percentage of non-Caucasian population in Census metropolitan areas.
Source: Statistics Canada
It is important to realize that we are doing something in Canada no other nation on earth even contemplates. This country today is undergoing a societal and demographic evolution that is much more rapid and profound than is taking place in any other nation on earth. For example, while only ten per cent of Americans today are foreign born, here in Canada the foreign-born figure is about 20 per cent. While some US cities have large foreign-born populations, none of them approach what is occurring in Toronto and Vancouver. Americans often joke that Miami’s first language is Spanish, but in fact only about 36 per cent of its population was born outside the United States, compared to nearly 46 per cent of Toronto’s population and almost 40 per cent in Vancouver in 2006.
The significance of this is even greater since Toronto and Vancouver are by far the largest cities in English Canada and pretty well determine which political party governs the country.
So “New Canada” will in fact be two Canadas. The really, really “New Canada” in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa and the pretty much status-quo-Canada in the rest of the country, at least for the time being. On second thought, when you factor Quebec into the equation, “New Canada” will actually be three Canadas.
This, we are assured by the great “progressive” thinkers of the land, is a good thing. Not a problem! There is no treacherous reef waiting just off our bow to tear us apart, they promise.
Any expressions of concern that mass immigration and multiculturalism are threatening our core values or diluting our national character are dismissed as the drooling rants of a few old white guys whose diapers are beginning to chafe! Furthermore, they claim anyone suggesting that maybe “Old Canada” is a pretty decent place that doesn’t deserve to be deep-sixed is probably just a racist.
Who’s The Racist?
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani says a “policy of political correctness” has led to missed signals in recent terrorism investigations.
(Giuliani responding to questions concerning the failed attempt to detonate a car bomb in Times Square, ABC News, “This Week” on May 9, 2010.)
No doubt some of the objections and concerns being expressed about “New Canada” are coming from old white guys. Quite likely some of it comes from bona fide racists as well.
But wait just a minute here.
Those who revel at the prospect of a Toronto with a 63 per cent visible minority population very clearly believe that the fewer white faces around the better.
By 2031, only 37 per cent of Toronto’s population will be Caucasian. “Hurray!” shout the promoters of “New Canada.”
By 2031, only 39 per cent of Vancouver’s population will be white. “We’re dancing in the streets, that’s wonderful,” cry the politically correct multiculturalists.
Translation: the fewer “whiteys” the better!
Tung Chan, CEO of S.U.C.C.E.S.S., an organization helping immigrants come to Canada, says: “As we look towards the Pacific Century…Vancouver is the first Asian city outside of Asia.” (The Globe and Mail, March 10, 2010). This is supposed to be a wonderful accomplishment? But wait just a minute. Why are we applauding the conversion of a Canadian city into an Asian city? Why did that probably-accurate-but-fantastic statement slip by without anyone anywhere asking if that is really such a great idea? Think of it. We are being told that the creation of an Asian city is superior to a Canadian city—IN CANADA!
Imagine France boasting that Paris would soon cease to be a French city and instead become a British one. Or a Spanish city. Or any city other than a great and proud French city.
Asians have contributed greatly to Canada and will continue to do so, but do we really think so little of Canada that we cheer when one of our major cities ceases to be Canadian and becomes Asian? Don’t you think we should have some second thoughts about the wisdom of this?
Let’s put the shoe on the other foot.
Let me ask you what these same joyful, dancing, “let’s have a New Canada” revellers would say if a good chunk of the country were to rejoice at the prospect of fewer blacks? Or fewer Asians, or East Indians?
Imagine, if you will, residents of the Bahamas whooping it up on a Saturday night because they had just learned that, thanks to their government’s policy, blacks would be a minority in their country in just a few years!
What do you think Jamaicans would say if their government insisted the country would be considerably improved if they cranked up the white population?
Imagine the turmoil in Saudi Arabia if the sheiks one day announced that by 2031 Christianity would become the majority religion!
If native Bahamians objected to becoming a minority in their own country, would that be because they are racist? Would it be racist if Jamaicans rebelled against a government that insisted on imposing, for example, a Canadian culture on them? No more reggae!
Imagine the American talk show hosts if Americans awoke one morning to read headlines that declared that very shortly New York City would become the first Mexican city outside Mexico.
Sort of puts things in a different light, doesn’t it?
Would we blame the Saudis for insisting on maintaining the Muslim faith? Or would we praise them for steadfastly refusing to abandon their way of life; their culture? Just as many praise Quebec for proudly maintaining both its language and distinct culture.
Which brings me to this question: What do you think the reaction would be if Quebecers awoke one morning to learn that by 2031 francophones would be in a minority in their province?
What do you think the reaction would be if someone were to claim that within a few years Quebec City would become the first British city outside Britain?
Can’t you just hear the protests?
The Only Culture Worth Saving
The question of whether Quebec should be congratulated for preserving its culture was never more clearly answered than when Julius Grey, a constitutional lawyer who has defended the right of Sikh students to wear their ceremonial daggers in classrooms, sided with Quebec authorities who kicked Naema Ahmed out of French-language classes when she refused to doff her niqab. “Accommodation should not lead to separation,” said Mr. Grey. (Margaret Wente, “Two solitudes and the niqab,” The Globe and Mail, March 12, 2010)
The same article quotes Patrick Lagace, a well-respected columnist with La Press, who explained Quebec’s position best when he stated, “In English Canada you have multiculturalism, but in French Canada you can have your differences but please do become a Quebecer.”
Even leading left-wing feminist Heather Mallick,
