Title: CHAPTER 8 CANADIAN CULTURE, MULTICULTURALISM AND ETHNICITY
1CHAPTER 8CANADIAN CULTURE, MULTICULTURALISM AND
ETHNICITY
- Defining Culture
- Although we constantly live culture, it is not
a concept that is easily defined. We are born
into a culture, raised within a culture,
developed and educated within a culture, work
within a culture and experience the day-to-day
experiences of a culture. - Researchers have a difficult time agreeing on the
meaning of the concept culture. Literature
reveals that there are many different meanings
and many different perspectives of the concept of
culture.
2CHAPTER 8CANADIAN CULTURE, MULTICULTURALISM AND
ETHNICITY
- Defining Culture
- According to Fox (1994), culture is a construct.
For Fox, culture signifies the way we interpret
and experience social life (1994 23). - Research conducted by Karlis (1993a) presents
culture as consisting of three attributes - religion
- language and
- social, media and arts activities.
3CHAPTER 8CANADIAN CULTURE, MULTICULTURALISM AND
ETHNICITY
- Canadian Culture
- Grace (2001) associates Canadian culture with
geographical location. She posits that, despite
our continual lament that the north is not valued
or understood as important, indeed, essential to
the Canadian identity, to what makes us a
distinct imagined community, and to the
geopolitical reality of Canada as a circumpolar
national state, a very great deal of attention
has in fact been paid to the North (Grace, 2001
74).
4CHAPTER 8CANADIAN CULTURE, MULTICULTURALISM AND
ETHNICITY
- Canadian Culture
- Hillier (2000) argues that Canada is often
defined according to its demographic composition
that is, the multi-ethnic makeup of the Canadian
population. Moreover, Hillier (2000 178) also
describes Canada as a bilingual, bicultural
society in stating that Canadian society is that
of two solitudes or two nations warring within
one bosom.
5CHAPTER 8CANADIAN CULTURE, MULTICULTURALISM AND
ETHNICITY
- Canadian Culture
- For Matheson (1997), Canadian identity may be
reflected through our national symbols, for
instance, the national colors of the flag, the
maple leaf and the beaver.
6CHAPTER 8CANADIAN CULTURE, MULTICULTURALISM AND
ETHNICITY
- Canadian Culture
- Pierre Burton (1987) describes Canadian culture
comparison with American culture. Burton
(19879) states that as for culture we
Canadians and Americans dont even speak the
same language. You think of culture in terms of
opera, ballet and classical music. To us, it
covers everything from Stompin Tom Connors to
Hockey Night in Canada. Thus Canadian culture
expands beyond traditionally defined cultural
activities to those activities that reflect the
uniqueness of Canadian society.
7CHAPTER 8CANADIAN CULTURE, MULTICULTURALISM AND
ETHNICITY
- The Makeup of Canadian Society
- The Canadian population is comprises of many
different ethnic groups while immigration is a
consistent feature of the growth of Canadian
population (Butler, 1990). - The fifth round of the 2001 Census of Population
released on January 21, 2003, indicates that the
proportion of foreign-born is the highest it has
been in seventy years as 5.4 million people or
18.4 of the total population were born outside
of Canada. Immigrants who came to Canada in the
1990s came mostly from Asia and the Middle East.
In fact, 58 were born in Asia and the Middle
East, 20 from Europe, 11 in the Caribbean,
Central and South America, 8 in Africa, and 3
in the United States (Statistics Canada, 2003).
8CHAPTER 8CANADIAN CULTURE, MULTICULTURALISM AND
ETHNICITY
- Multiculturalism Policy and Practice
- It was not until July 21, 1988 that the Canadian
Multiculturalism Act became law. This Act
commits the Government of Canada to assist
communities and institutions in bringing about
equal access and participation for all Canadians
in the economic, social, cultural and political
life of the nation (Multiculturalism and
Citizenship Canada, 1990).
9CHAPTER 8CANADIAN CULTURE, MULTICULTURALISM AND
ETHNICITY
- Ethnic Community Organizations
- To fulfil the leisure and cultural needs of
ethnic community groups in Canada, Canadas
multicultural policy allows the basis for the
establishment of ethnic community organizations.
Indeed, most ethnic groups in Canada have
established their own ethnic community
organizations. - Ethnic community organizations are a means to
strengthen ethnic identity in Canada (Breton,
Reitz and Valentine, 1980) through religious
structures (i.e., churches, synagogues, mosques,
temples), and social centres and recreation
facilities to address the spiritual, intellectual
and social needs necessary to practice ethnic
heritage.
10CHAPTER 8CANADIAN CULTURE, MULTICULTURALISM AND
ETHNICITY
- Equal Opportunity and Recognition through Leisure
Services - A question that has often been raised about
Canadas multiculturalism policy deals with the
issue of equal opportunity and equal
recognition. A number of factors make some
ethnic community organizations more powerful and
more likely to maintain ethnic community
traditions. Size, time period in Canada,
lobbying strength and geographical location are
determining factors for the experience of the
traditions of ethnic heritage. - Although no perfect policy exists to deal with
multi-ethnic societies, Canadas multiculturalism
policy does at the very least encourage equal
opportunity and recognition of ethnic groups.
This means that all individuals of ethnic descent
are encouraged to participate in the ethnic
cultural traditions and leisure activities of
their ethnic homeland. Simply knowing that their
host nation takes a stance in support of ethnic
diversity is often more than enough for Canadas
ethnically diverse population to experience a
diversity of leisure opportunities reflective of
their ethnic homeland and Canadian culture.
11CHAPTER 8CANADIAN CULTURE, MULTICULTURALISM AND
ETHNICITY
- Ethnicity and the Selection of Leisure and
Recreation Activities - Since the 1970s, research in leisure and
ethnicity has continued to grow (Karlis, Bolla
and Dawson, 1992 Karlis, 1990b). - One of the first attempts to kick-start research
in this area was a study conducted by Malpass
(1973) positing that the total community
included the ethnic group. - Another study conducted by the Ontario Ministry
of Tourism and Recreation in 1984 discussed how
recreational services did not adequately address
the cultural differences of society. - A recent study of Canadian teens of South Asian
descent reveals that leisure preference is
determined by adherence to South Asian cultural
traditions (Tirone, 1999/2000). - In a study of the Greek Community of Toronto,
Karlis (1993a) found that immigrants from Greece
not only prefer but also tend to participate in
leisure activities that are classified as
Greek. - Research by Bolla and Dawson (1990) also
justifies the need and preference of Canadas
ethnic populations to experience the leisure
activities of their homeland culture. - A study published in Canadian Ethnic Studies by
Karlis and Dawson (1995) shows that the
inadequate use of the concept ethnicity poses
conceptual problems as well as programming
problems for research on ethnic groups. - In a study on Indo-Canadian women, Tirone and
Shaw (1997) found that leisure was perceived as
not important.