Canada has benefited greatly from immigration and from the accompanying diversity; no field has been unaffected, from the arts and entertainment industries, to academia, to a workforce ready and able to fill the job market. And we are becoming more diverse. In the last 20 years, there has been a three-fold increase of people in Canada who identify themselves as visible minorities - up from 1.1 million in 1981 to almost 4 million in 2001.

 

Yet, for all our successes in Canada, there are some concerns. The social cohesion that we have accepted as normal between different ethnic groups is under pressure. Recent immigrants are finding it more difficult to start a good life here and are falling behind in our urban areas. Increasingly, the faith-based beliefs of newcomers (such as using Shariah law as the basis for “faith-based arbitration” in family and personal disputes) are challenging Western liberal norms (such as the equal treatment of men and women).

 

These are troubling trends because they have to do with how we view ourselves and each other. They are all a question of identity. This question of identity has serious implications for Canada. When a common Canadian identity is under threat, so is this nation-building project we call Canada.

 

We must move beyond thinking of identity in ethnic terms, and start talking of a common Canadian identity.

 

We have always had a complex identity. There are a myriad of ethnic groups, regions, two official languages, and the original native peoples. Each has contributed to the diverse fabric of this country. Each has been protected in the Canadian constitution through the recognition of multiculturalism, official bilingualism and the recognition of the treaty rights of aboriginal peoples. However, above all of these, there has always been one Canadian identity, fragile as it sometimes may be. An identity forged out of a common history, out of war and out of necessity. It has never been a categoric identity like that of our neighbours to the south, but nevertheless, it has been there from the beginning.

 

But too often in this country we talk of those things which make us different from each other, and not those things which we have in common. Canada is not simply the disjunction of different groups, different peoples, and different regions. To be a Canadian is also to share in common something with every other person in this vast and inchoate land.

 

Too often we talk of hyphenated Canadians and view them primarily through the lens of their ethnicity. In doing so, we fail to see the other qualities they bring to the table. As a result we deny them the opportunities that exist for the rest of us. No doubt, this is done with the best of intentions. The irony is that visible minorities want to be approached on common ground. They want to be accepted as the rest of us are: simply as Canadian.

 

My children are of Chinese, Dutch, Scottish and English decent. To speak of these children in hyphenated terms is patently absurd. They will be simply Canadian – that’s my idea of Canada.

 

The challenge for us is to articulate a common Canadian identity. This will allow for greater understanding between ethnic groups and one that will allow new Canadians to be seen for their potential and not simply for their ethnicity.

 

In the past, challenges to Canadian unity were met with a strong, central government and leadership that articulated a common Canadian identity. As Canada becomes increasingly diverse and racially mixed, our future challenge is to transcend the politics of ethnicity and start articulating our identity in pan-Canadian terms.

 

If we are going to ask newcomers to integrate into Canadian society and become citizens who share a common set of rights, responsibilities and beliefs with every other citizen in this land – and I believe we should – we cannot then turn around and, based on ethnicity, recognize another group of Canadians as separate from the rest.

 

Michael Chong, Member of Parliament for Wellington-Halton Hills. chongm@parl.gc.ca 1-866-878-5556