Canada Has a Policy of Multiculturalism

Candace Denny
Canada has a policy of multiculturalism. Does this policy meet reality?
Through the Canadian Multiculturalism Act, the Government of Canada recognizes the diversity of Canadians as regards race, national or ethnic origin, colour and religion as a fundamental characteristic of Canadian society and is committed to a policy of multiculturalism designed to preserve and enhance the multicultural heritage of Canadians and equality of opportunity in the economic, social, cultural and political life of Canada.
“Under the Act, all federal institutions shall:
•ensure that Canadians of all origins have an equal opportunity to obtain employment and advancement in those institutions;
•promote policies, programs and practices that enhance the ability of individuals and communities of all origins to contribute to the continuing evolution of Canada;
•promote policies, programs and practices that enhance the understanding of and respect for the diversity of the members of Canadian society;
•collect statistical data in order to enable the development of policies, programs and practices that are sensitive and responsive to the multicultural reality of Canada;
•make use, as appropriate, of the language skills and cultural understanding of individuals of all origins; and,
•generally, carry on their activities in a manner that is sensitive and responsive to the multicultural reality of Canada.”
The concept of Canada as a "multicultural society" can be interpreted in different ways: descriptively, prescriptively, from a political perspective, or as a set of intergroup dynamics.
Multiculturalism in Canada refers to the presence and persistence of diverse racial and ethnic minorities who define themselves as different and who wish to remain so. Ideologically, multiculturalism consists of a relatively coherent set of ideas and ideals pertaining to the celebration of Canada’s cultural mosaic. Multiculturalism at the policy level is structured around the management of diversity through formal initiatives in the federal, provincial and municipal domains. Finally, multiculturalism is the process by which racial and ethnic minorities compete with central authorities for achievement of certain goals and aspirations.
Canada can be described as a multicultural society whose racial and ethnic diversity is expressed in different ways. In recent years, a vigorous immigration policy has attracted a growing number of applicants from non-traditional sources such as Asia, Africa, Central America, and the Caribbean. Current levels in immigration totals suggest that our multicultural diversity will continue to flourish in some form into the twenty-first century. It is noteworthy that much of this diversity is concentrated in Ontario, particularly in the metropolitan region of Toronto, as well as in the metropolitan areas of Vancouver and Montreal. Which meet the circumstances of being reality.

Cultural relativism is seen as dangerous to some religious and racial groups. Why? Observation “Different cultures have different moral codes” has seemed to be the key to understanding morality. The idea of universal truth in ethics, they say, is a myth. The customs of different societies are all that exist. These customs cannot be said to be "correct" or "incorrect," for that implies we have an independent standard of right and wrong by which they may be judged. But there is no such independent standard; every standard is culture-bound. The great pioneering sociologist William Graham Sumner, writing in 1906, put the point like this:

The “right” way is the way which the ancestors used and which has been handed down. The tradition is its own warrant. It is not held subject to verification by experience. The notion of right is in the folkways. It is not outside of them, of independent origin, and brought to test them. This is because they are traditional, and therefore contain in themselves the authority of the ancestral ghosts. When we come to the folkways we are at the end of our analysis.
This line of thought has probably persuaded more people to be skeptical about ethics than any other single thing and seen as dangerous. Cultural Relativism challenges our ordinary belief in the objectivity and universality of moral truth. It says, in effect that there is no such thing as universal truth in ethics; there are only the various cultural codes, and nothing more. Our own code has no special status; it is merely one among many.
As we shall see, this basic idea is really a compound of several different thoughts. It is important to separate the various elements of the theory because, on analysis, some parts turn out to be correct, while others seem to be mistaken. As a beginning, we may distinguish the following claims, all of which have been made by cultural relativists:
1. Different societies have different moral codes.
2. There is no objective standard that can be used to judge one societal code better than another.
3. The moral code of our own society has no special status; it is merely one among many.
4. There is no “universal truth” in ethics; that is, there are no moral truths that hold for all peoples at all times.
5. The moral code of a society determines what is right within that society; that is, if the moral code of a society says that a certain action is right, then that action is right, at least within that society.
6. It is mere arrogance for us to try to judge the conduct of other peoples. We should adopt an attitude of tolerance toward the practices of other cultures.
Although it may seem that these six propositions go naturally together, they are independent of one another, in the sense that some of them might be false even if others are true. In what follows, we will try to identify what is correct in Cultural Relativism, but we will also be concerned to expose what is mistaken about it.