Culture Issues in Canada

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Culture Issues in Canada

• (a short, subjective survey)

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Part I Reasonable Accommodation

• How far should society go in accommodating the
  beliefs and practices of others?
• What are the limits of tolerance and diversity?

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Early in 2007, the town of Hérouxville adopted a
set of standards aimed at new immigrants,
spelling out what is acceptable behaviour and
what is not.
Hérouxville, Quebec Population 1338
Immigrant families 1
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So that future residents can integrate socially
more easily, we have decided, unanimously, to
make public certain standards already in place
and very well anchored in the lives of our
electors
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• No stoning women or burning them alive

• No burning them with acid

• In our families, boys and girls eat together at
  the same table and eat the same food.

• In our swimming pools, men and women swim
  together

• We listen to music, we drink alcoholic
  beverages, we dance

• At the end of every year we decorate a tree with
  balls and tinsel and some lights.

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• On TV, the councillor responsible for the
  document said the Quebec government should
  declare a state of emergency to protect Quebec
  culture from distortion by foreign pressures.

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Of course, the town has been criticized
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(No Transcript)
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video
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But Hérouxville has also received much support,
and the issue of reasonable accomodation is now
at the centre of Quebec politics.

• Opposition party that supports Hérouxville goes
  from 4 seats to 41 in recent elections
• the Parti Quebecois proposes a law of Quebec
  Citizenship making voting rights dependent on
  French-language ability
• Quebec Government launches Reasonable
  Accomodation Commission to report and advise on
  the issue

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other examples/controversies

• A Montreal gym was asked to frost its windows so
  women exercising wouldn't be visible to men at a
  neighbouring synagogue

• Requests are made for separate gender swim times
  at public pools.

• New Canadian law says Muslim women in full veil
  must uncover before being allowed to vote
  (and yet people are allowed to vote by
  mail, without ever showing their face)

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Instead of careful reflection on these questions,
the tensions increase.
The phrase of the times is
Enough is enough!
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all complexities and subtleties are swept aside.
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These are debates about

• the limits of tolerance

• what constitutes an identity

• cultural traditions and human rights

• personal freedom and social solidarity

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and as the first planetary civilization
continues to form,

• these debates will only get stronger.

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Part II

• Oh Canada
• Our Home and Native Land

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Canada is said to have two founding Nations the
British and the French

• gt But there were many Nations here long before
  they arrived.

The lack of resolution to the just grievances of
the First Nations is Canadas No.1 human rights
problem
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one example Six Nations

• The Six Nations is a confederacy of Native
  nations. Tired of waiting for the Courts to
  decide on the status of their land claim, in Feb
  2006, members of Six Nations took over land being
  developed and set up a reclamation camp.

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When police tried to remove them by force, more
Natives came in support and drove the police
away.
They have been holding their ground ever since.
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While the camp has largely been the site of an
uneasy peace, there have been serious incidents
of violence.
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The Ontario and Federal governments have set up a
team to deal with the issue, but negotiations go
slow.
There is much at stake.
area claimed by Six Nations
actual Six Nations reserve
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Humanist Movement rally for Six Nations
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some statistics

• Just 4 of Canada's aboriginal population has a
  university degree.

• Nearly 50 of those who are of working age have
  not completed high school.

• The rate of suicide among Native youth is 5-6
  times higher than the national average.

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Canada has a great deal of experience with
diversity and multiculturalism

• 1 in 5 people in Canada are foreign-born

• Nearly 50 of people in Toronto are
  foreign-born (the most diverse city in the world
  UNESCO)

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And yet we still have not reconciled with our
First Nations.
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No doubt, North America still has much to learn
about true diversity and true solidarity.

• But with all our experience positive and
  negative we also have much to contribute

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and that contribution is ours to make.