Uneasy Partners: Multiculturalism and Rights in Canada
Janice Gross Stein, et. al.
Guelph: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2007.
Reviewed by Kathy Vandergrift
Multiculturalism and equality rights are uneasy partners heading for conflict, according to the lead essay by Janice Gross Stein in a collection of essays entitled Uneasy Partners: Multiculturalism and Rights in Canada. Other contributors, all leading Canadian political commentators, assert that Canada is managing diversity issues well; that these issues are unrelated; or that multiculturalism is a subset of human rights.
Stein thinks it is time Canadians have a national family conference about the rules that govern life together in the home we love. Easy banter about love of diversity and respect for human rights becomes a sticky question when she asks whether the resurgence of religious orthodoxy in all major religions threatens the equal rights that define our life together. Stein challenges her own experiences by asking if Jewish synagogues that discriminate against women should be eligible for tax exemptions. This is just one example of many public policy tensions that arise in Canada’s pluralist society. CPJ has long advocated for space within Canada for different communal worldviews and ways of living, and we too struggle with how that fits with respect for individual rights.
In true Stein style, she invites other viewpoints to the table. Leave the issue alone, advises John Ibbitson, political journalist, because some issues are better left unopened to preserve the family. Reflecting on Canada’s history, both Haroon Siddiqui and John Meisel are optimistic that time and accommodation will resolve most of the issues, while Michael Valpy proposes a stronger focus on social cohesion. Will Kymlicka cautions against mixing religious freedom issues with multiculturalism; recent debates, however, show that the divide between religion and culture is porous. Everyone agrees that dealing with Canada’s treatment of Aboriginal peoples is a higher priority.
Should Canada open up this debate? For many it is not worth the trouble it will cause and there are greater priorities. But is that true for the young girl coerced into becoming another wife of an old man in the polygamous religious community in Bountiful BC, where religious freedom trumps protecting the rights of girls? It is not a coincidence that the woman writer in this volume says we need this debate; it is the rights of women and children that are often compromised in the name of religious freedom and respect for cultural diversity.
This easy-to-read book sets the table by outlining the history and introducing different views. Stein’s question will continue to crop up in specific sticky issues across Canada, and we will continue to fumble through. Is there a better way?
