Marketing Canadian pluralism in the international arena

International Journal

Volumn 59, Issue 4, 2004, Pages 829-852

  Kymlicka, Will ^a  

^a QUEEN S UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 13244249677     PISSN: 00207020     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/002070200405900407     Document Type: Review

References (50)

1. For example, Canada promotes its Inuit policies in the Arctic Council and its policies regarding treaties and Status Indians at the UN
2. Freda Hawkins, Critical Years in Immigration: Canada and Australia Compared (Montreal/Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1989), 221.
3. The complex relationship between the humanitarian/foreign considerations and strategic/domestic elements is illustrated by the government's ambivalent approach to the codification of international norms of minority rights-e.g., its objections to the 1993 UN draft declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples and its refusal to ratify the 1990 UN convention on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers (1990). Ratifying these international norms might serve the humanitarian goal of protecting minorities around the world but would have no domestic pay-off and so is not part of current efforts to market the Canadian model abroad.
4. Michael Valpy, "The world of the Aga Khan," Globe and Mail, 2 February 2002; John Stackhouse and Patrick Martin, "The Aga Khan extols Canada's virtues," Globe and Mail, Focus interview, 2 February 2002.
5. Michael Valpy, "The world of the Aga Khan," Globe and Mail, 2 February 2002; John Stackhouse and Patrick Martin, "The Aga Khan extols Canada's virtues," Globe and Mail, Focus interview, 2 February 2002.
6. John Ibbitson, "Pluralism: the world wonders how we pull it off," Globe and Mail, 6 February 2004.
7. Leslie Laczko, "Canada's pluralism in comparative perspective," Ethnic and Racial Studies 17 (January 1994): 20-41.
8. UNDP, "Cultural liberty in today's diverse world: human development report card," New York, 2004.
9. This must have been particularly desirable given that Canada has been falling behind in its traditional areas of foreign policy strength-e.g., peacekeeping, foreign aid, and the environment. It also fit well into Axworthy's "human security" framework.
10. For example, Queen's University had a sudden upsurge in foreign students after 2001. On the other hand, it's also important to note that many immigrants feel frustrated at the difficulties in getting recognition of their professional credentials, and some in fact leave Canada as a result. Our reputation overseas does not always survive the reality of day-to-day life in Canada.
11. Globe and Mail, 6 February 2004.
12. There are differences in how formal this shift to multiculturalism has been. In Australia and New Zealand, as in Canada, this shift was officially marked, but even in the United States, we see similar changes on the ground. As Nathan Glazer puts it, We are all Multiculturalists Now (Cam bridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997) - Similarly, in Britain, while there is no nation-wide multiculturalism policy, the same basic ideas are pursued through race relations policy. See Adrian Favell, Philosophies of Integration: Immigration and the Idea of Citizenship in France and Britain (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001).
13. There are differences in how formal this shift to multiculturalism has been. In Australia and New Zealand, as in Canada, this shift was officially marked, but even in the United States, we see similar changes on the ground. As Nathan Glazer puts it, We are all Multiculturalists Now (Cam bridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997) - Similarly, in Britain, while there is no nation-wide multiculturalism policy, the same basic ideas are pursued through race relations policy. See Adrian Favell, Philosophies of Integration: Immigration and the Idea of Citizenship in France and Britain (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001).
14. For relevant evidence, see Andrew Parkin and Matthew Mendelsohn, "A new Canada: an identity shaped by diversity," Montreal, Centre for Research and Information on Canada, CRIC Paper#11, October 2003; "Canada's welcome mat," Globe and Mail, 31 May 2004, A12; Irene Bloemraad, "The North American naturalization gap," International Migration Review 36 (spring 2002): 194-228; Will Kymlicka, Finding Our Way: RethinkingEthnocultural Relations in Canada (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1998). The old Reform/Alliance party is often described in the Canadian context as an "anti-immigrant" party, but its expressed policy goal of reducing the intake of immigrants in half would still leave Canada with the second largest per-capita intake of immigrants in the world. This is nothing like the anti-immigrant programs of Le Pen or the British National Party or other neo-fascist, white-supremacist parties in Europe.
