether that guy should be pulled off a plane. Do you at all kind of try to answer those questions? I mean, do you think, if a guy was standing in line and that scene happened, should he be pulled off the line and maybe questioned?

NAWAZ: Well, the way I would think about it is that I think it`s very funny, and I would spin it as an episode for a show.

BECK: Right, so you`re not going to…

(CROSSTALK)

NAWAZ: And that`s what the show is based…

BECK: Wow, you are not going to get involved in the fray at all, are you? God bless you.

NAWAZ: You know what? This is material, as far as I`m concerned. There`s so much material out there that is enough for our show now, and this is a very funny show, and we`re hoping people will laugh.

BECK: So are you concerned, because some Muslims don`t have a real sense of humor. I mean, is this the show that the Taliban would watch?

NAWAZ: This is a show that I think North Americans will watch and the world will watch, because it`s a very funny show.

BECK: Right. But I mean…

NAWAZ: I think people are ready for that.

BECK: OK, I understand, and I know you — I mean, everything I`ve heard about this — I haven`t seen an episode — everything I`ve heard about the show, it`s funny, and I appreciate the attitude that you have. But I would like to — I mean, come on. There are people in Dearborn, Michigan, that do not have a sense of humor. Are you afraid at all about those who interpret the Koran and Islam into a license to kill?

NAWAZ: No, I mean, we make fun of everyone. This is a show that is no holds barred. We make fun of Muslims, we make fun of non-Muslims, we make fun of extremists, we make fun of the secular, we make fun of the right wing.

(CROSSTALK)

BECK: Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.

(CROSSTALK)

BECK: Right, I know that, but so do political cartoonists, and those people don`t seem to get that kind of humor.

NAWAZ: But the thing is, I`m Muslim, right? So I understand my community, and I understand the sensitivity. So when you`re from the inside writing about your own community, it`s different, right? It`s a different thing when you`re from the inside.

BECK: I`d beg to differ with you on that one. You should ask Nani Darwish (ph) about that. She is a wanted woman.

NAWAZ: Well, I`m not a wanted woman yet.

BECK: So you`re not afraid of the danger. You want to do this why? What`s motivating you for this? Is it just pure comedy? You just think it`s funny?

NAWAZ: Honestly, I`ve made short films since the early `90s about my community. I`ve done a documentary. I mean, you write what you know, right? I mean, Raymond Romano wrote his show because it was based on his life and his adventures, and this is based on my community and my material.

BECK: So now it`s on the CBC. Have you tried to approach an American broadcast group with this?

NAWAZ: I believe the executive producers are working on it, so hopefully, if there`s a sale, the American community can watch it, too, which it would be great, because I think they would love it.

BECK: Right. And when does it start?

NAWAZ: January 9th, it premieres on CBC.

BECK: Well, we`ll be watching for the reaction in Canada. Thank you very much, and best of luck to you.

NAWAZ: Thank you, and have a very merry Christmas.

BECK: You bet. We`ll be back in just a minute.

In this week’s class, we will discuss the definition of English Canada.

Considering the readings by Igartua, Berger and Resnick, pick out some defining characteristics of English Canadian identity. How aware do English Canadians seem to be of their distinctive identity? How would you compare Quebeckers’ sense of identity with that of English Canadians? And what are the possible implications of that difference?

In today’s class we will hear three presentations on contemporary Quebec and French English relations in Canada.

I will also finish up the lecture on Quebec and the Quiet Revolution and some related topics.

Next week, we will devote the class to a discussion of the definition of English Canada, by looking at readings by Resnick, Coleman and Igartua.

The guest lecture by Iain Cook and Katherine Morrow from Montreal will be held on December 17th. They will discuss their work for the Cree Health Board of Quebec.