Better than we think we are...?
Nov. 21st, 2007 01:22 pmI read something in The Ottawa Citizen today that gave me heart. It was an opinion piece by Michael Adams, author of Unlikely Utopia: The Surprising Triumph of Canadian Pluralism. Adams was writing to comment on the publicity regarding a appalling town in Quebec called Hérouxville, where the residents have made some strange local edicts against immigrants and ethnic minorities.
Adams' point is that the people of Hérouxville (all 1,300 of them) are not only atypical of Canadians, but unusual and in a minority themselves. He waves a bunch of statistics and adds:
Canadians have been growing increasingly open and welcoming over the past 15 to 20 years. And these flexible, accepting attitudes do not just pertain to newcomers. Look at how rapidly Canadians' attitudes toward gays and lesbians have evolved: In 1987, just one in 10 Canadians approved of homosexuality. By 2004, that number was almost half .... But even among those who disapprove of homosexuality, a significant proportion say they believe gays and lesbians deserve equal rights. Today, seven in 10 Canadians say homosexuality should be accepted by society.I found this heartening. And this:
when Canadians are asked to name in their own words the biggest problem facing the country, diversity issues don't even make the list: We are much more worried about health care, the environment and economic issues.... This second backlash is not so much a backlash as it is the reassertion and rearticulation of open, tolerant values that have been taking shape for the past half-century in this country, and which polls show Canadians under 30 take for granted.That's been true in my experience: in fact, the only people I've known to state anti-immigrant sentiments, or who dislike multiculturalism, are older than I am by a margin.
Adams also says: "Canada has the highest immigration rate in the world and the second-highest foreign-born population." So what country has the highest foreign-born population?