Berkley Center

Canada’s diverse population has been described as a mosaic or salad more recently, where each individual person stands on his or her own. This description differs from the melting pot integration of everyone in the United States. The Canadian mosaic creates hyphenated Canadians with French-, English-, and Ukrainian-Canadians strongly represented. This diversity is apparent in religion with no one dominant pattern. Montreal’s Notre Dame Basilica was not even half full for Sunday Mass, with much of the congregation made up of tourists there primarily to admire the spectacular architecture. Across town, other churches enjoy strong attendance, especially neighborhood faith communities serving a particular group of people. Young Mormon missionaries actively travel the city to encourage new followers from among people who do not have a religion and those who have fallen away from their original religion.

These contrasting patterns are evident in recent demographic data published in Quebec. The birthrate has steadily declined, and the definition of family has changed from the traditional married couple to single parents with children and many unmarried couples without children. Recent immigrants to Canada are more likely to maintain a traditional family, while Canadians with deeper roots are more likely to take a divergent path. This makes it hard to define Canadian culture as newcomers are preserving Canadian traditions and old-timers are rapidly rejecting their traditional way of life.

Canadians, especially the Québécois, vigorously debate the policy of reasonable accommodation today. The debate centers around how individuals and groups should be allowed to practice religion while still complying with laws and more broadly fitting into the mainstream of society. The federal and provincial governments just finalized rules for how Muslim women wearing the burqa could present positive identification in order to vote. Other issues remain unresolved, like whether Sikh boys can carry ceremonial kirpan knives to school, whether gym windows showing women exercising should be covered, and whether the revered cabanes à sucre (sugar shacks) can continue to serve pork. Canada took countless steps to accommodate disenfranchised or under represented groups like First Nations members, French-Canadians, and immigrants following World War II. Much of this accommodation required increased funding and improved tolerance, without any significant change or sacrifice. However, the accommodation has finally reached a level where the integrity of a certain way of life feels threatened. Many Canadians, for instance, have made the trip to a rural sugar shack every winter to enjoy all sorts of maple syrup delicacies, so it is unfathomable to think that the tradition would no longer be allowed to include maple cured meats.

Like many other countries, Canada works to balance religious and other freedoms. Canada's secular society is similar to Europe, but it lacks the same rich religious heritage. Its shorter history is more similar to the United States, especially in a North American context, but now lacks the same religious influence in politics and public life. The issues in Canada are further complicated by a recognition of group rights and privileges in addition to the rights of each person. Since many rights have simply been legislated, instead of evolving from popular movements, issues of religion in society remain ongoing and unresolved.

It has been a pleasure studying in Canada. My education here has given me a better understanding of Canada and importantly, another perspective of the United States. I hope to return again soon and I would encourage other students to make the trip north!