Integration before assimilation: Immigration, multiculturalism and the Canadian polity

Canadian Journal of Political Science

Volumn 30, Issue 4, 1997, Pages 709-736

  Harles, John C ^a  

^a MESSIAH COLLEGE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0038879219     PISSN: 00084239     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0008423900016498     Document Type: Article

References (59)

1. Report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, Vol. 4 (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1969), 5, 7.
2. David V. J. Bell, The Roots of Disunity: A Study of Canadian Political Culture (2nd ed.; Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1992); Reginald W. Bibby, Mosaic Madness: The Poverty and Potential of Life in Canada (Toronto: Stoddart, 1990); David Jay Bercuson and Barry Cooper, Deconfederation: Canada without Quebec (Toronto: Key Porter, 1991); Robert Chodos, Rae Murray and Eric Hamovitch, The Unmaking of Canada: The Hidden Theme in Canadian History since 1945 (Toronto: J. Lorimer, 1991); G. Bruce Doern and Byrne B. Purchase, eds., Canada at Risk: Canadian Public Policy in the 1990s (Toronto: C. D. Howe Institute, 1991); Jeremy Webber, Reimagining Canada: Language, Community and the Canadian Constitution (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1994); and R. Kent Weaver, ed., The Collapse of Canada? (Washington: The Brookings Institute, 1992).
3. David V. J. Bell, The Roots of Disunity: A Study of Canadian Political Culture (2nd ed.; Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1992); Reginald W. Bibby, Mosaic Madness: The Poverty and Potential of Life in Canada (Toronto: Stoddart, 1990); David Jay Bercuson and Barry Cooper, Deconfederation: Canada without Quebec (Toronto: Key Porter, 1991); Robert Chodos, Rae Murray and Eric Hamovitch, The Unmaking of Canada: The Hidden Theme in Canadian History since 1945 (Toronto: J. Lorimer, 1991); G. Bruce Doern and Byrne B. Purchase, eds., Canada at Risk: Canadian Public Policy in the 1990s (Toronto: C. D. Howe Institute, 1991); Jeremy Webber, Reimagining Canada: Language, Community and the Canadian Constitution (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1994); and R. Kent Weaver, ed., The Collapse of Canada? (Washington: The Brookings Institute, 1992).
4. David V. J. Bell, The Roots of Disunity: A Study of Canadian Political Culture (2nd ed.; Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1992); Reginald W. Bibby, Mosaic Madness: The Poverty and Potential of Life in Canada (Toronto: Stoddart, 1990); David Jay Bercuson and Barry Cooper, Deconfederation: Canada without Quebec (Toronto: Key Porter, 1991); Robert Chodos, Rae Murray and Eric Hamovitch, The Unmaking of Canada: The Hidden Theme in Canadian History since 1945 (Toronto: J. Lorimer, 1991); G. Bruce Doern and Byrne B. Purchase, eds., Canada at Risk: Canadian Public Policy in the 1990s (Toronto: C. D. Howe Institute, 1991); Jeremy Webber, Reimagining Canada: Language, Community and the Canadian Constitution (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1994); and R. Kent Weaver, ed., The Collapse of Canada? (Washington: The Brookings Institute, 1992).
5. David V. J. Bell, The Roots of Disunity: A Study of Canadian Political Culture (2nd ed.; Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1992); Reginald W. Bibby, Mosaic Madness: The Poverty and Potential of Life in Canada (Toronto: Stoddart, 1990); David Jay Bercuson and Barry Cooper, Deconfederation: Canada without Quebec (Toronto: Key Porter, 1991); Robert Chodos, Rae Murray and Eric Hamovitch, The Unmaking of Canada: The Hidden Theme in Canadian History since 1945 (Toronto: J. Lorimer, 1991); G. Bruce Doern and Byrne B. Purchase, eds., Canada at Risk: Canadian Public Policy in the 1990s (Toronto: C. D. Howe Institute, 1991); Jeremy Webber, Reimagining Canada: Language, Community and the Canadian Constitution (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1994); and R. Kent Weaver, ed., The Collapse of Canada? (Washington: The Brookings Institute, 1992).
