E-Paper
Tales of Canadian multiculturalism
What is actually this multiculturalism? Has it something to do with social engineering? Or economics, questions Gurmukh Singh.
Amazing word this 'multiculturalism'. It is ubiquitous in Canada. It is everywhere. In politics. In education. In daily social dialogue.
Indeed, multiculturalism is in the air. It hits you wherever you go. You feel it, you see it and you experience it. The government swears by it. Canadians wear it on their sleeve. They are proud to be the first in the world to embrace it.
What is actually this multiculturalism? Has it something to do with social engineering? Or economics?
Both.
Every year, Canada needs to import about 250,000 new people from around the world to stop its population falling below replacement levels and keep its G-8 economy ticking. These immigrant numbers have been pegged at about one per cent of Canadian population.
Till the 1970s and 80s, white countries were the major source of immigrants for Canada. But in the late 80s and 90s, Asian countries have become the main source. These so-called visible minorities have made terms such as multiculturalism and ethnic politics part of Canadian life.
Even year, the government presents an annual report on its multiculturalism. And this year's report, presented by minister of state for multiculturalism Raymond Chan, highlights how various government departments, including Telefilm Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and the Canadian Radio-television, are doing to increase diversity in the mainstream media. How Transport Canada is implementing its diversity strategy to increase and retain visible minority groups.
The report adds, "In 2002-2003, visible minority groups represented 7.4 percent of the federal public service workforce, compared to 6.8 percent in the previous fiscal years."
But a recent study by the Institute for Research on Public Policy in Montreal, captures the large picture and paints a rather grim scenario about the plight of foreign-trained immigrants in this country.
The study says these immigrants have better skills than native-born Canadians, but they cannot find the jobs they are trained for. It tracks a trend which shows that over the years, the incomes of immigrants have fallen more and more behind those of native-born Canadians.
An average immigrant in 1980 earned about 80 per cent of what an average Canadian earned. But today, the same immigrant earns just 60 per cent of what the average Canadian earns, the study says.
