Bissoondath: Multicultural Policy’s Consequences

Neil Bissoondath ‘s 1994 book “Selling Illusions, The Cult of Multiculturalism in Canada” asks if criticism of a policy is acceptable or does it open the questioner to immediate attack with a negative label that stifles further conversation? Bissoondath analyses Pierre Trudeau’s Multicultural Policy and warns it creates serious consequences for Canada. It is interesting to see, looking back, as to whether his interpretation has any validity for today’s society.

The Canadian Multicultural Act states that this policy ” acknowledges the freedom of all members and Canadian society to preserve, enhance and share their cultural heritage.”(1) It is a policy that seems to embrace all and Bissoondath states they are “attractive sentiments, liberally dispensed, but where, in the end, do they lead?”(2)

Are Canadians mandated to preserve all elements of every culture? Do we permit female circumcision? Sex Selection? Sharia law? Are these all rights to happiness from other countries that we must as a Canadian society agree to?

If we disagree with certain cultural values are we automatically seen as denigrating others and worthy of being labeled as oppressors? If we disagree with aspects of multiculturalism are we violators of the policy?

Bissoondath asks what are Canadian values? Does Canada have values we do not want to lose? Citizenship comes with rights as well as obligations. Bissoondath pleads for the acknowledgement that the questioning of ideas is an indispensable and crucial Canadian value. As a society, having freedom to think about and debate issues means we can search out ideas, be open to challenging them and revisit them.

The author wonders who sets the agenda for the vision of Canada and whether we want to be governed by a majority or by an activist government with a vision of what they perceive to be the ideal? Do elected representatives have the ability to vote their constituents wishes irregardless of the party whip’s desire for uniformity?

Bissoondath asks us how we perceive ourselves and others when we become aware of social injustice. Do we respond with renewed efforts towards justice or do we respond with vengeance and anger? If we pass down historical resentment does this increase suspicion and possibly lead to threats or violence?

Do we see people as victors or victims? This question also is relevant for each of us personally as well as for society as a whole. Bissoondath wants people to be viewed as victors. “To be a victim is to be burdened by the sense that history–colonialism, imperialism, racism, sexism that victimized you..impels you to view the world in a certain way, hardens you, makes you combative, you claim the moral high ground and live to see your victimhood acknowledged and compensated.”(3) There is a danger that when we see injustice we can stop trying to understand, to forgive and to love and to move forward.

As a writer Bissoondath can claim multiple identities such as writer of colour, yet feels that identity labeling has the potential to harm. He warns, ” As our provinces, greedy for power, pull apart, so too, do our communities, greedy for ‘rights’ pull apart. Once the psychology of separation takes hold, no logical limits suggest themselves, so that we go on, as a country, as a people, seeking to narrow ourselves in every way possible…Once the institutional division of people by culture is accepted it becomes easy to subdivide them in other ways too-, by gender, for example, or by race.” (4)

When aware that a writing conference was limited to persons of colour Bissoondath questioned how much colour was needed to qualify. He asks if it is alright for something that is labeled as anti-racist to then discriminate on the basis of race. This is an intriguing query in today’s society. Many of us have children who have various ethnic and racial identities. What do we tell our children about how they should identify themselves? Do we encourage them to take advantage of part of their heritage when it may benefit economically? Bissoondath says he just would like to be known as a writer.

You would think that a policy of multiculturalism would benefit writers as they would now have direct access to people from cultures all over the world. Bissoondath however says he has seen writers be labeled with the term ‘cultural misappropriation’ when they wrote about lives they had not personally lived. He urges caution if this trend continues as it would eliminate writers including Shakespeare.

Canada’s original inhabitants and the immigrants from many countries share diverse cultures. Bissoondath’s book reminds us that this occurred because of the values of Canada. In order to continue to live together with all our varied beliefs we need to be able to dialogue respectfully. Canada’s ability to share and care for each other peacefully is worth valuing, preserving and celebrating.

(1) Neil Bissoondath, Selling Illusions The Cult of Multiculturalism in Canada, Penguin Books, Toronto, Canada, 1994, p.34.

(2) Bissoondath, Selling Illusions, p.

(3)Bissoondath, Selling Illusions, p. 164.

(4) Bissoondath, Selling Illusions, p. 156.

“ALL ‘BOUT CANADA”: ABC WINNER

“All ‘Bout Canada a Compendium of Canadiana” by Elizabeth F. Hill published in 2020 is a very enjoyable ABC guide to relevant bits of Canadian history and even current affairs. It’s presented in an easy to read and hold format, with pleasing artwork and just enough twitches of humour interspersed amongst facts.