6. David V. J. Bell, The Roots of Disunity: A Study of Canadian Political Culture (2nd ed.; Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1992); Reginald W. Bibby, Mosaic Madness: The Poverty and Potential of Life in Canada (Toronto: Stoddart, 1990); David Jay Bercuson and Barry Cooper, Deconfederation: Canada without Quebec (Toronto: Key Porter, 1991); Robert Chodos, Rae Murray and Eric Hamovitch, The Unmaking of Canada: The Hidden Theme in Canadian History since 1945 (Toronto: J. Lorimer, 1991); G. Bruce Doern and Byrne B. Purchase, eds., Canada at Risk: Canadian Public Policy in the 1990s (Toronto: C. D. Howe Institute, 1991); Jeremy Webber, Reimagining Canada: Language, Community and the Canadian Constitution (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1994); and R. Kent Weaver, ed., The Collapse of Canada? (Washington: The Brookings Institute, 1992).
7. David V. J. Bell, The Roots of Disunity: A Study of Canadian Political Culture (2nd ed.; Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1992); Reginald W. Bibby, Mosaic Madness: The Poverty and Potential of Life in Canada (Toronto: Stoddart, 1990); David Jay Bercuson and Barry Cooper, Deconfederation: Canada without Quebec (Toronto: Key Porter, 1991); Robert Chodos, Rae Murray and Eric Hamovitch, The Unmaking of Canada: The Hidden Theme in Canadian History since 1945 (Toronto: J. Lorimer, 1991); G. Bruce Doern and Byrne B. Purchase, eds., Canada at Risk: Canadian Public Policy in the 1990s (Toronto: C. D. Howe Institute, 1991); Jeremy Webber, Reimagining Canada: Language, Community and the Canadian Constitution (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1994); and R. Kent Weaver, ed., The Collapse of Canada? (Washington: The Brookings Institute, 1992).
8. David V. J. Bell, The Roots of Disunity: A Study of Canadian Political Culture (2nd ed.; Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1992); Reginald W. Bibby, Mosaic Madness: The Poverty and Potential of Life in Canada (Toronto: Stoddart, 1990); David Jay Bercuson and Barry Cooper, Deconfederation: Canada without Quebec (Toronto: Key Porter, 1991); Robert Chodos, Rae Murray and Eric Hamovitch, The Unmaking of Canada: The Hidden Theme in Canadian History since 1945 (Toronto: J. Lorimer, 1991); G. Bruce Doern and Byrne B. Purchase, eds., Canada at Risk: Canadian Public Policy in the 1990s (Toronto: C. D. Howe Institute, 1991); Jeremy Webber, Reimagining Canada: Language, Community and the Canadian Constitution (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1994); and R. Kent Weaver, ed., The Collapse of Canada? (Washington: The Brookings Institute, 1992).
9. A. H. Birch, Nationalism and National Integration (London: Unwin Hyman, 1989), 178.
10. Carolyn J. Tuohy, Policy and Politics in Canada: Institutionalized Ambivalence (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992), 5.
11. R. Kenneth Carty and W. Peter Ward, "The Making of a Canadian Political Citizenship," in R. Kenneth Carty and W. Peter Ward, eds., National Politics and Community in Canada (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1986), 76-77.
12. Charles Taylor, "Alternative Futures: Legitimacy, Identity and Alienation in Late Twentieth Century Canada," in Alan Cairns and Cynthia Williams, eds., Constitutionalism, Citizenship and Society in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1985), 221.
13. "For Want of Glue: A Survey of Canada," Economist, June 29, 1991, 19.
14. Canada, House of Commons, Standing Committee on Multiculturalism, Multiculturalism: Building the Canadian Mosaic (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1987), 47.
