Multiculturalism in Québec and Canada
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As we talked about in class recently, multiculturalism is an important part of recent Canadian history. Multiculturalism is not only used as a tool to reflect cultural difference, as it’s also a way of constituting difference as the main aspect of Canada’s relations with its internal Others. It can also be used as a way of identifying people from different cultural backgrounds and managing them (Thobani, 145). ‘‘Third world’’ immigration was encouraged in post-war Canada for multiple reasons. Firstly, previous immigration policies that had been based on race became scandalous, as the era of civil rights and decolonization had begun. Furthermore, Canada had a small population and a declining birth rate. Thus, the country was in need of ‘‘third world’’ immigration in order to sustain its economy (Thobani, 146). On top of that, as racialized people were organizing transnational movements, multiculturalism was as a way of getting rid of anti-racist and anti-colonial discourses in Canada (Thobani, 155). White people claimed that they welcomed immigrants, accepted them, and sought to modernize them. However, immigrants held onto their traditions stubbornly. Thus, White people could claim that immigrants were intolerant. This was a way of projecting the anxieties of whiteness onto immigrants. When White people were accused of racism, genocide, and colonialism, they could claim that immigrants were much worse (Thobani, 155).
Das’s text gives insight into Sri Lankan and Indian-Tamil speakers living in Montreal. The part that I found the most interesting in this reading is when the difference between Indian and Sri Lankan Tamil is described. This difference resides in the fact Sri Lankan Tamil is a more classical type of Tamil. In this text, Sri Lankan Tamil is compared to Parisian French and Indian Tamil is compared to Québécois French (Das, 77). I find this interesting because Québécois French is closer to the French that was spoken during the sixteenth century than the French currently spoken in France is. Thus, we could say that Québécois French is closer to classical French. Das also describes the fact that immigrants have different opportunities depending on what type of French they speak. Interestingly, nationalist Québécois people often claim that the main issue in relation to immigration is the protection of the French language. They claim that immigrants don’t learn French, which leads to the loss of Québécois culture through time. However, when immigrants learn a variety of nonstandard Québécois French, it becomes harder for them to have mobility and to access certain jobs. Thus, it is better for them to learn standard Québécois French, or international French, if they want to have more opportunities (Das, 74). However, it is difficult for immigrants to learn standard French if they live in a place where nobody speaks it.