The socio-cultural fabric of the nation. Canada is multicultural. A cultural mosaic not the
American melting pot. A colorful society with many ethnic flavors. But a mosaic usually represents
an image. What is the image produced by the Canadian multicultural mosaic?
Have a closer look at this image. It tries to capture some of the outlines of the nation.
Wait, no, that's Canada falling apart. Here is the right image.
Crowding in from the right and the left. The United Kingdom and the United States.
The UK. The dominant power of the past. The US. The superpower next door.
Whom we share the English language. At the center of the image, Canadian Canadians.
Canadians without race or ethnicity. All others are multicultural Canadians.
These include the old multicultural Canadians. The Aboriginal population, the first nations.
And the French Canadians. The nation of Quebec represented by the two flags at the bottom.
The others are the new multicultural Canadians.
People of other ethnicities and races. Who make up the bulk of today's new Canadians.
Note in the collage at the top, even their faces are multicultural.
Who are the Canadian Canadians?
Ascendants of English, Scottish and Irish settlers. And of other European immigrants.
White with English as their mother tongue.
Canadian Canadians like their multicultural. They try to be nice to them.
And help them to become Canadian Canadians. Which is not easy for anyone.
Both groups of old multicultural Canadians don't really want to become Canadian Canadians.
They have their own traditions and languages. Which has always made things difficult for the
Canadian nation. The new multicultural Canadians. The 20% of Canadians not born in the country
usually want to become Canadian Canadians. They try hard to learn the language and to behave
like Canadian Canadians. The second generation usually succeeds. Except they still look multicultural.
And have multicultural lost names. Which makes it hard for Canadian Canadians to tell them apart
from their parents. But that's okay. Because it adds color and flavor to Canadian Canadian society.
It's not okay if they complain and make demands for special treatment.
Which is also true for the old multicultural Canadians.
They don't really understand how the society works. Which is too bad.
