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The Ethnic vote saved Canada
by Andrew Cardozo
Preston Manning, meet Jacques Parizeau. The Premier of Quebec blamed the
"ethnic vote" for not giving him a victory in the referendum.
Let me put it differently from our perspective, yes that's yours and mine. You see, it
is the ethnic vote that kept this country intact and I didn't hear a word of thanks from
you, or anyone else for that matter. After 128 years, the French and English Canadians,
the "founding peoples" still haven't got it together. It took the ethnic vote,
the newest new kids on the block to keep things together. If I may be permitted one more
jibe: looks like you guys never really "found" the same thing!
Now here are a couple of interesting things about the ethnic vote. First, it is
generally the product of our immigration policy, and what Parizeau was referring to was
the post war immigrants and also the post 1967 immigrants. In 1967 the Pearson government
ended the racist quota policy which only allowed 150 non-white immigrants in. Now of
course we get something like 150,000 non-white immigrants, and this does freak some folks
right out.
The second thing about the ethnic vote is the multiculturalism thing. If I can go back
to Pierre Trudeau in 1971. His belief was that if you respect people for who they are,
allow them to maintain their culture and work towards their equality, then they will in
turn integrate and be solid loyal Canadian citizens. (Look it up: Hansard, October 8,
1971.) Even the Mulroney Tories kept faith with these policies.
Just for the record, the Reform Party doesn't like current immigration levels, and they
don't like multiculturalism. These two policies are the ruination of this country.
Just for the record too, the facts show that the heavily ethnic ridings voted for the
Charlottetown accord in greatest numbers, while the Reform Party and Bloc Quebecois -
predominantly white, (anglophone and francophone, respectively) campaigned against it.
Guess what? When the chips were down and the country was at the precipice of the abyss,
the ethnic vote stuck with Canada. 95% pure Canadian.
Just last week, November 1, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Sergio Marchi tabled
the immigration levels for 1996 which will inch up just slightly. Remember that he was
slammed by the separatists for shipping extra citizenship court judges into Quebec to
swear in new citizens before the referendum.
On that day, not 48 hours after Parizeau's infamous declaration, Reform's immigration
critic claimed armageddon was upon us. Immigration was too high and of the wrong
"quality".
Last week the new Parti Quebecois immigration minister said the problem with the ethnic
vote was due to the "ravages of multiculturalism".
Some politicians will carry on scaremongering but the way I see it, these ideals of
immigration and multiculturalism saved this country.
All this to say, that its time for some of our political leaders to sit back and reveiw
their own policies. May be the Anglos and francohpones can learn a thing or two about
avoiding separation. Many of the ethnic vote have lived through it in Europe, Asia and
Africa and understand the grief.
Its time ordinary Canadians had more of a say in how this country fits together. To
this end the Pearson-Shoyama Institute is launching a Web page on the Internet called
"Place du Canada / Canada Place" to keep alive the spirit of the Montreal rally.
Later this week you can click in at http://www.pearson-shoyama.com
You can send in your own views on e-mail at E-mail of Anne or by fax to (613) 235-3160.
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