15. For relevant evidence, see Andrew Parkin and Matthew Mendelsohn, "A new Canada: an identity shaped by diversity," Montreal, Centre for Research and Information on Canada, CRIC Paper#11, October 2003; "Canada's welcome mat," Globe and Mail, 31 May 2004, A12; Irene Bloemraad, "The North American naturalization gap," International Migration Review 36 (spring 2002): 194-228; Will Kymlicka, Finding Our Way: RethinkingEthnocultural Relations in Canada (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1998). The old Reform/Alliance party is often described in the Canadian context as an "anti-immigrant" party, but its expressed policy goal of reducing the intake of immigrants in half would still leave Canada with the second largest per-capita intake of immigrants in the world. This is nothing like the anti-immigrant programs of Le Pen or the British National Party or other neo-fascist, white-supremacist parties in Europe.
16. For relevant evidence, see Andrew Parkin and Matthew Mendelsohn, "A new Canada: an identity shaped by diversity," Montreal, Centre for Research and Information on Canada, CRIC Paper#11, October 2003; "Canada's welcome mat," Globe and Mail, 31 May 2004, A12; Irene Bloemraad, "The North American naturalization gap," International Migration Review 36 (spring 2002): 194-228; Will Kymlicka, Finding Our Way: RethinkingEthnocultural Relations in Canada (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1998). The old Reform/Alliance party is often described in the Canadian context as an "anti-immigrant" party, but its expressed policy goal of reducing the intake of immigrants in half would still leave Canada with the second largest per-capita intake of immigrants in the world. This is nothing like the anti-immigrant programs of Le Pen or the British National Party or other neo-fascist, white-supremacist parties in Europe.
17. For relevant evidence, see Andrew Parkin and Matthew Mendelsohn, "A new Canada: an identity shaped by diversity," Montreal, Centre for Research and Information on Canada, CRIC Paper#11, October 2003; "Canada's welcome mat," Globe and Mail, 31 May 2004, A12; Irene Bloemraad, "The North American naturalization gap," International Migration Review 36 (spring 2002): 194-228; Will Kymlicka, Finding Our Way: RethinkingEthnocultural Relations in Canada (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1998). The old Reform/Alliance party is often described in the Canadian context as an "anti-immigrant" party, but its expressed policy goal of reducing the intake of immigrants in half would still leave Canada with the second largest per-capita intake of immigrants in the world. This is nothing like the anti-immigrant programs of Le Pen or the British National Party or other neo-fascist, white-supremacist parties in Europe.
18. For examples of these fears, see Neil Bissoondath, Selling Illusions: The Cult of Multiculturalism in Canada (Toronto: Penguin, 1994), and Richard Gwyn, Nationalism Without Walls: The Unbearable Lightness of Being Canadian (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1995). For overviews of these debates, see Yasmeen Abu-Laban and Daiva Stasiulus, "Ethnic pluralism under siege: popular and partisan opposition to multiculturalism," Canadian Public Policy 18 (December 1992): 365-386; and John Biles, "Everyone's a critic," Canadian Issues (February 2002): 35-38. A new fear is that the ideology of multiculturalism enables terrorist organizations to use Canada as a base for their activities. See Stewart Bell, Cold Terror: How Canada Nurtures and Exports Terror Around the World (Toronto: John Wiley, 2004). Yet terrorist organizations often set up shop in countries like Germany, Spain, or Italy that do not have multiculturalism policies. Indeed, they may prefer such countries, since the members of ethnic/religious communities in these countries are less integrated into the larger society and less connected to the state. Multiculturalism policies, by contrast, encourage immigrant groups to engage with the state.
19. For examples of these fears, see Neil Bissoondath, Selling Illusions: The Cult of Multiculturalism in Canada (Toronto: Penguin, 1994), and Richard Gwyn, Nationalism Without Walls: The Unbearable Lightness of Being Canadian (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1995). For overviews of these debates, see Yasmeen Abu-Laban and Daiva Stasiulus, "Ethnic pluralism under siege: popular and partisan opposition to multiculturalism," Canadian Public Policy 18 (December 1992): 365-386; and John Biles, "Everyone's a critic," Canadian Issues (February 2002): 35-38. A new fear is that the ideology of multiculturalism enables terrorist organizations to use Canada as a base for their activities. See Stewart Bell, Cold Terror: How Canada Nurtures and Exports Terror Around the World (Toronto: John Wiley, 2004). Yet terrorist organizations often set up shop in countries like Germany, Spain, or Italy that do not have multiculturalism policies. Indeed, they may prefer such countries, since the members of ethnic/religious communities in these countries are less integrated into the larger society and less connected to the state. Multiculturalism policies, by contrast, encourage immigrant groups to engage with the state.
