Canadians Don't Care About Multiculturalism

A new survey by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) and the Association for Canadian Studies entitled the “Report on Canadian Values” is making its rounds in the media, and the mainstream spin is that “Canadians embrace multiculturalism.” A closer look at the study results reveals clearly that Canadians don't really care about multiculturalism.

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64 percent agreed with the statement that “Canadian multiculturalism allows people to pursue certain cultural practices that are incompatible with Canadian laws and norms

Survey respondents were asked to rank a list of 10 values. “Multiculturalism -- respect for cultural and religious differences” only received 4 percent of the vote, only beating out other equally irrelevant values such as “humility, modesty about who we are” (3 percent), “patriotism” (3 percent), and “official bilingualism” in last place at 2 percent. The highest ranked value was “respect for human rights and freedoms” at 21 percent. There were no fundamental differences based on gender or age. Neither men nor women, nor any age group, ranked multiculturalism as a core value. The narrative that has been spun by liberal political parties and their left-wing media and academic allies over the past several decades is false. The CBC state broadcaster has been trying to convince Canadians that they highly value multiculturalism, humility and modesty, and bilingualism for almost as long as this taxpayer-funded network has been on the air. Of course, it was all wrong. The survey results are unequivocal in showing that Canadians do not place any priority on these values. When asked “in one sentence please describe what you regard as the primary responsibilities of being a Canadian citizen,” only 8 percent answered multiculturalism. Of great interest is that 64 percent agreed with the statement that “Canadian multiculturalism allows people to pursue certain cultural practices that are incompatible with Canadian laws and norms.” Translation: almost two-thirds of Canadians think that multiculturalism is a threat to Canadian society, with this high level of concern distributed evenly among all age groups and between the sexes. In response to these concerns, only 6 percent thought we should “encourage multiculturalism” in order to address the problem -- which placed multiculturalism in last place among all options. First place went to “enforce/impose laws on all Canadians/must abide by Canadian laws” by a large margin. So when Anita Bromberg, the Executive Director of the CRRF, claims that “most Canadians agree that multiculturalism contributes to social cohesion, has a positive impact on ethnic and religious minorities, and makes it easier for newcomers to adapt to, and adopt shared Canadian values,” the CRRF's own survey does not appear to support this interpretation. Quite the opposite. The take home messages from this survey are undeniable, profound, and long overdue. Canadians do not value multiculturalism, and as such, the federal government should be moving to repeal the Canadian Race Relations Foundation Act 1991, defund the CRRF, and eliminate multiculturalism from its policy making efforts.

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