Multiculturalism: is it thriving or diving?

Multiculturalism is the peaceful and symbiotic co-existence of diverse cultures, where culture includes racial, religious, or cultural groups, manifested in customary behaviours, assumptions and values, patterns of thinking, and communicative styles.Canada is the only country in the entire world that prides itself on its multicultural fabric and its Charter of rights and freedoms. But how genuine are we in our interactions? How truly free are we to participate in society and in economy? Is it just about food and fanfare? How do we consciously engage those who are different?
Being raised Christian in India, the world’s largest pluralistic democracy, I learnt to question every difference and live and work harmoniously acknowledging them. I cherish the strong friendships across religious and linguistic barriers that I made as a child where we candidly joked about each other’s practices and joined them in their celebrations. The most important value was the unwavering trust we had built.
Census figures show that Canadais increasingly diverse, not the least in religion. We’ve also become more fragmented, less connected through our busy lives. As racism becomes increasingly visible through social media, we wring our hands and theorise about how we can build a more cohesive society.
As theories abound, an insightful one suggests it is only in pragmatic, local, “political friendships” that we can learn to live with and for each other in our new pluralistic world.These friendships are built when people come together to work for the good of their communities. They are often particularly effective when they involve people of different religions, as religious communities are some of the few remaining places that can mobilise and bring people together. The liberal obsession with progressive values and political correctness hampers this. The squeamish inability to partner with or even be seen with those you disagree with is seriously harming multicultural cohesion.
Whilst outwardly championing tolerance and diversity, some are in fact deeply judgemental and restrictive in who they are willing to work with. If you nurture the delusion that the “regressive” will go away and refuse to engage with them,you are responsible for the rifts thatpush them into the very silosyoudesire to free them from.
Anyone interested in rolling up their sleeves and helping tackle common concerns should be allowed a place at the table, even if you strongly disagree with them on a range of issues. As uncomfortable as it may seem, it will require us to get better at dealing with difference.The thumb rule is that no one imposes their views on another and everyone is free to practise their faith and share their culture.

Respect for all doesn’t translate into being colour blind but acknowledging the beauty of difference and making sure the messaging is inclusive. We need to banish the superficiality of political correctness and engage everyone in honest, active ‘political friendships’ with those different from themselves supporting each other to build the society that our children will cherish. That is how we can continue to make Canadian multiculturalism thrive. Let’s start by saying, “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays”!