Elizabeth F. Hill covers a variety of topics including musicians, writers, astronauts, Canadian dog breeds and department stores. Canada’s First Peoples, immigrant groups, unique nature spots and poutine are included. There’s also an interesting list of 50 Canadian inventions such as the egg carton, plexiglass, Coffee Crisp, and the Jolly Jumper. The author cleverly finds unique nuggets for challenging letters: X is for, among other items, Camp X, a secret agent school during the second world war. Z is for Zeballos, a Vancouver Island village, which once had a street actually paved with gold.

The author has added some informative appendixes for those who have wondered what their province’s emblem, bird, gemstone, tree and animal is. You can also find the size and location of national parks and maritime conservation areas for future travel plans.

“All’Bout Canada” is suitable for a wide audience and would fascinate high school students as well as veteran journalists. This book would make a great present for a new immigrant as well as for an old established one. Elizabeth F. Hill has expertly selected surprising as well as intriguing bits of Canadiana that would cause even a seasoned citizen delight.

Canada’s Tar Sands’ Story

Did Alberta give the tar sand oil fields away to global demands? Andrew Nikiforuk’s 2008 book ” TAR SANDS Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent” is worth reading from a historical and practical perspective. The book was written at a time when multinational companies invested heavily in the tar sands and made huge profits while Alberta citizen were left with polluted air, water and land and very little royalty income. What were the issues then and has anything changed?

Does Canada now have a national water policy?

Do foreign companies or nations make decisions about what will affect the Canadian environment?

Nikiforuk argues in this book that Alberta governments and agencies entrusted with environmental safety deliberately failed citizen. They chose jobs and profit from companies over health and safety. They deliberately said increased development had no measurable effect on the wildlife, water, air and human population. An Environmental Assessment declared that the dangers to the public were outweighed by the benefits. They were able to argue this because they only had two air monitors to investigate all their gas plants and pipelines and their studies were designed to deliberately not measure anything relevant.

Nikiforuk explains that the Alberta tar sands have run out of cheap oil and are now extracting the dirty stuff : bitumen. This extraction from the tar sands requires extra force; excessive amounts of water and depending on the method used, excessive amounts of natural gas. Left behind are toxic waste pools that poison the water.

How could residents who lived downstream from the tar sands in Fort Chipeweyan have gotten so many rare cancers? Why did the doctors sounding the alarm get so little response?

Companies received breaks by not having to pay until their set up costs plus some investment returns materialized. There was thus an incentive to continue to expand and dig more wells to avoid paying more to the government. The government kept approving projects rather than requiring companies to clean up as they went along.

The security deposit companies had to pay to the Alberta government was inadequate. The cost of clean up is now having to be born by taxpayers after the companies left with huge profits.

The royalties Albertans received from their resource extraction during the Klein government were among the lowest in the world. The government chose to listen to industry who threatened to pull out of the tar sands if royalties were increased. The fund that Premier Lougheed set up to enable Albertans to weather a downturn was poorly funded after his tenure. Norway copied his fund idea and protected the fund and their citizen benefitted from a healthy royalty increase.

Have companies paid appropriate fines for pollution and for not cleaning up? Is there a mechanism to prevent owners from selling sections of the company to a third party which then declares bankruptcy? Are governments monitoring this and imposing penalties and censure when companies fail to do so? Who is holding industry and government accountable?

Some recommend nuclear energy to speed up bitumen extraction. Is radiation emission free? There are no safe ways to store nuclear waste and it lasts a long time. If water polluted with chemical toxins from the tar sands tailing ponds isn’t cleaned up safely then it is hard to trust a government or industry with nuclear safety.

Governments and political parties may champion urgency for companies to adhere to environmental safeguards during and after their resource extraction especially during media hype. Before an election officials might emphasize everyone’s responsibility to lessen the effects of global warming. What is needed, however, is an honest assessment by political parties of the issues and failures, a willingness to implement accountability mechanisms and a sampling of solutions needed to deal with the demand for oil. A concrete vision would give citizens insight, choice when they vote and hope that their health is also valued.

Nikiforuk intersperses facts with humour and brings readers a Canadian story with international relevance. He reveals the human cost of unregulated development and the continued willingness to deny the truth of the harm caused by dangerous practices. This non-fiction book inspires reflection and a plea for action by concerned citizens to hold their elected officials accountable for the well being of their people amidst the desire for jobs and profit.

