Eve Haque - The impossibility of multiculturalism?

Summary

            In the conclusion of her book, Haque examines the role that language now plays as an exclusionary factor in a multicultural society. She claims that as race and ethnicity can no longer be articulations of exclusion, language has become an acceptable proxy. Haque’s chapter explains how a racial hierarchy “is embedded by way of contradiction in the use of culture through the proxy of language, thus foreclosing its openness even as racial differentiation is disavowed and the possibility of language as a universal community is declared” (Haque, 2012, p. 238). Canada’s multiculturalism policy was designed to create this “universal community”, but by being bound within a bilingual framework, has a very clear cultural hierarchy.

            Haque then goes on to explain the process by which the Bilingualism and Biculturalism Commission, through its policies and frameworks, created a profound crisis between the English/Anglo and French/Franco groups and simultaneously omitted the voices of every other ethnocultural group in Canada, even consciously excluding the Indigenous ones. The B and B Commission, set up in the early 1960s under the Pearson government acknowledges cultural diversity, but not language diversity. In this way, a different but equally strong racial hierarchy is set up. Porter (1969) comments on this “new mythology of culture in Canada, setting out a story of belonging that could be couched in linguistic and cultural terms while the effects were organized along racial and ethnic lines” (Porter, as cited in Haque, 2012, p. 240). In this way, the racial and ethnic hierarchy is set up consciously, becoming a naturalized part of the multiculturalism framework.

            Haque does advise that “the ability of language to construct a putatively open community should not be underestimated” (p. 243). Canada’s bilingualism policies are more limiting than accommodating of most of the country’s ethnocultural communities. To this effect, she criticizes Kymlicka’s (1995) argument that ethnic minorities who chose to leave their homelands and come to Canada, have to forfeit their native language rights and adapt to the dominant culture and language of their new country. She writes that Kymlicka’s argument “preserves the rationales for the hierarchy of rights that emerged through the B and B Commission” (Haque, 2012, p. 246).

            Haque concludes her chapter by stating that Jacques Derrida’s (2000) idea of “conditional hospitality” is currently in place in Canadian society and in order to become a place that shows “unconditional hospitality” we need to reimagine our concept of “nation” and “community” (p. 251).

Comments

            As a multicultural country within a bilingual framework, so much can be said for the agendas and priorities of the original B and B Commission. While Haque does address many of the concerns and repercussions of this duality, her chapter needs more commentary on how this would affect minority rights and lifestyles in Canada. She also does not really dwell on how this affects Canada’s Indigenous communities. The chapter is a kind of broad commentary on how through its narrow language framework, Canada’s multiculturalism policy is limiting in its inclusivity.  While I admire how strongly she criticizes those who force the bilingual framework onto all Canadian citizens (especially the Indigenous and immigrant communities), I would like to read what Haque has to add to how this limitation can be remedied and how Canada’s linguistic models could be modified to become more inclusive. She acknowledges that we are now left with the task to “promote national unity in a multicultural milieu without establishing a hierarchical relation of rights” (Haque, 2012, p. 249). The “normalization of this racial othering” as Kymlicka (1995) called it, is deeply concerning, especially to those of us who are considered part of the “Other” groups – racial minorities whose first language is neither English nor French.

Reference:

Haque, E. (2012). Conclusion: The impossibility of multiculturalism.    Multiculturalism within a bilingual framework. Toronto: Toronto University             Press.