DISKUS Vol. 5 (1999) http://www.uni-marburg.de/fb11/religionswissenschaft/journal/diskus MULTICULTURALISM IN CANADA: A METHODOLOGICALLY INADEQUATE POLITICAL VIRTUE Reginald W. Bibby Department of Sociology, The University of Lethbridge, Canada Email: rbibby@direct.ca ==================================================== Abstract The idea of a multicultural and multi-religious Canada has been enshrined through pronouncement and law in recent decades. However, the concept of religious diversity is grounded in national policy rather than data, a socially-constructed reality that can preclude the examination of its empirical validity by researchers. Official government data actually fail to document the presence of widespread religious diversity, pointing instead to a culturally-diverse Christian monopoly--an important case example for researchers. ==================================================== Introduction Multiculturalism has been a concept that has been clearly articulated and explicitly enshrined in the Canadian setting. Historically, much of the country's population growth from the seventeenth century onward was due to the arrival of people from France and England, the rest of Europe, and increasingly from around the world. The post-1950s saw a shift in the dominant origins of newcomers, with a growing majority coming from Asia and other Third World countries. Such demographic realities have led twentieth century observers of the Canadian scene to depict Canada as a cultural 'mosaic.' Beyond figurative rhetoric, the federal government officially adopted multiculturalism as a policy in 1971, placing it beside its other key intergroup policy of bilingualism that had become law with 'The Official Languages Act' two years earlier. In making the announcement, Canada's prime minister at the time, Pierre Trudeau, said, 'A policy of multiculturalism within a bilingual framework commends itself to the Government as the most suitable means of assuring the cultural freedom of Canadians.' In 1988, the policy was passed into law; 'The Multiculturalism Act' states that the Canadian government is committed to a policy 'designed to preserve and enhance the multicultural heritage of Canadians while working to achieve the equality of all Canadians.' Official multiculturalism has been accompanied by an array of programs aimed at enabling citizens of all backgrounds to participate fully in Canadian life, and to perpetuate their national cultures to the extent they so desire. The Religious Implications of the Multiculturalism Policy Religion has been seen as an historically important facet of the cultures of people arriving in Canada. The religious landscape of the country is primarily the product of the religions that immigrants have brought with them. Roman Catholics commonly have had French, Irish, Italian, and Central American origins. The Anglican, United, Presbyterian, and Conservative Protestant churches have been heavily British; Lutherans most frequently have had German, Scandinavian, and British roots and the Christian Reformed denomination has had strong links to the Netherlands. The religious component of terms such as 'Jew,' 'Mennonite,' 'Hutterite,' 'Hindu,' and 'Sikh' has frequently been so prominent as to obscure broader cultural characteristics.. Accordingly, the proclamation that Canada is a multicultural society includes the implicit proclamation that Canada is a multi-religious society. Of central importance, the pronouncement is not an empirical generalization based on national data. It does nott acknowledge, for example, just how multicultural the country is; there is no careful delineation of the proportions of the whole that the individual mosaic tiles comprise. Rather, the multiculturalism/multi-religious declaration is a political statement, indicating both an assumption about the nature of Canadian society and the government's policy response to that assumption. Such a political and legal world-view holds that groups, religious or otherwise, are equal and are to be treated equally, regardless of the number of members or 'mosaic tile sizes' involved. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, passed as part of the country's constitution in 1982, not only guarantees individual rights but further reaffirms collective rights. So enshrined through pronouncement, policy, and law, a Canada of 'multi-cultures' and 'multi-religions' has become social reality. Of interest, the idea that the country is a multi-religious mosaic is something that is cultivated by a wide range of religious groups, both smaller and newer and older and larger. Since the early 1970s, leaders of smaller cultural and religious groups - including Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Aboriginal groups - have been fairly aggressive in insisting on their fair share of multicultural program funding, media exposure, funding for private schools, and representation on government committees and boards. They have not lacked for allies: justice-oriented groups such as the United and Anglican churches of Canada have frequently reaffirmed the reality of a multi-religious Canada. Further, religious groups that have variously sought to minister to Canadians (such as mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics) and proselytize Canadians (such as many Conservative evangelical groups) have constantly emphasized the need to be cognizant of a multi-cultural and multi-religious Canada. The Research Implications of the Multiculturalism Policy For the researcher, however, empirical reality is more than only a social construction, more than the end product of pronouncement, policy, and law. The social scientist, for example, fully recognizes that reality is constantly socially created. But rather than accepting that product as synonymous with 'what is,' he or she proceeds to examine how such a construction of reality came about. Multiculturalism, grounded in an assumption rather than data, and legitimized by proclamation rather than academic consensus, is clearly a political social construction. However, once in place, it tends to be seen as reality and treated as 'what is real' by religious groups, the public, and academics. As such, it becomes in effect 'reified' - regarded as a truism that cannot be evaluated. Because multiculturalism has received the sanction of government and the legal system, one asks questions in the area at one's peril. In a multicultural-oriented society, one measure of people is where they stand on a battery of lifestyle, religious, gender, and sexual issues. Simply to raise the question of 'how multicultural' Canada really is, let alone challenge the empirical accuracy of the concept itself, can lead to the accusation that one is