Canada had been a multicultural country long before the Europeans came to its shores. On the west coast alone the aboriginal communities had diverse cultures, traditions and spoke several score languages. The European diversity added to and moulded, often quite oppressively, the diversity they found in Canada. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms came centuries later. Enshrining multiculturalism in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, ostensibly for the purposes of interpreting the Charter, was redundant in view of the clear and explicit rights and freedoms enshrined in the Charter. Many argued and still do that section 27 referring to multiculturalism does not confer any rights on a Canadian citizen. Regardless it has created a serious problem. It has spawned a rabid lack of faith in the idea of an abiding Canadian culture.
It happened to be PierreTrudeau's political response-clothed in the Charter- to the Report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism that recommended declaring Canada a bilingual and bicultural country and the ascendant French Canadian ethnic nationalism of the 1970s and the 80s. It didn't produce quick results-witness the two too close for comfort Quebec referenda-but in the long run appears to have paid off. Quebec sovereigntists may never be able to win a referendum for separatism based on a clear question. In embedding multiculturalism in the Charter Trudeau struck a lasting blow against Quebec nationalism.
I agree with the constitutional scholar Peter Hogg that the reference to multiculturalism does not add any substantive right to the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Charter. Regardless of that it has certainly provided a welcome shield to those who argue Canada as has no culture of its own or at best if Canada does have a culture it is an amalgam of all the cultures that have landed on its shores in the centuries past. This argument helps those bent upon creating cultural and ethnic ghettos in the country.
There have been unintended consequences of reference to multiculturalism in Trudeau's Charter as well; the foremost being the belief in the minds of many immigrants, if not too many other Canadians, that Canada really has no culture of its own. In a very serious sense it has led to the near demise of the idea of Canadian culture. The belief in the minds of many that Canada has no culture of its own is given further sustenance by the fact Trudeau enshrined "multicultural heritage" and not "Cultural heritage" in the Charter, meaning if Canada had a culture of its own to speak of it would have merited a mention in the Charter. Some argue such enshrining was meant to ensure equality for all Canadians but the presence of specific equality and freedom provisions in the charter belies that assertion. So the most natural interpretation of the multicultural clause argues parity for the "cultures'' of all Canadians, new and ancient. In a sense the Charter has encouraged the frontier mentality for many new and some old Canadians in that they believe their mission is to "civilise Canadians"- not too unlike the colonisers of old vis-a-vis the first nations, legitimately despised by the first nations today- is to remake Canada in their own image; an extremely dangerous notion.
Canada is by no means the "wild west" of the world. Many of these immigrants/ Canadians, wannabe colonisers, who think Canada is cultureless did not need to come here and do not need to stay here. Presumably they all come from "cultured' countries. Why would anyone continue to live amongst savages? Why would one immigrate to a barbarian place? I do not see any non Jihadi Canadians wanting to settle in the ISIS occupied lands. As for myself, I "hailed", if I can use that term, from India, an ancient civilisation. My father was a peasant who along with his older brother owned a five acre parcel of land that sustained at least a score members of the Dosanjh family of which I was a part. India has an ancient culture and civilisation. I was a child that civilisation and poor peasants. I was an economic immigrant, first to England and then to Canada. I did not come here to embark on an "acculturating Canada mission". I found the culture in Canada quite to my liking. I got my university education. The values of the Indian freedom movement and Canada were no different; they were about freedom, equality and diversity.
Proponents of "no Canadian culture" show an abysmal ignorance of the fact of the diverse aboriginal cultures that claimed Canada as home long before the European onslaught. Canada has always had a culture of its own. It was not a blank slate when the Europeans came nor is it now. We must vigorously and justly make that claim. In the absence of a robust claim for the primacy of the now enduring Canadian culture of justice, equality, compassion and diversity, with all its warts for all to see, Gad Horowitz's description of "multiculturalism as masochistic sharing of Canadian nothingness" may not be far off the mark. For that Pierre Trudeau's Charter may be to blame. Who said all politicians do not pander in their own time?
The belief of some that Canada has no culture of its own at any given time up to now, by definition, renders Canada savage, waiting to be 'civilised' by the newcomers-the civilisers. The holders of this belief easily come to the 'logical' conclusion that Canada 'needs' culture and nothing could be better than their own culture. Human beings in different civilisations have believed from time immemorial that "they are the chosen people" and if you so believed, and Canada you believed had no culture of its own, you would think you are doing Canada a favour by lending it your presence and culture.
The Charter reference to "multicultural heritage" has also acted as a seed for the germination and advancement of the principle of parity of all cultures and traditions found in Canada. This phenomenon is easy to understand given a commonly whispered belief, among generations of newcomers, of a weak or a nonexistent Canadian Culture. The idea of parity could prove rather inimical to the need for integration into the Canadian mainstream; because "all streams are main". In the long run unless we are careful we can kiss good bye to robust social solidarity and social cohesion- a sin qua non for a harmonious and inclusive Canada at peace with itself.
After all what is culture? It is shared understanding of our shared history, shared values and a shared future. Some of us are and remain ignorant of Canadian history. That is a crying shame. How can one share without knowing what and who one is sharing it with? The culture based on freedom means a culture with all its faults for all to see. Canada has a culture of its own; warts and all. I came and stayed because Canada has more than material wealth. It has culture. It is not a perfect culture but it is unquestionably more perfect than most. However those that feel Canada has no culture of its own and whose mission it is to "civilise Canada" in their own image are free to depart for their preferred places of culture. I am in no mood to be colonised by the new colonisers. Good riddance, I say!
