h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"It was the view of the royal commission, shared by the government and, I am sure, by all Canadians, that there cannot be one cultural policy for Canadians of British and French origin, another for the original peoples and yet a third for all others. For although there are two official languages, there is no official culture, nor does any ethnic group take precedence over any other. No citizen or group of citizens is other than Canadian, and all should be treated fairly. . . .

National unity if it is to mean anything in the deeply personal sense, must be founded on confidence in one's own individual identity; out of this can grow respect for that of others and a willingness to share ideas, attitudes and assumptions. A vigorous policy of multiculturalism will help create this initial confidence. It can form the base of a society which is based on fair play for all.



The government will support and encourage the various cultures and ethnic groups that give structure and vitality to our society. They will be encouraged to share their cultural expression and values with other Canadians and so contribute to a richer life for us all."


Pierre Elliot Trudeau

http://www.ethnocultural.ca/Text-4pages.html

I haven't read the link yet anhaga, but my initial response is that the concept of multiculturalism used in this way doesn't work particularly well in democratic countries because when push comes to shove democracy will favour the culture that dominates (i.e. has the most votes).

I think there is a move towards goodwill with multiculturalism, which is a good thing. I know that in New Zealand, many pakeha (caucasian descent) like the idea of us being all one culture, but Maori say hang on, "NZ culture" is dominated by European values and that is separate to Maori culture (although Maori get to live in both). Pakeha have a lot of difficulty understanding that Maori have their own set of cultural values not just in things like "food, song and dance" but in governance and that this can be at odds with pakeha culture.

So here at least when someone says they want us to be all one culture what they often mean is that they want everyone to be happy with a European Pacific culture that gives some rights to other cultures but doesn't realy want to share power with them.

Fortunately this will eventually change (in my lifetime polynesian peoples will dominate the population) and we have a political system (proportional voting) that will assist us to make the deeper changes needed to transform into a less divided national cultural identity.

I'd be interested to know how that fits with the Canadian experience.

kea.

"the concept of multiculturalism used in this way doesn't work particularly well in democratic countries because when push comes to shove democracy will favour the culture that dominates"

Mr. Trudeau made that statement in Canada's Parliament about thirty-five years ago; it has worked here. Canada when he spoke was what our novelist Hugh McClellan called "Two Solitudes", English and French. Now it is a vast multitude of harmonic cultural voices. I've gone through this a few times here before: my city councilor (four terms so far) is a proudly open flaming gay man; my MLA (provincial representative) is a Hindu university professor; my MP is a Muslim Ugandan refugee. My father is an Anglophone Quebecois. My neighbor is Korean. My other neighbor is Franco-Albertan. My city's publicly-funded school system offers programmes in a multitude of languages and cultures, programmes that are open to students of all cultural backgrounds. Because of Mr. Trudeau's vision we have a country where all people can be proud of their cultural history without feeling any hint of a need to defend that cultural history: we as a society will defend all of those cultural histories, because they are also our own.

And, push has come to shove, a number of times: Quebec has had a fluctuating separatist movement. The English majority has managed to communicate to the (majority of the) French minority its desire to maintain the Quebecois identity. In 1990 there were a number of armed uprisings of First Nations across the country. What followed was not martial law and military suppression of the revolts (despite the unfortunate events in Oka). Rather there rapidly followed a number of innovative and far reaching negotiated agreements between the white majority and a number of First Nations, the most prominent of which was the creation of Nunavut, the Inuit territory of Canada.

Three cheers for Trudeau!

I consider him the greatest Canadian of the 20th century.
He was the architect of so many things that made Canada the great nation it is today: Multiculturalism, official bilingualism, the constitution and Charter of Rights, independent foreign policy,

Of course there was the use of the War Measures Act back in '72, but hey, the piroutte he pulled behind the queen almost made up for that.

I liked the old boy, too. Isaac Brock for the 19th, Pierre Trudeau for the 20th. I wonder who we'll have this century. Nobody yet.


Kea: "democracy will favour the culture that dominates (i.e. has the most votes)."

I forgot to mention: in Canada's form of democracy the government is most often formed by the party that got the most votes against it. (Canadians will know what I mean)

My mother (who has been known to get these things wrong, but who knows) heard the Don Cherry was in second place in the Greatest Canadian polls.

