Abstract
Historically, the story that has been told about Canada is this: Canadian nationalism is thin. It has been celebrated as a possible example of “rooted cosmopolitanism”, that is, a nationalism that is able to marry a commitment to the universal ideals that characterise cosmopolitanism with a rootedness that captures the particularly Canadian way of instantiating these ideals. However, during its nine years of rule (2006–2015), the Conservative government engaged in an attempt to significantly reshape the content of Canadian national identity. This chapter assesses the strategies adopted by the Conservative government to thicken the content of Canadian nationalism, by focusing on traditional dimensions of nationalist pride, thereby encouraging Canadians to abandon a relatively thin identity in favour of adopting a relatively thicker “ethnic-communitarian” outlook.
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Notes
- 1.
Patti Tamara Lenard and Margaret Moore, “Rooted Cosmopolitanism: A Defence of Moderate Cosmopolitanism and/or Moderate Liberal Nationalism”, in Will Kymlicka and Kathryn Walker (eds), Rooted Cosmopolitanism: Canada and the World (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2012), pp. 47–68. See the essays in this volume more generally, as well.
- 2.
There is an internal-to-Canada debate about whether this way of delineating Canadian national identity is specifically Liberal (as in, constructed by the Liberal Party of Canada) or whether it is more general.
- 3.
“Democracy” ranked first as a source of pride.
- 4.
A comment for which he was mocked, in Andrew Coyne, “Stephen Harper’s Canada Day speech the latest volley in pointless history wars”, National Post, 2 July 2014, available at http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/andrew-coyne-stephen-harpers-canada-day-speech-the-latest-volley-in-pointless-history-wars, last accessed 8 July 2016.
- 5.
The turning away from Aboriginal iconography has been taken by many as a more general disregard for the injustices perpetrated against Aboriginal communities on an ongoing basis and as a lack of respect for these communities.
- 6.
Bank of Canada Press Release, “Bank of Canada Unveils New $20 Note”, 2 May 2012, available at http://www.bankofcanada.ca/2012/05/bank-canada-unveils-new-20-note-design, last accessed 8 July 2016.
- 7.
Cited in Jordan Michael Smith, “Reinventing Canada: Stephen Harper’s Conservative Revolution”, World Affairs, no. March/April (2012), available online at http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/reinventing-canada-stephen-harper%E2%80%99s-conservative-revolution, last accessed 8 July 2016.
- 8.
CBC News, “Embassies Ordered to Display Queen’s Portrait”, 9 September 2011, available at http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/embassies-ordered-to-display-queen-s-portrait-1.1054848, last accessed 8 July 2016.
- 9.
“News Release—Updated Discover Canada citizenship study guide now available” (14 March 2011), available at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2011/2011-03-14a.asp.
- 10.
Many commentators blame the media, for fanning the flames of controversy and insist that the challenges posed by migrants’ distinctive cultural practices are more or less manufactured.
- 11.
CTV News, “Groups to Protest Over Muslim Prayers in School”, 25 July 2011, available at http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110725/religious-groups-protest-toronto-prayer-school-110725/20110725/?hub=TorontoNewHome, last accessed 8 July 2016. Here, the premier of Ontario is insisting that whether to allow Muslim prayers is a decision that schools are permitted to make on their own.
- 12.
Nick Martin, “Muslim Families in Winnipeg Want Children Excused from Certain Classes”, 5 February 2011, available at http://news.nationalpost.com/holy-post/muslim-families-in-winnipeg-want-children-excused-from-certain-classes, last accessed 8 July 2016.
- 13.
This is a particularly odd requirement given that Canada already permits absentee voting, which does not require that the voter show his or her face in order to vote.
- 14.
Rob Gillies, “Canada Bans Burqa at Citizenship Swearing in”, 12 December 2011, available at http://www.boston.com/news/world/canada/articles/2011/12/12/canada_bans_burqa_at_citizenship_swearing_in, last accessed 8 July 2016.
- 15.
Anna Mehler Paperny, “Jason Kenney Wants to Stop ‘the Madness’ in Immigration System”, The Globe and Mail, 4 April 2012, available at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/jason-kenney-wants-to-stop-the-madness-in-immigration-system/article2392588, last accessed 8 July 2016.
- 16.
These are both common strategies in objecting to face coverings. For more, see Christian Joppke, The Veil: Mirror of Identity (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2009).
- 17.
Speaking notes for The Honourable Jason Kenney , P.C., M.P. Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, “On the value of Canadian citizenship”, Montreal, Quebec, 12 December 2011.
- 18.
The same claim has been famously made in France, where a covered woman was denied citizenship on the grounds that she clearly indicated, by her dress, that she did not accept French values. See Katrin Bennhold, “A Veil Closes France’s Door to Citizenship”, The New York Times, 19 July 2008.
- 19.
See the full text of Bill S-7, formally titled, “An act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Civil Marriage Act and the Criminal Code and to make consequential amendments to other Acts”, which passed in to law on 16 June 2015, available at https://openparliament.ca/bills/41-2/S-7.
- 20.
For an analysis of the challenges faced by Muslim migrants, see Patti Tamara Lenard, “What can Multicultural Theory Tell us about Integrating Muslims in Europe?” (2010) 8 Political Studies Review, pp. 308–21.
- 21.
For a historical of Canadian immigration, see Peter S. Li, Destination Canada: Immigration Debates and Issues (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003).
- 22.
There is a question about the ethics of a migration policy that admits only the wealthiest or most educated of migrants, which I do not elaborate upon here.
- 23.
This is the danger that worries the contributors to Patti Tamara Lenard and Christine Straehle (eds), Legislated Inequality: Temporary Labour Migration in Canada (Montreal-Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2012).
- 24.
These challenges are outlined in Nakache and Kinoshita (2010).
- 25.
Steven Chase, “New fast-track rules see big drop in refugee asylum claims”, The Globe and Mail, 21 February 2013, available at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/new-fast-track-rules-see-big-drop-in-refugee-asylum-claims/article8961268, last accessed 8 July 2016.
- 26.
Speaking notes for The Honourable Jason Kenney , P.C., M.P. Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, at a news conference following the tabling of Bill C-31, Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act, Ottawa, 16 February 2012.
- 27.
Speaking notes for The Honourable Jason Kenney , P.C., M.P. Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Cracking Down on Crooked Consultants. Performed by Jason Kenney . Ottawa, 8 June 2010.
- 28.
Justin Trudeau, “Prepared Remarks: Justin Trudeau’s Speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos”, 20 January 2016 available at http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/justin-trudeau-there-has-never-been-a-better-time-to-look-to-canada, last accessed 8 July 2016.
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Lenard, P.T. (2018). Wither the Canadian Model? Evaluating the New Canadian Nationalism (2006–2015). In: Fossum, J., Kastoryano, R., Siim, B. (eds) Diversity and Contestations over Nationalism in Europe and Canada. Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58987-3_8
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