racist, Euro-centric, or simply out-of-date. The result is that sheer conversations about the merits of multiculturalism have not been easy to engage in. Academics have been, and continue to be, far from immune. The direct implications for religious research are important. If researchers buy into the politically-created assumption that Canada is multi-religious, they can find themselves emphasizing religious diversity rather than objectively exploring the actual extent of that diversity. Further, if researchers assume that the dominant religious pattern is pluralism rather than assimilation, it can become difficult to assess the actual extent to which assimilation is taking place, over against the politically appropriate postulation of religious diversity. In short, the assumption that a society such a Canada is multicultural and multi-religious in nature is essentially a static, a priori position that can influence the priorities of a religion researcher as well as limit the inclination to explore its empirical validity. Freed from the Multicultural Assumption: What the Data Show Data from Canada's own official statistical gathering body, Statistics Canada, call the multi-religious assumption into serious question. Statistics Canada carries out a major national census in the second year of each new decade that includes the item, 'What is your religion?' The question has been asked dating back to the first national census in 1871. Over time, the overall 'Christian' total has ranged from 98% in 1871, through 96% in 1931, to 84% in 1991. The remaining 16% of the populace as of 1991 consist primarily of those who report they have no religion (12%). Since the first census the Jewish total has remained a constant 1%, while those identifying with Other Faiths (including, in Statistics Canada's classification scheme, atheists and agnostics) has increased only marginally from 2% to 3%. <1> In order to sustain their numbers and grow, religious groups have to be able to replace their ageing immigrants with offspring (birth) and resident Canadians (proselytism). To date there is little indication that such demographic developments are occurring in sufficient numbers among smaller faith groups to suggest they will sustain or increase their numerical strength in the future. An examination of religious intermarriage reveals a critically important pattern: children typically are raised in the Catholic or Protestant tradition of the partners involved, rather than (a) raised in another faith or (b) with no religion when partners do not have a religious preference. The single exception to the pattern is Judaism; if one parent is Jewish children are more likely than not to be raised Jewish. In short, Christian partners in inter-faith relationships tend to raise their children in Catholic or Protestant traditions. Through intermarriage, Catholics and Protestants in effect 'recruit' large numbers of offspring at the expense of the Other Faith and 'No Religion' categories.<2> Further, even with childhood religious socialization, defection from minority faiths through intermarriage is widespread. Such losses are to be expected. Other Faith groups typically comprise less than 1% of the Canadian population each, compared to 84% for Catholics and Protestants. It therefore is hardly surprising that their children absorb many aspects of the dominant ways of life in Canada. When it comes to socializing and marriage, groups find that their children befriend, date, and frequently marry people from other cultural and religious groups-despite the existence of a national policy of multiculturalism. A recent country-wide survey of youth found that 12% of those from homes where their parents identify with 'Other Faiths' were regarding themselves as Catholics or Protestants before they had reached the age of 20.3 As a result of such intermarriage and acculteration patterns, Christianity continues to be overwhelmingly dominant in Canada. Despite the stimulus of immigration, other major world religions are having considerable difficulty making significant numerical inroads in Canada. The 1991 census reveals that some 65 to 75% of the affiliates of Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism are immigrants, compared to about 13% in the case of both Catholics and Protestants. The census also shows that less than 2% of Canadians of British, French, German, and Italian origins combined are identifying with religions other than Christianity. Individuals who are identifying with Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism are primarily people with Middle East and Asian cultural roots. Affiliates with European backgrounds do not exceed 3% of the people aligned with any of these four faiths. It should be added that smaller religions in the 'Other Faith' category are faring even worse. Despite media conjectures about disenchanted and disaffiliated Canadians turning to a wide range of religious options in the last half of this century - to what sociologists refer to as 'new religions' or 'para-religious groups,' the census tells a different story. In a country of close to 30 million people, less than 5,000 individuals in total identify themselves in the Census with religions such as New Age, Scientology, and Theosophy. Conclusion The existence in Canada of official multiculturalism leads many to think that the Canadian religious scene can be likened to a mosaic art-piece, characterized by an ever-expanding variety of religions as Canadians from new and different countries arrive with new and different religions. It is true that immigration has contributed to cultural and religious diversity. But that diversity has been and is being brought primarily in the form of cultural diversity within Catholicism and Protestantism, rather than in the form of ever-growing proportions of Other Faiths. To return to the mosaic metaphor, diversity is hardly translating into a religious art-form comprised of equal-size tiles. More accurately, we find a monopoly where we expected a mosaic. Researchers in other settings should likewise be wary of confusing political versions of reality with what is empirically observable. Multiculturalism declarations warrant such caution. ______________________________________ Notes <1> For a complete listing of affiliation figures for all religious groups broken down by province, gender, age, education, ethnicity, and language, see Statistics Canada, Religions in Canada, Ottawa: Science and Technology Canada, 1993. 1991 Census of Canada. Catalogue Number 93-319. <2> For details, see Reginald W. Bibby, 'The Persistence of Christian Religious Identification in Canada,' Canadian Social Trends, Spring, 1997. <3> Reginald W. Bibby, Unknown Gods. Toronto: Stoddart, 1993:27. END