If Don Cherry "won" over the likes of Trudeau, Tommy Douglas, and Pearson.... well, all I can say is that cartain Canadians are a very sorry lot.

"I liked the old boy, too. Isaac Brock for the 19th, Pierre Trudeau for the 20th. I wonder who we'll have this century. Nobody yet."


nobody yet? Well it is still pretty early. I dunno about Brock, he'd be high on the list but I'd probably have to go with that drunken Tory bastard Sir John A. MacDonald

I put Brock at the top because he prevented us from becoming you-know-what even before it was clear what exactly we are. Of course, Sir John A. did something similar with the railroad instead of the military, but I have a hard time forgiving him for what he did to Big Bear and Poundmaker.

... and Riel, and the Metis cause...

At least Sir John A. was telling something like the truth about Riel: he was actively rebelling. Pundmaker and Big Bear tried desperately to hold to their treaty obligations (Sir John didn't bother holding up his end) and to stay out of the conflict. As thanks their people were executed, deported from their lands and humiliated as disloyal indians.

I don't know, I just can't help but think of all those old f@rts and think of context. I know they were generally racist, elitist, sexist, and reactionary, but they generally got the job done not in spite of being that way, almost everyone *else* was generally racist, elitist, sexist, and reactionary,

The destinction I was drawing between Sir John A. and General Sir Isaac is that where G.S.I. acted in an honourable way with his allies (Tecumseh, et. al. [okay, I didn't mention this bit]), S.J.A. was dishonourable toward Big Bear and Poundmaker, who continually avowed their loyalty to the Queen and to the Treaties. S.J.A. betrayed his allies for political gain. I didn't take them out of the contexts of their time: in their contexts, one was a man of honour and the other was an opportunistic drunk. I don't have too much trouble choosing between the two.

Did not know that,

SJAM. Isn't there a funk band named that?

(Goes to Google)

Well, isn't that interesting...

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=sjam&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

Just thought I'd bring this to everybody's attention:

" Manitoba rock band Eagle & Hawk was the big winner at this year's Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards Friday, taking home trophies for Best Songwriter, Best Song and Best Rock Album. . .

The two-hour show was co-hosted by actor Lorne Cardinal from the television show Corner Gas and actor and musician Cheri Maracle, and featured performances by country music duo Barnard & Brohm, Winnipeg's Burnt, and Eagle & Hawk."

http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2004/11/29/Arts/cama041129.html

(Have I mentioned that I have a passing aquaintance with Lorne Cardinal?)

Who?

OK, he's a good person to be associated with. Better than most of the nominal persons I know.

I shouldn't tell this story. So I won't.

OK, I won't tell the CP joke. Just as well, to really *get* it you had to hear it from someone who had it.

On the multicultutral front - My favorite fun fact to throw at people who say it doesn't work is to remind them that just over half of the population of Toronto were born outside of Canada. I suspect the same is probably true of Vancouver given the massive influx from Asia, especially Hong Kong in the last 10 or 15 years.

As to the great Canadian debate, where would we rank Joseph Brant (and for that matter Tecumseh) as compared with Brock and MacDonald and what about William Lyon MacKenzie? (though I suspect I may know the answer to that one)

Although we may be able to argue that the Inuit of Canada have been treated with a lot of respect in recent years, it may be harder to make a case for the rest of our aboriginal population, and the country's apparent lack of concern for the poverty that a lot of these people live with.

On another note, what about the greatest Canadian in general? I would maybe vote for Maude Barlow.



....Or, y'know, Keanu Reeves. Cause strange things are afoot at the Circle K.....

Ignore that last bit. It's late.

I'm glad little Tommy D got the nod. He represents the start of a lot that is good in this country, not to mention he was a prairie boy!

Jaz, estimates are that by 2005 over half the population of Vancouver will have English as a second language. It's incredibly close to that now. Richmond has street signs in both English and Cantonese and whole city blocks where there is no English to be seen on store signs. *Chinatown* is more or less a tourist area now. North Vancouver city council narrowly defeated a motion to do the same with Farsi there, and parts of Surrey have done the same with Punjabi. Just a fact of life that politicians are taking very close notice of. I just think of it as an incredible oportunity to sample merchandise, food, and culture from around the world without having to buy a plane ticket!