Multiculturalism has a downside, who would have thought?

TorontoSun.com - Lorrie Goldstein - Multiculturalism has a down side

In the case of the legitimate reservations ordinary Canadians have long had about whether government-driven "official multiculturalism" is uniting Canadians or, in fact, dividing them along cultural, religious and ethnic lines, mainstream politicians have finally come to the party -- more than 30 years too late.

Throughout the 1970s, '80s and '90s, average Canadians who expressed any doubts about whether government-imposed multiculturalism and its many offshoots were working in Canada's best interests, were likely to be labelled as bigots and racists by mainstream politicians of all stripes -- Liberals, of course, but also New Democrats and Progressive Conservatives -- and by much of the Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal intelligentsia.

But today, more than three decades later, concerns about the potential downsides of state-sanctioned multiculturalism have finally reached the long-deaf ears, and are now being given a voice by, Canada's elite chattering classes.

In Quebec, long advertised as Canada's most socially progressive province, it's being called the debate over the "reasonable accommodation" of minorities, with political parties and many non-government organizations (NGOs), academics and media now raising alarms the pendulum has swung too far in favour of accommodating immigrants and minorities.

What I am pointing out, however, is the breathtaking irony that in the two provinces that like to think of themselves as the most "liberal" and "progressive" in Canada, Quebec and Ontario, the debate over the reasonable accommodation of minorities is raging and, ironically, is being led by the very political elites who for more than 30 years, were preaching a far different message to Canadians.

That was that any questioning of official multiculturalism and its offshoots was likely indicative not of genuine concerns about the impacts of the policy on the cohesiveness of Canadian society, but of darker motives such as bigotry and racism.

Funny, isn't it, how the worms have turned?

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