Almost anything that goes wrong in minority communities can be blamed on multiculturalism, in the minds of some of its critics. They say multiculturalism, by celebrating diversity, not only encourages minorities to maintain possibly anti-democratic or sexist cultures and extraneous political agendas in Canada; it also exempts them from criticism based on mainstream values. Incompetence is excused, crimes are condoned and terrorist threats are ignored, all because multiculturalism makes people fear that criticism of minority groups, or even individual group members, will bring down accusations of racism. In this vein, recently former British Columbia premier Ujjal Dosanjh blamed multiculturalism for helping promote Sikh extremism, because it has been distorted to claim that “anything anyone believes—no matter how ridiculous and outrageous it might be, is okay and acceptable in the name of diversity.”
On the flip side, almost anything that goes right in minority...
Jeffrey G. Reitz is the R.F. Harney Professor of Ethnic, Immigration and Pluralism Studies at the University of Toronto. His most recent book is Multiculturalism and Social Cohesion: Potentials and Challenges of Diversity (Springer, 2009; with co-authors Raymond Breton, Karen Kisiel Dion and Kenneth L. Dion).
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