20. For examples of these fears, see Neil Bissoondath, Selling Illusions: The Cult of Multiculturalism in Canada (Toronto: Penguin, 1994), and Richard Gwyn, Nationalism Without Walls: The Unbearable Lightness of Being Canadian (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1995). For overviews of these debates, see Yasmeen Abu-Laban and Daiva Stasiulus, "Ethnic pluralism under siege: popular and partisan opposition to multiculturalism," Canadian Public Policy 18 (December 1992): 365-386; and John Biles, "Everyone's a critic," Canadian Issues (February 2002): 35-38. A new fear is that the ideology of multiculturalism enables terrorist organizations to use Canada as a base for their activities. See Stewart Bell, Cold Terror: How Canada Nurtures and Exports Terror Around the World (Toronto: John Wiley, 2004). Yet terrorist organizations often set up shop in countries like Germany, Spain, or Italy that do not have multiculturalism policies. Indeed, they may prefer such countries, since the members of ethnic/religious communities in these countries are less integrated into the larger society and less connected to the state. Multiculturalism policies, by contrast, encourage immigrant groups to engage with the state.
21. For examples of these fears, see Neil Bissoondath, Selling Illusions: The Cult of Multiculturalism in Canada (Toronto: Penguin, 1994), and Richard Gwyn, Nationalism Without Walls: The Unbearable Lightness of Being Canadian (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1995). For overviews of these debates, see Yasmeen Abu-Laban and Daiva Stasiulus, "Ethnic pluralism under siege: popular and partisan opposition to multiculturalism," Canadian Public Policy 18 (December 1992): 365-386; and John Biles, "Everyone's a critic," Canadian Issues (February 2002): 35-38. A new fear is that the ideology of multiculturalism enables terrorist organizations to use Canada as a base for their activities. See Stewart Bell, Cold Terror: How Canada Nurtures and Exports Terror Around the World (Toronto: John Wiley, 2004). Yet terrorist organizations often set up shop in countries like Germany, Spain, or Italy that do not have multiculturalism policies. Indeed, they may prefer such countries, since the members of ethnic/religious communities in these countries are less integrated into the larger society and less connected to the state. Multiculturalism policies, by contrast, encourage immigrant groups to engage with the state.
22. For examples of these fears, see Neil Bissoondath, Selling Illusions: The Cult of Multiculturalism in Canada (Toronto: Penguin, 1994), and Richard Gwyn, Nationalism Without Walls: The Unbearable Lightness of Being Canadian (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1995). For overviews of these debates, see Yasmeen Abu-Laban and Daiva Stasiulus, "Ethnic pluralism under siege: popular and partisan opposition to multiculturalism," Canadian Public Policy 18 (December 1992): 365-386; and John Biles, "Everyone's a critic," Canadian Issues (February 2002): 35-38. A new fear is that the ideology of multiculturalism enables terrorist organizations to use Canada as a base for their activities. See Stewart Bell, Cold Terror: How Canada Nurtures and Exports Terror Around the World (Toronto: John Wiley, 2004). Yet terrorist organizations often set up shop in countries like Germany, Spain, or Italy that do not have multiculturalism policies. Indeed, they may prefer such countries, since the members of ethnic/religious communities in these countries are less integrated into the larger society and less connected to the state. Multiculturalism policies, by contrast, encourage immigrant groups to engage with the state.
23. See Rogers Brubaker, "The return of assimilation?" Ethnic and Racial Studies 24 (July 2001): 531-548; also Stephen Castles, "Migration, Citizenship, and Education," in James Banks, ed., Diversity and Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004); Hans Entzinger, "The rise and fall of multiculturalism in the Netherlands," in Christian joppke and Ewa Morawska, eds., Toward Assimilation and Citizenship: Immigrants in Liberal Nation-States (London: Palgrave 2003), 59-86; and Les Back et. al, "New labour's white heart: politics, multiculturalism and the return of assimilation," Political Quarterly 72 (October 2002): 445-454.
