Muslims And Multiculturalism: Lessons From Canada

This response was a case of spectacular over-reaction. I had assumed that my Canadian questioner wanted to pursue a line of argument that says that people (read Muslims) who live in large communities are less integrated than those who do not. This is something that we hear in Europe all the time. Yet this is not at all what he meant. All he wanted to ask were my thoughts on the state of the British debate. My opinions on where people should live, he responded in a matter-of-fact-way, were the same as his own. Ehsan Masood wishes to thank all those who gave up time to welcome and/or speak to him during his visit to Canada. In particular: Martin Rose of the British Council in Canada for stellar organisation; Carleton University School of Journalism; Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada; the Islamic Foundation of Toronto; the Ottawa Muslim Association; Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada; Michael Adams of Environics; Raseema Alam; Nazim Baksh of the CBC; Anver Emon of the University of Toronto; Robin Higham of the University of Ottawa; Rahim Jaffer MP; Thomas Homer-Dixon of the University of Toronto; Tahir Jamal; Sheema Khan of the Globe and Mail newspaper; Irshad Manji; Haroon Siddiqui of the Toronto Star; Salma Siddiqui of the Cross-Cultural Roundtable on Security. For many of us in Europe, Canada is seen (even envied) as a society that is more at ease with its increasing diversity. To be Canadian is to be a friend, a spouse, partner, colleague, or a neighbour with someone who is from a different background to your own, in an unthreatening atmosphere. There is little appetite to change the way anyone thinks or behaves. This is normal, as is being all of the above with someone who shares exactly the same history as your own. For the academic and business worlds, diversity is a source of talent and of innovative ideas. For politicians, what matters is not whether you speak French, English, Chinese or Arabic at home, but a desire to be a good citizen. The emergence of al-Qaida in the developed world and the discovery of low but consistent levels of support among Muslims for its particular brand of violent extremism is redefining two key aspects of the modern developed society: citizenship, and access to justice. Many of Europe's governments - especially those that have experienced acts of terror - believe that the terms governing them need to be tightened in order to defeat terrorism and hence preserve the freedoms that we currently enjoy. http://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/ViewPopUpArticle.jsp?id=6&articleId=4414 [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on March 12, 2007]

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