Track Changes

Multiculturalism has often been presented as a kind of housewarming gift to new Canadians, who are only too happy to learn they can keep their faiths and customs upon moving in. For Canadians of colour, this gift has often been offered as more of a consolation prize in lieu of the full privileges of citizenship. But as Cecil Foster shows in his new book, generations of black porters have been instrumental in actually shaping the multicultural ideals for which Canada is known today.

A novelist, journalist, autobiographer, and academic, Foster has evolved into a major figure in black Canadian letters. His first novel, No Man in the House, from 1991, is a classic of black experience. In his non-fiction, Foster has dissected the myth of Canadian tolerance, born of our history as a haven for refugee...