24. See Rogers Brubaker, "The return of assimilation?" Ethnic and Racial Studies 24 (July 2001): 531-548; also Stephen Castles, "Migration, Citizenship, and Education," in James Banks, ed., Diversity and Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004); Hans Entzinger, "The rise and fall of multiculturalism in the Netherlands," in Christian joppke and Ewa Morawska, eds., Toward Assimilation and Citizenship: Immigrants in Liberal Nation-States (London: Palgrave 2003), 59-86; and Les Back et. al, "New labour's white heart: politics, multiculturalism and the return of assimilation," Political Quarterly 72 (October 2002): 445-454.
25. See Rogers Brubaker, "The return of assimilation?" Ethnic and Racial Studies 24 (July 2001): 531-548; also Stephen Castles, "Migration, Citizenship, and Education," in James Banks, ed., Diversity and Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004); Hans Entzinger, "The rise and fall of multiculturalism in the Netherlands," in Christian joppke and Ewa Morawska, eds., Toward Assimilation and Citizenship: Immigrants in Liberal Nation-States (London: Palgrave 2003), 59-86; and Les Back et. al, "New labour's white heart: politics, multiculturalism and the return of assimilation," Political Quarterly 72 (October 2002): 445-454.
26. See Rogers Brubaker, "The return of assimilation?" Ethnic and Racial Studies 24 (July 2001): 531-548; also Stephen Castles, "Migration, Citizenship, and Education," in James Banks, ed., Diversity and Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004); Hans Entzinger, "The rise and fall of multiculturalism in the Netherlands," in Christian joppke and Ewa Morawska, eds., Toward Assimilation and Citizenship: Immigrants in Liberal Nation-States (London: Palgrave 2003), 59-86; and Les Back et. al, "New labour's white heart: politics, multiculturalism and the return of assimilation," Political Quarterly 72 (October 2002): 445-454.
27. For the role of white ethnic groups in the process, see Linda Blanshay, "The nationalization of ethnicity: a study of the proliferation of national mono-ethnocultural umbrella organizations in Canada," PhD thesis, Department of Sociology, University of Glasgow, 2001; and John Jaworksy, "A case study of the Canadian federal government's multiculturalism policy," MA thesis, Department of Political Science, Carleton University, 1979.
28. For the role of white ethnic groups in the process, see Linda Blanshay, "The nationalization of ethnicity: a study of the proliferation of national mono-ethnocultural umbrella organizations in Canada," PhD thesis, Department of Sociology, University of Glasgow, 2001; and John Jaworksy, "A case study of the Canadian federal government's multiculturalism policy," MA thesis, Department of Political Science, Carleton University, 1979.
29. Howard Palmer, "Reluctant hosts: Anglo-Canadian views of multiculturalism in the twentieth century," in Douglas Francis and Donald Smith, eds., Readings in Canadian History: Post-Confederation (Toronto: Harcourt, Brace, 1994), 143-161.
30. Quoted in Odile Verhaar, "Principles and pragmatism in Dutch 'multicultural policy'," paper presented at a conference on ethics and public policy, Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, Utrecht, 15-16 May 2003.
31. See Reginald Bibby, Mosaic Madness: The Poverty and Potential of Life in Canada (Toronto: Stoddart, 1990); also Bissoondath, ibid., and Gwyn, ibid.
32. See Reginald Bibby, Mosaic Madness: The Poverty and Potential of Life in Canada (Toronto: Stoddart, 1990); also Bissoondath, ibid., and Gwyn, ibid.
33. See Reginald Bibby, Mosaic Madness: The Poverty and Potential of Life in Canada (Toronto: Stoddart, 1990); also Bissoondath, ibid., and Gwyn, ibid.
34. See Parkin and Mendelsohn, ibid.
35. For examples of this institutional embedding of multiculturalism in a range of public institutions in Canada, see, on the media, Dorothy Zolf, "Comparisons of multicultural broadcasting in Canada and four other countries," Canadian Ethnic Studies 21, no. 2 (1989): 13-26; on the arts, Peter Li, "A world apart: the multicultural world of visible minorities and the art world of Canada," Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 31, (November 1994): 365-391; on schools, Sarah Wayland, "Religious expression in public schools: kirpans in Canada; hijab in France," Ethnic and Racial Studies 20, (July 1997): 545-561; on municipal government, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, "Dealing with diversity: multicultural access to local government," race relations series #2, municipal race relations program, Toronto, 1988; on health care, Mclnnis Consulting, "Multicultural change in health services delivery project: final report," Ministry Responsible for Multiculturalism and Immigration, Government of British Columbia, Vancouver, 1997; and, on urban planning, Mohammad Qadeer, "Pluralistic planning for multicultural cities: the Canadian experience," Journal of the American Planning Association 63, (September 1997): 481-494.
