Social Integration and Future of Canada

I would like to emphasize the need for cultural integration of the immigrants with the proactive initiatives from the local community. As immigrants increase, next 50 years will see an in creasing difference of opinions in Canada. To create hormony, community should take up social integration agressively by involving and educating the youth about the need for accomadating the immigrants. When the immigrants actively involve in local initiatives the become part of the nation and start to share the concerns. Social differences will eventually dissolve owing to mutual respect and knwoledge about each others culture.

Easier said than done. My understanding is that at present, cultural sensitivity is veryless. Open mindedness to different languages and traditionas will have to be highly emphasized before it becomes an important tool in social integration. For instance, wearing ethnic dress is seen as opposing local values. (An old Canadian lady toldt me "You are fine, you wear nice trousures.... but...why is that those people have long strange clothes...when in Canada the have to dress as Canadians do"). Speaking a different language is sometimes seen as being insensitive to local sentiments. Not that they do not have anything legitamate in their arguments, they lack a sense of openness. Being used to diversity is probably one of the gretest chalenges to soceity.

It appears that some universities such as in Regina are doing some research related to social integration. However the impact of social segragation has not been a topic of importance so far. Thinking in tha direction, if we concider the case of India where several socities exist with a huge cultural diversity, we can see that communal disturbances are an impact of alianation.

Canada needs serious political and social initiatives to stop communal disturbances from flaring up due to alianation. As immigrants from differents parts of the world arrive, there is a chnace that they will form small groups of segregated communities. It is natural for such communities to develop a feeling of insecurity when they start to think they are a minority. That may bring canada to a situation where India is today: full of communities which do not entertain marriages into communities other than their own and continue to maintain segragation in the name of diversity. To prevent precisely this, that I feel that extra efforts should be made by local community to bring all the communities together.

I am not in denail that there is reluctance from the immigrants to integrate into the Canadian soceity. This, I think is common with most of the immigrants irrespective of the place they immigrate to. Being repulsive and rationalizing our acts, come naturally to us. But moving away from such dangerous instincts by not only accepting the diversity but also by appriciating it will aid efforts to build more hormonious Canadian soceity.

~rAGU