15. Sheila Finestone, "I Don't Enjoy Neil Bissoondath," The Globe and Mail (Toronto), February 7, 1995.
16. Raymond H. C. Teske and Bardin H. Nelson, "Acculturation and Assimilation: A Clarification," American Ethnologist 1 (1974), 359-61.
17. See, for example, Sylvia Bashevkin, True Patriot Love: The Politics of Canadian Nationalism (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1991), 1-28.
18. W. L. Morton, The Canadian Identity (2nd ed.; Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1972), 85.
19. Ibid., 111.
20. See, for example, Crawford Young, "The Dialectics of Cultural Pluralism: Concept and Reality," in Crawford Young, ed., The Rising Tide of Cultural Pluralism: The Nation-State at Bay? (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1993), 3-35.
21. See, for instance, William Kaplan, "Who Belongs? Changing Concepts of Citizenship and Nationality," in William Kaplan, ed., Belonging: The Meaning and Future of Canadian Citizenship (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1993), 255-56.
22. See, for example, James Tully, "The Crisis of Identification: The Case of Canada," Political Studies 42 (1994), 76-94; Gilles Paquet, "The Political Philosophy of Multiculturalism," in J. W. Berry and J. A. LaPonce, eds., Ethnicity and Culture in Canada: The Research Landscape (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994), 60-80; and also Webber, Reimagining Canada, 185-206.
23. See, for example, James Tully, "The Crisis of Identification: The Case of Canada," Political Studies 42 (1994), 76-94; Gilles Paquet, "The Political Philosophy of Multiculturalism," in J. W. Berry and J. A. LaPonce, eds., Ethnicity and Culture in Canada: The Research Landscape (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994), 60-80; and also Webber, Reimagining Canada, 185-206.
24. See, for example, James Tully, "The Crisis of Identification: The Case of Canada," Political Studies 42 (1994), 76-94; Gilles Paquet, "The Political Philosophy of Multiculturalism," in J. W. Berry and J. A. LaPonce, eds., Ethnicity and Culture in Canada: The Research Landscape (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994), 60-80; and also Webber, Reimagining Canada, 185-206.
25. Augie Fieras and Jean Leonard Elliot, Multiculturalism in Canada: The Challenge of Diversity (Scarborough: Nelson Canada, 1992), 125 (emphasis in original).
26. For instance, Leslie A. Pal, Interests of State: The Politics of Language, Multiculturalism and Feminism in Canada (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1993).
27. Neil Bissoondath, Selling Illusions: The Cult of Multiculturalism in Canada (Toronto: Penguin, 1994), 116.
28. See, for example, Anthony D. Smith, The Ethnic Origins of Nations (Oxford: Blackwell, 1986), 150-54; Myron Weiner, "Political Integration and Political Development," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 358 (1965), 55-57; and Louis Hartz, The Founding of New Societies (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1964), 14. For the American perspective, see John C. Harles, Politics in the Lifeboat: Immigrants and the American Democratic Order (Boulder: Westview, 1993), 51-63.
29. See, for example, Anthony D. Smith, The Ethnic Origins of Nations (Oxford: Blackwell, 1986), 150-54; Myron Weiner, "Political Integration and Political Development," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 358 (1965), 55-57; and Louis Hartz, The Founding of New Societies (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1964), 14. For the American perspective, see John C. Harles, Politics in the Lifeboat: Immigrants and the American Democratic Order (Boulder: Westview, 1993), 51-63.
30. See, for example, Anthony D. Smith, The Ethnic Origins of Nations (Oxford: Blackwell, 1986), 150-54; Myron Weiner, "Political Integration and Political Development," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 358 (1965), 55-57; and Louis Hartz, The Founding of New Societies (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1964), 14. For the American perspective, see John C. Harles, Politics in the Lifeboat: Immigrants and the American Democratic Order (Boulder: Westview, 1993), 51-63.