36. For examples of this institutional embedding of multiculturalism in a range of public institutions in Canada, see, on the media, Dorothy Zolf, "Comparisons of multicultural broadcasting in Canada and four other countries," Canadian Ethnic Studies 21, no. 2 (1989): 13-26; on the arts, Peter Li, "A world apart: the multicultural world of visible minorities and the art world of Canada," Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 31, (November 1994): 365-391; on schools, Sarah Wayland, "Religious expression in public schools: kirpans in Canada; hijab in France," Ethnic and Racial Studies 20, (July 1997): 545-561; on municipal government, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, "Dealing with diversity: multicultural access to local government," race relations series #2, municipal race relations program, Toronto, 1988; on health care, Mclnnis Consulting, "Multicultural change in health services delivery project: final report," Ministry Responsible for Multiculturalism and Immigration, Government of British Columbia, Vancouver, 1997; and, on urban planning, Mohammad Qadeer, "Pluralistic planning for multicultural cities: the Canadian experience," Journal of the American Planning Association 63, (September 1997): 481-494.
37. For examples of this institutional embedding of multiculturalism in a range of public institutions in Canada, see, on the media, Dorothy Zolf, "Comparisons of multicultural broadcasting in Canada and four other countries," Canadian Ethnic Studies 21, no. 2 (1989): 13-26; on the arts, Peter Li, "A world apart: the multicultural world of visible minorities and the art world of Canada," Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 31, (November 1994): 365-391; on schools, Sarah Wayland, "Religious expression in public schools: kirpans in Canada; hijab in France," Ethnic and Racial Studies 20, (July 1997): 545-561; on municipal government, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, "Dealing with diversity: multicultural access to local government," race relations series #2, municipal race relations program, Toronto, 1988; on health care, Mclnnis Consulting, "Multicultural change in health services delivery project: final report," Ministry Responsible for Multiculturalism and Immigration, Government of British Columbia, Vancouver, 1997; and, on urban planning, Mohammad Qadeer, "Pluralistic planning for multicultural cities: the Canadian experience," Journal of the American Planning Association 63, (September 1997): 481-494.
38. For examples of this institutional embedding of multiculturalism in a range of public institutions in Canada, see, on the media, Dorothy Zolf, "Comparisons of multicultural broadcasting in Canada and four other countries," Canadian Ethnic Studies 21, no. 2 (1989): 13-26; on the arts, Peter Li, "A world apart: the multicultural world of visible minorities and the art world of Canada," Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 31, (November 1994): 365-391; on schools, Sarah Wayland, "Religious expression in public schools: kirpans in Canada; hijab in France," Ethnic and Racial Studies 20, (July 1997): 545-561; on municipal government, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, "Dealing with diversity: multicultural access to local government," race relations series #2, municipal race relations program, Toronto, 1988; on health care, Mclnnis Consulting, "Multicultural change in health services delivery project: final report," Ministry Responsible for Multiculturalism and Immigration, Government of British Columbia, Vancouver, 1997; and, on urban planning, Mohammad Qadeer, "Pluralistic planning for multicultural cities: the Canadian experience," Journal of the American Planning Association 63, (September 1997): 481-494.
39. For examples of this institutional embedding of multiculturalism in a range of public institutions in Canada, see, on the media, Dorothy Zolf, "Comparisons of multicultural broadcasting in Canada and four other countries," Canadian Ethnic Studies 21, no. 2 (1989): 13-26; on the arts, Peter Li, "A world apart: the multicultural world of visible minorities and the art world of Canada," Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 31, (November 1994): 365-391; on schools, Sarah Wayland, "Religious expression in public schools: kirpans in Canada; hijab in France," Ethnic and Racial Studies 20, (July 1997): 545-561; on municipal government, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, "Dealing with diversity: multicultural access to local government," race relations series #2, municipal race relations program, Toronto, 1988; on health care, Mclnnis Consulting, "Multicultural change in health services delivery project: final report," Ministry Responsible for Multiculturalism and Immigration, Government of British Columbia, Vancouver, 1997; and, on urban planning, Mohammad Qadeer, "Pluralistic planning for multicultural cities: the Canadian experience," Journal of the American Planning Association 63, (September 1997): 481-494.
