Takes time to become a Canuck – The Vancouver Sun

March 2nd, 2007

Takes time to become a Canuck: Feeling strengthens in second generation
Friday, March 2, 2007
Page: A3
Section: News
Byline: Michael Scott
Source: Vancouver Sun

For immigrants, a strong feeling of being Canadian can take a while to develop -- more than a generation in fact, according to an Ipsos Reid survey released today.

The online study, commissioned by Toronto's Dominion Institute, reveals that the Canadian-born children of immigrants are much more likely than their parents to feel a strong sense of belonging to Canada.

What is surprising is that not only do children of immigrants feel more Canadian than their parents, they also tend to feel more Canadian than non-immigrants in the general population.

This is an endorsement of Canada's official policy of multiculturalism, according to Rudyard Griffiths, the Dominion Institute's executive director.

"Those people who try to say that the multicultural model has failed: It hasn't," Griffiths said, en route to Vancouver to attend a major speech on citizenship that former governor-general Adrienne Clarkson will give here tonight.

"There's a strong sense of attachment [to Canada], a strong sense of belonging," Griffiths said.

"The question is: Are we translating that into a society that's not only diverse, but one in which that diversity is actually being lived? Are people in a sense separating themselves off into racial or ethnic groups."

The study, which queried 2,900 adult Canadians18 years and older, is being released in conjunction with the annual LaFontaine-Baldwin Symposium that this year is being held in Vancouver. Clarkson's speech, entitled The Society of Difference, examines the challenges that must be faced by a society as ethnically diverse as Canada's.

Canadians like to think of themselves as a peaceable, fully integrated multicultural nation. But there are warning signs that ethnic diversity may be widening gaps, not bridging them.

"We have a question [in the study] that asked how many of your friends are of the same racial or cultural background as you," Griffiths explained.

"That number has gone up by a full 10 per cent from first generation immigrants to second generation Canadians," he said.

What this means, according to Griffiths, is that Canadian-born children of immigrants may be "siloing" within their particular ethnic communities.

"Siloing may well be part of it," he said.

"Certainly, let's celebrate diversity. We understand that it's one of our great strengths.

"But let's understand that while it is fantastic to live in diverse communities, are we actually living that diversity? Is it actually part of who we are?

"Do we have friends and acquaintances outside of our ethno-cultural group?

"The survey suggests that we can't be complacent about the ongoing work. We have some hard work to do in terms of maintaining and building on a larger Canadian civic identity that is open to everyone regardless of race, colour and creed."

The Ipsos Reid survey, considered accurate to within about three percentage points, 19 times out of 20, turned up evidence that the Canadian-born children of immigrants are only slightly less likely than the non-immigrant general population to identify themselves as "Canadian."

What is worrisome, according to Griffiths, is that only about 25 per cent of non-immigrant Canadians self-identify that way, preferring regional or provincial labels to describe themselves.

"To me that suggests that we have got to be thinking about what are the things we share in common, as opposed to the differences that separate us," he said.

"You know the old question: Will the 'centre' hold? This survey suggests that the 'centre' is actually not very robust.

"The 'centre' is a concept that is being challenged not simply by first-generation immigrants and second-generation Canadians, but by the larger society itself."

Clarkson's speech, The Society of Difference, is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. tonight, in the Pacific Ballroom of the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Vancouver.

Tickets, which include a public reception following the speech, are $10 and are available through Ticketmaster.