Mike Palij wrote: > On Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:05:38 Christopher D. Green wrote: > >> There are lots of "hyphenated" Canadians but, so far as I can tell, it >> is mostly an identity-making strategy that is adopted because of its >> political successes in the US. >> > > This may be true in some instances but it is probably short-sighted > to think that maintenance of ethnic identity is done only as a political > strategy. Indeed, religious minorities may have very different goals > and even resist assimilation into the larger culture (limiting political > activity of any form). In Canada, I believe that the most ready example > of this are the Amish/Mennonite communities (how many of these > are in political office?). Other groups may get involved in politics > but may place their religious group membership above their political > or even national membership, that is, political activity is a pragmatic > choice in service of maintenance of ethnic identity. > >
True, but the Mennonite community is very unusual (nearly unique) among Canadian immigrant groups. It is true that many ethnic communities have "internal" loyalties (how could it be otherwise, especially soon after arrival?), but it is also true that most of the major ethnic immigrant groups in Canada have a highly visible presence in the major political parties, both federally and provincially -- much more so than in the US. There are a number Indians, Carribbeans, Chinese, and Asian Muslims in the various parliaments and legislatures, including a number of powerful Ministers (the rough equivalent of American cabinet "Secretaries"). The current Governor General (a largely honorary, but still important position) is a Haitian immigrant. The one before was a Chinese immigrant. Both are women. BC had an Indian immigrant premier for a time (he is now a major federal Liberal member of parliament). Two members of a Lebanese-descent family have been premiers of Prince Edward Island. I think partly this acceptance of immigrants in politics here is a legacy of Canada having had immigrants in politics from the very beginning -- though traditionally English, Scottish, or Irish. The very first Prime Minister of the country was a Scottish immigrant. The race issue plays out a little differently in Canada because the "black" (if I may) population was not large until the 1960s, and was not the result of legacy of 19th-century slavery (at least, not slavery here). Starting in the 1960s, however, immigration from the Caribbean created a sizable black population in central Canada (mostly Jamaican/Trinidadian in Toronto, and Haitian in Montreal) so, unlike in the US, this group is the result of recent immigrant and, as a population faces many of the same challenges and aspirations of any immigrant group. >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >> >>> Case in point Canadian investigators who were questionoing an >>> Al-Qaeda prisoner in Gitmo referred to him only as a Canadian and not >>> as a Canadian of Moddle East descent. >>> >> The issue for them was his citizenship (which is Canadian), not an >> academic discourse on social implications of immigration. >> > > I would just like to point out that unless one is reading the source > documents (e.g., notes by the interrogators) one should be cautious > about the presentation made by the mass media because their goal > is not always the accurate portrayal of events. In this case, calling the > prisoner simply "Canadian" may elicit more of neutral view of him > relative to identifying his Middle Eastern ancestry (implicit association > anyone?). If the writer/presenter wants the reader to focus on the > issue of torture, then minimizing the prisoner's ethnicity might be a > good writing/presentation strategy (in recognition that at least for > some groups in the U.S. it might be easier to accept the torture > of people from the Middle East than Canadians; then again...) > This is true, of course, but there is little question in any Canadian's mind who Omar Khadr and his family are. They have been prominent in the news for many years now. Indeed (although you won't hear this in the news), there can be little doubt that the Canadian government would have acted long ago to have Omar "sprung" if it wasn't for the notoriety of his family. I strongly suspect that if there were a politically expedient way to bring him back, but keep his family at bay, it would have been done already. Chris -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada 416-736-2100 ex. 66164 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ "Part of respecting another person is taking the time to criticise his or her views." - Melissa Lane, in a /Guardian/ obituary for philosopher Peter Lipton ================================= --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