40. For examples of this institutional embedding of multiculturalism in a range of public institutions in Canada, see, on the media, Dorothy Zolf, "Comparisons of multicultural broadcasting in Canada and four other countries," Canadian Ethnic Studies 21, no. 2 (1989): 13-26; on the arts, Peter Li, "A world apart: the multicultural world of visible minorities and the art world of Canada," Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 31, (November 1994): 365-391; on schools, Sarah Wayland, "Religious expression in public schools: kirpans in Canada; hijab in France," Ethnic and Racial Studies 20, (July 1997): 545-561; on municipal government, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, "Dealing with diversity: multicultural access to local government," race relations series #2, municipal race relations program, Toronto, 1988; on health care, Mclnnis Consulting, "Multicultural change in health services delivery project: final report," Ministry Responsible for Multiculturalism and Immigration, Government of British Columbia, Vancouver, 1997; and, on urban planning, Mohammad Qadeer, "Pluralistic planning for multicultural cities: the Canadian experience," Journal of the American Planning Association 63, (September 1997): 481-494.
41. The fact that ethnic organizations disavow these illiberal practices does not mean that individual members of the group do not attempt in private to maintain them, or to avoid punishment for them. But there is nothing in Canada like the debates in the UK regarding forced arranged marriages, in France about FGM, or even in the us about the cultural defence. For speculations about why immigrant groups to Canada may be less likely to maintain illiberal practices than immigrants in other western countries, see Will Kymlicka, "Multiculturalism in Canada: ethical dimensions," paper presented at a conference on ethics and public policy, Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, Utrecht, 15-16 May 2003.
42. On the broad consensus across racial/religious lines on a human rights-based liberal multiculturalism in Canada, see Rhoda Howard-Hassman, Compassionate Canadians: Civic Leaders Discuss Human Rights (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003).
43. The popular view in the west that FGM is a Muslim practice is doubly incorrect: FGM is practiced by Christians, Jews, and animists as well as Muslims in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and is strongly disavowed by many Muslim leaders, yet this popular perception is very strong.
44. Rod Liddle, "How Islam has killed multiculturalism," Spectator, 1 May 2004. Note that Liddle says it is Islam, not Islamaphobia, that has killed multiculturalism.
45. Francis Henry, The Caribbean Diaspora in Toronto: Learning to Live with Racism (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994).
46. And, in all likelihood, most such claims were unfounded. Most of these migrants were classic economic migrants, not people fleeing persecution for their political or religious beliefs. As of July 2000, of the 501 refugee claims that had been decided, only 16 had been accepted. See Sean Hier and Joshua Greenberg, "Constructing a discursive crisis: risk, problematization and illegal Chinese in Canada," Ethnic and Racial Studies 25, no. 3 (2002): 506.
47. The same hysteria accompanied the arrival of 174 Sikhs on the shore of Nova Scotia in 1987. In response to this "crisis," the federal government recalled parliament in an "emergency session." See Janet Hiebert, "Determining the limits of charter rights: how much discretion do governments retain," PhD thesis, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto, 1991, 282-299.
48. For an example of this sort of fear, invoking the facts about the contiguity and numerical dominance of Hispanic immigrants in the us, see Samuel Huntington, "The Hispanic Challenge," Foreign Policy (March 2004): 30-45.
49. According to Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, some Jamaican immigrants to Britain view themselves as "more British than the British," and resent the implication that they need to be resocialized into British culture, given that they were born and raised in societies whose legal, political, and educational institutions were designed by their British imperial masters. After Multiculturalism (London: Foreign Policy Centre, 2002).
50. I emphasize that I am focusing here on demands for immigrant multiculturalism. There were of course demands in the us for multiculturalism from African-Americans, which involved different sorts of issues, often relating to historic injustice. In terms of immigrant multiculturalism, however, the initial demands were from white ethnics, and then shifted to Hispanics.