1. The Immigration Paradigm
Randall Hansen
University of Toronto

2. Immigration is the issue of our time
Each year we accept close to 1% of our population
Some 40% of them arrive in Toronto

3. Questions
1. Whether an overarching Canadian identity can (or should) be maintained.
2. About what can be demanded of new immigrants (and what they can expect from us).
3. About dual and multiple citizenship.

4. Three slippages 1. An overly lax conception of citizenship
2. A confusion surrounding ‘multiculturalism’ and what it requires in terms of religious and other forms of accommodation
3. A sort of democratic deficit, a diconnect between the way identity is being constructed & the way in which Canadians which to understand it.

5. How we are doing
Canadians hold positive attitudes towards immigration while demonstrating integrationist attitudes
Measures of discrimination, vulnerability, income inequality, and social cohesion indicate that all is not well, particularly among visible minorities of the second generation

6. Understanding Ethnic Diversity and Social Cohesion in Canada
Data show:
1. Patterns of race-based economic inequality
2. High and growing perception of discrimination
Social cohesion is measured by sense of belonging, trust, Canadian identity, citizenship, life satisfaction, volunteering, and having voted in the last federal election.
Levels of perceived discrimination and vulnerability as well as actual income inequality between ethnic groups by visible minority status are also reported.

7. Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Canada
Much of the current discussion is about Islam
Misguided, both on the left and the right:
1. Little evidence of any difficult with ‘Muslim’ economic incorporation.
2. No evidence of unusual levels of anti-Muslim prejudice, ‘Islamophobia’

8. Slippage I: Citizenship
Summer 2006: Lebanon evacuations
Framed in terms of dual citizenship: this is an error
Disconnect between naturalization and belonging
Declining levels of belonging overall

9. Slippage II: Multiculturalism & Accommodation: the reasonable accommodation road show
Two basic confusions
1. Multiculturalism and group rights
2. Common laws, differential effect, and discrimination

10. Slippage III: The Democratic deficit
Canadians are profoundly integrationist
Opposition to rhetoric is driven by an intellectual intellectual elite.

11. Softer measures Recent controversies and elite representation
Sharia Law
Public Funding of Religious Education in Ontario
Recent Controversies:
Note that a poll of Ontarians prior to the recent election indicated that 71% were opposed to the public funding of religious schools
Institutionalized means to recourse:
Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees recourse to discrimination on the basis of race, religion, and gender

12. Conclusion
Changes require a retooling, not a radical recasting of policy
They are fully consistent with high levels of integration
If we attend to these, we can confidently look forward to the next century of immigration

13. Policy suggestions
1. Raise the citizenship requirement from 3 to 5 years with a tighter link with citizenship
2. Reweight language requirements more heavily + consider language training and tests at the early post-arrival stage
3. Change little in multicultural policy, but place the accent more on a common framework uniting new and old Canadians, view immigrants not as culture-retainers but as new participants in a common political project embbeded in a secular public culture.