31. See, for example, Anthony D. Smith, The Ethnic Origins of Nations (Oxford: Blackwell, 1986), 150-54; Myron Weiner, "Political Integration and Political Development," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 358 (1965), 55-57; and Louis Hartz, The Founding of New Societies (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1964), 14. For the American perspective, see John C. Harles, Politics in the Lifeboat: Immigrants and the American Democratic Order (Boulder: Westview, 1993), 51-63.
32. John Stuart Mill, Considerations on Representative Government (1867; rpt. London: J. M. Dent, 1972), 362.
33. Ibid., 363-64.
34. On qualitative methodology in general and on the intensive interview approach in particular, see John and Lyn H. Lofland, Analyzing Social Settings: A Guide to Qualitative Analysis (2nd ed.; Belmont: Wadsworth, 1984);
35. also Betty H. Zisk, Political Research: A Methodological Sampler (Lexington, D.C.: Heath, 1981). The interview sessions took place in southern Ontario during the summer of 1992. Respondents were selected by means of a snowball sample. In an effort to keep the testimony more representative than exhaustive, only 27 of the 30 interviewees are cited in the present essay.
36. According to statistics compiled by Employment and Immigration Canada, between 1979 and 1990, 16,297 immigrants from Laos were resettled in Canada, over 5,800 of those in Ontario alone (Employment and Immigration Canada, Im-migration Statistics [Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada, 1989], 20; and Employment and Immigration Canada, Annual Report, 1990-1991 [Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada, 1991], 50). These figures do not strictly distinguish individuals on the basis of ethnicity - rather, all individuals whose origins are somewhere in Laos are regarded for statistical purposes as Lao. Neither do they differentiate "highland" Lao - most prominently Hmong and Mien tribespeople - from "lowland," or ethnic, Lao. It is the political orientations of this latter contingent, historically the politically and culturally dominant group in Laos, that the present study explores.
37. According to statistics compiled by Employment and Immigration Canada, between 1979 and 1990, 16,297 immigrants from Laos were resettled in Canada, over 5,800 of those in Ontario alone (Employment and Immigration Canada, Im-migration Statistics [Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada, 1989], 20; and Employment and Immigration Canada, Annual Report, 1990-1991 [Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada, 1991], 50). These figures do not strictly distinguish individuals on the basis of ethnicity - rather, all individuals whose origins are somewhere in Laos are regarded for statistical purposes as Lao. Neither do they differentiate "highland" Lao - most prominently Hmong and Mien tribespeople -from "lowland," or ethnic, Lao. It is the political orientations of this latter contingent, historically the politically and culturally dominant group in Laos, that the present study explores.
38. Emile Durkheim, The Division of Labor in Society (1893; rpt.; New York: The Free Press, 1984), 60-61.
39. According to the 1991 Census, 10,000 Lao are Canadian citizens - more than 67 per cent of the total Lao population in Canada. The Lao also appear to obtain citizenship at a faster pace than do immigrants in general. For example, among individuals receiving citizenship in 1991, the Lao waited an average of 5.07 years before being naturalized; the average interval for all immigrants was 7.1 years (Multiculturalism and Citizenship Canada, Canadian Citizenship Statistics, 1991 [Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada, 1991], 22).
40. On the affective potential of Canadian citizenship, see Kaplan, "Who Belongs?"; and also James S. Frideres et al., "Becoming Canadian: Citizen Acquisition and National Identity," Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism 14 (1987), 105-21.
41. On the affective potential of Canadian citizenship, see Kaplan, "Who Belongs?"; and also James S. Frideres et al., "Becoming Canadian: Citizen Acquisition and National Identity," Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism 14 (1987), 105-21.
42. See Karl Deutsch, The Nerves of Government: Models of Political Communication and Control (New York: The Free Press, 1966), 126; and Edward Shils, Center and Periphery: Essays in Macrosociology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1975), 4-5, 66ff.
