Inside the Mosaic.

Andrew, Caroline

Inside the Mosaic

Edited by ERIC FONG. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 2006. Pp. vii, 260.

Eric Fong has brought together a group of studies about the immigrant experience in Toronto. The title refers, of course, to John Porter's The Vertical Mosaic and to Eric Fong's intention to underline the importance of ethno-racial differences for understanding social inequality in Canada.

There are two chapters that I found particularly insightful on the factors that we need to grasp in order to understand better the immigrant experience in Toronto: Jeffery Reitz and Janet Lum's on the impact of the education system, and William Michelson's on the impact of Metro Toronto. Reitz and Lum ask the question about the positive characterization of immigrant integration in Toronto--is it true? And more importantly, is it going to remain true? It is this last question that is the chief policy question for all levels of government--and, indeed, my chief focus in examining this collection.

Reitz and Lum frame their argument by articulating two sets of factors; the opportunity for successful participation in the important institutions of the host society and, secondly, the evolving nature of these institutions. They then pick up on this second factor and argue that the huge expansion of the educational system has in fact been one of the negative factors for the successful integration of the immigrant population. Or, as the authors state, "If immigrant employment success in the past was due to lower levels of education of the native-born, the recent rapid expansion of education in Canada Will likely create greater obstacles for immigrants to Canada over time" (p. 33).

This is a very useful perspective, and an important complement to studies looking uniquely at the educational qualifications of recent immigrants. The authors' point that one has to understand the evolution of the institutions of the host society is both politically and methodologically important. It is, of course, important to do research that focuses on the immigrant experience, but it is also true that, in doing this, we may be suggesting that change and improvement will come from readjustments in the behaviours of the immigrant population. Looking at both, as Reitz and Lum do, may be the best way of making sure that we are neither suggesting that change must come from the immigrant population nor that it cannot.

William Michelson's chapter also focuses on the impact of institutions of the host society; in his case the existence of Metropolitan Toronto. He argues that municipal boundaries have counted and that the existence of Metropolitan Toronto led to better public transportation, better infrastructure, both physical and social, and denser forms of development in suburban Toronto which in turn facilitated the suburbanization of the immigrant population. Because the structure of Metro Toronto facilitated the redistribution of revenues on a regional basis, better facilities could be built in poorer neighbourhoods than what would be possible in a fragmented municipal system. This is not to say, of course, that Metro Toronto was explicitly working with a diversity lens, but that the way the institution worked had advantages for social equity goals and that these were to the benefit of the immigrant population.

I found these two chapters to be particularly useful because they focused on institutional factors that influenced the immigrant experience in Canada. In the one case, the evolution of the educational system had a negative impact whereas, in the other, the existence of Metro Toronto had a positive impact. However, in both cases, we can talk more about unintended consequences and therefore about the fact that the issue of diversity was not really integrated into recommendations for public policy. We can learn from this that an explicit and self-conscious inclusion of ethno-cultural diversity is important.

However, this is not really the framework used by Eric Fong in editing this collection of studies. His introduction describes the focus of the book; it is about the relationship between immigration and social structures and processes. However, I did not find the introduction sufficiently clear on what exactly is meant by urban structures and processes nor how the authors are proposing that we should look at these. There would appear to be a wide variation in the book, and indeed the final answer would seem to be that the organizing principle of the book is to bring together studies that look at a variety of aspects of the immigration experience and relate it to different aspects of urban life.

This is not to say that there is not a lot to be learned from the different studies in this book. To give only one example, the article on the environment describes the debate around those authors who are against immigration because it is bad for the environment. The article finishes in a sort of middle position; "Thus we cannot entirely dismiss the arguments put forth by those who tie immigration to environmental degradation" (p. 112). I found the debate fascinating although, I must say, I was somewhat distressed by the conclusion.

Overall, Eric Fong has succeeded in illustrating the rich variety of ways that one can usefully look at the immigrant experience in Toronto. The collection is perhaps less successful in framing a clear perspective on how to combine being inside the mosaic with trying to reshape the mosaic.

Caroline Andrew is professor of political science and a member of the Centre on Governance at the University of Ottawa.