I love fiction but reality in politics and life is so important.

Truth is worth guarding.

Emily Carr Wrote Klee Wyck

 

Emily Carr is an unpretentious Canadian writer and author of Klee Wyck, as well as being a famous British Columbia painter. Emily Carr is known across the world for her vivid depictions of the forests and totem poles of the First Nations she visited. In her book Klee Wyck she writes about the places and people she met while drawing.

Klee Wyck is dedicated to her friend Sophie, a First Nations woman who sold baskets, and had 21 babies who did not survive. Emily Carr and Sophie visited each other’s homes and Sophie named one of her babies after Emily. Respect and a sense of humour marked the interactions that Emily Carr had with the First Nations peoples she encountered.

Klee Wyck won the 1941 Governor General Gold Medal. The book is an enjoyable read as it blends her social commentary with descriptive snippets of her life in British Columbia. Readers see glimpses of the old villages of Skedans, Tanoo and Cumshewa on the Queen Charlotte Islands, now called Haida G’waii.

Klee Wyck is also the name Emily Carr was given by some Ucluelet First Nations people and means “Laughing One”. Emily Carr once had her face examined by an elder who aptly told her she was fearless, “not stuck up and you know how to laugh.” Bears, cougars and other potential dangers did not deter her. She was recording ancient beauty.

Emily often asked to be dropped off with her dog in remote or abandoned villages so she could paint their surroundings and carvings. She gained the trust of those she wrote about because of the respect she showed them. Emily did not paint any portraits of older people after realizing they feared their spirits would be trapped in their pictures after death. She has a moving explanation as to why totem poles were carved and what happened to them once they were taken away to museums.

Emily Carr’s love of the land, her ability to see beauty in the forests and the respectful way in which she interacted with the first peoples of the land shines through the pages of Klee Wyck. I heartily recommend you find a copy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great Canadian Novel

                                 

Brian Moore, known as “the Irish novelist of conscience” set his book, “The Luck of Ginger Coffey” in Montreal, Canada. Moore was a Canadian citizen and won the Governor General’s Award for fiction twice. Many of his award winning novels, including  “The Luck of Ginger Coffey”  were made into films. I had no idea this was a Canadian book with so many  surprises and that I would enjoy it so much.

His book tells the story of Ginger, an Irish immigrant to Canada, who seeks to provide for his family while navigating the labour market and the complexities of married life. Ginger is a principled dreamer who loves deeply and values adventure and freedom over class and religious boundaries.

Brian Moore deftly carries readers into Ginger’s often humorous thoughts and inner turmoil.  The raw honesty expressed by this endearing philosopher move me deeply. I care about Ginger’s fate as he struggles with the reality of loss and the meaning of life.

Moore sprinkles his novel with insightful discourses on concepts such as sacrifice and adds ironic commentary on the nature of Canada’s psyche and heritage. “The Luck of Ginger Coffey” takes readers into unexpected territory and invites us to embrace the often perilous journey of love.

STOP LETTING THEM REJECT YOUR WRITING

A book was recommended when I went to the Surrey Writer’s Conference entitled “Thanks, But This Isn’t For Us A (Sort Of) Compassionate Guide to Why Your Writing Is Being Rejected” by Jessica Page Morrell. I spotted it on a table, promptly bought it and have marked it up rather well. She claims that less than one percent of submissions are accepted!

It is written in a funny, friendly, kind of way, albeit with some sharp edges of honesty, as she encourages writers to strive for excellence and avoid the rejection pile. Ms. Morrell is an editor and has read many manuscripts that gave her insights into what to avoid if you hope to get an agent or publisher to notice your work. You want the editor to tell the marketing department that your manuscript is a winner? This book is full of tips to make it happen.

Are you familiar with the 3 Act Structure, plotpoints, backstory, subplots, the ideal length of sentences and paragraphs? Who knew we should find powerful verbs and minimize adverbs? This book begs us to pay attention to our genres, character motivation, prologue and scene development and see this as a worthwile learning process. Ms. Morrell suggests we keep our research ideas in one place, preferably a binder, start a list of words that intrigue us and use the Chicago Manual of Style for reference.

Jessica Morrell says writers should be open to good critique as writing is a craft. She suggests an agent wants to represent someone who is sane so if you have some mental health issues, get help now. If you are writing that first draft quickly, as she recommends, please keep eating, sleeping, and socializing while minimizing substance use as healthy people tend to be the most successful writers. I heartily recommend this book!