43. See Karl Deutsch, The Nerves of Government: Models of Political Communication and Control (New York: The Free Press, 1966), 126; and Edward Shils, Center and Periphery: Essays in Macrosociology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1975), 4-5, 66ff.
44. The fact that the support of the Lao for the national political community might be more complete than for the Canadian government or for specific occupants of political office is consistent with findings on the political support of the Canadian citizenry at large. See Alan Kornberg and Harold D. Clarke, Citizens and Community: Political Support in a Representative Democracy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), esp. 107ff. and 254-55.
45. The seminal work in this regard is E. G. Ravenstein, "The Laws of Migration," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society (1889), 241-301.
46. See Barbara Schmitter Heisler, "Immigrant Settlement and the Structure of Emergent Immigrant Communities in Western Europe," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 485 (1986), 76-86.
47. Other research has noted that immigrants tend to have a special affinity for their country of adoption. In circa 1970s survey data, for example, David Elkins found that feelings of "warmth" towards Canada were the least strong among native-born Canadians, stronger among long-term immigrants (those arriving before 1945) and strongest of all among short-term immigrants (those arriving after 1945). See David Elkins and Richard Simeon, Small Worlds: Provinces and Parties in Canadian Political Life (Toronto: Methuen, 1980), 12-13.
48. "Seminar" - the name given by the LPDR to labour re-education camps.
49. See the discussion in Howard Adelman, "Canadian Refugee Policy in the Postwar Period: An Analysis," in Howard Adelman, ed., Refugee Policy: Canada and the United States (Toronto: York Lanes Press, 1991), 210-14. Also see Freda Hawkins, Critical Years in Immigration: Canada and Australia Compared (2nd ed.; Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1991), 174-85.
50. See the discussion in Howard Adelman, "Canadian Refugee Policy in the Postwar Period: An Analysis," in Howard Adelman, ed., Refugee Policy: Canada and the United States (Toronto: York Lanes Press, 1991), 210-14. Also see Freda Hawkins, Critical Years in Immigration: Canada and Australia Compared (2nd ed.; Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1991), 174-85.
51. Shils, Center and Periphery, 66.
52. See, for example, Bibby, Mosaic Madness, 158ff.; Mildred A. Schwartz, Public Opinion and Canadian Identity (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967), 248-52; and Keith Banting, The Welfare State and Canadian Federalism (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1982), 119.
53. See, for example, Bibby, Mosaic Madness, 158ff.; Mildred A. Schwartz, Public Opinion and Canadian Identity (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967), 248-52; and Keith Banting, The Welfare State and Canadian Federalism (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1982), 119.
54. See, for example, Bibby, Mosaic Madness, 158ff.; Mildred A. Schwartz, Public Opinion and Canadian Identity (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967), 248-52; and Keith Banting, The Welfare State and Canadian Federalism (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1982), 119.
55. See, for example, the Economic Council of Canada, New Faces in the Crowd: Economic and Social Impacts of Immigration (Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada, 1991), 31ff.
56. See the discussion in Leo Dreidger, The Ethnic Factor: Identity in Diversity (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1989), 50-65; and also Milton Gordon, Assimilation in American Life: The Role of Race, Religion and National Origins (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964).
57. See the discussion in Leo Dreidger, The Ethnic Factor: Identity in Diversity (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1989), 50-65; and also Milton Gordon, Assimilation in American Life: The Role of Race, Religion and National Origins (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964).
58. See Ronald Inglehart, Culture Shift in Advanced Industrial Societies (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990), 56ff.
59. Louis Melosky, National Director, Canadian Multiculturalism Council, as quoted in Alan C. Cairns, "Political Science, Ethnicity and the Canadian Constitution," in David P. Shugarman and Reg Whitaker, eds., Federalism and Political Community: Essays in Honour of Donald Smiley (Peterborough: Broadview Press, 1989), 123.