Introduction: multiculturalism turns 40: reflections on the Canadian policy.

Wong, Lloyd ; Guo, Shibao

Almost fifty years ago, the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in Canada, also known as the Laurendeau-Dunton Commission, was established under Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson to investigate the relationship between the English and French in Canada. The Commission's tenure was from 1963 to 1969 and its most significant impact on Canada was the recommendation of the 1969 Official Languages Act. However, during the Commission's hearings across Canada, they heard from many non-British and non-French who refuted the notion that Canada was "bicultural" and who argued that Canada was more than just the two cultures of French and English. The Commission acknowledged this argument, investigated further, and this resulted in one of the six volumes of their final report, entitled The Cultural Contribution of the Other Ethnic Groups published in 1969 as Book IV. Shortly thereafter, in 1971, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau created Canada's multiculturalism policy, within a bilingual framework. This was a first in terms of corporate pluralism in the world. Subsequently, in 1988, Canada's first Multiculturalism Act was passed in parliament led by the Progressive Conservative Government and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

It has been four decades since the implementation of the Canadian policy on multiculturalism. Thus in late September/early October, 2011, in Ottawa, Canada, the Canadian Ethnic Studies Association along with the Association for Canadian Studies, held a joint conference entitled Multiculturalism Turns 40: Reflections on the Canadian Policy. This Conference offered a unique opportunity to exchange views and ideas in Canada's capital on the occasion of this important anniversary. The papers presented addressed not only the specific topic of Canada's multiculturalism policy, but also related topics regarding ethnicity, racialization and immigration. Thus there was a wide range of papers on matters such as the evolution of policy on multiculturalism, current debates over multiculturalism, the impact of multiculturalism on Canadian society, multiculturalism and ethnic identity, multiculturalism and immigrant integration, multiculturalism and official languages, multiculturalism and community formation, multiculturalism and social cohesion, the role of the media and multicultural policy, multiculturalism, equality and social justice, comparing the Canadian approach to other countries. These papers represented a variety of perspectives and academic disciplines.

The next two issues of Canadian Ethnic Studies provide just some of the excellent papers presented at this conference. The reader will find that both of these special issues have a breadth of articles that can be approximately categorized as: 1) historical; 2) theory and theorization; 3) social and public policy; and 4) case studies--multiculturalism on the ground. This first issue is unique in that it begins with the invited address by Maxwell Yalden, former Commissioner of Official Languages and former Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission. His talk addresses both the historical and policy dimensions of multiculturalism in Canada. Other historical articles in this issue include Sourayan Mookerjea's assessment of multiculturalism, racism, and post-war nationalism, and Leo Driedger's historical assessment, dating back to the 1970s, of research on multiculturalism in terms of the debates on vision and issues related to identity and rights. In terms of theory articles, Augie Fleras engages in cutting-edge theorization in his proposal of "multiversal" multiculturalism rather than "mosaic" multiculturalism, while Marie-Michele Sauvageau examines and contrasts the models of multiculturalism and interculturalism (Quebec) in terms of immigrant civic participation. Her piece is also related to multiculturalism as social policy. Other policy related articles include David McGrane's historical examination of the provincial multiculturalism policies of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where he argues that there has been a shift toward civic republicanism. The article by Johanne Jean-Pierre and Fernando Nunes relates more specifically to the direct influence of the 1971 federal multiculturalism policy on the City of Toronto's Board of Education in terms of community engagement. As such, this article is also very much a case study of multiculturalism on the ground. Another case study related to education is the article by Mahsa Bakhshaei and Marie McAndrew, who examine specifically South Asian students in Quebec French language schools in terms of school pathways and academic success. Other case studies include the work of Shibao Guo and Yan Guo who examine the complexities and paradoxes of the concept of ethnicity through an investigation of two Chinese ethnic organizations in Calgary and Edmonton concerning their role in responding to changing community needs in a multicultural society. Kalyani Thurairajah's article connects multiculturism to imagined transnationalism by examining the loyalties and negotiated identities of Tamil Canadians. Continuing with the theme of negotiated identities, Evangelia Tastsoglou and Sandy Petrinioti's article relates multiculturalism to the loyalties and lived experiences of second-generation Lebanese youth in Halifax. Cornelius Jaenen's article is a case study and historical account of Belgian immigrants' integration and "implantation" into Western Canada, covering almost one hundred years.

The final section of this issue is entitled Review Articles and Debates. This section is comprised of three short pieces that engage us in an animated debate about an award-winning book by Elke Winter, entitled Us, Them, and Others: Pluralism and National Identity in Diverse Societies (2011). Catherine Frost and Howard Ramos provide thoughtful comments about the book, arguing that it offers new insights in contemporary debates about issues of multiculturalism, ethnicity, and national identity. Both reviewers also offer insightful critiques about the book, particularly about the model of triangular relations. We appreciate that Elke Winter responded with her rebuttal.

Finally, as guest co-editors of this special issue, we would like to thank Cornelius Jaenen and Leo Driedger for their articles. As many readers know, both Cornelius and Leo played very important and instrumental roles in the nascent days of the Canadian Ethnic Studies Association. Since the Multiculturalism Turns 40 conference was organized with the Association of Canadian Studies, we would like to thank Jack Jedwab and James Ondrick for their tremendous help. We would like to also acknowledge and thank Amal Madibbo, who was a co-editor on this project earlier this year. Finally, both Lori Wilkinson, editor of CES and Claire Hutchinson, Assistant to the Editor, have helped tremendously with this special issue and we would like to thank them for their hard and dedicated work.