Minorities and the Canadian State

Raj S. Gandhi is a professor of sociology at the University of Calgary.

The 16 essays in this book analyze problems of the status and condition of minorities in Canada as they are generated by the relationship between the Canadian state and these minorities. The new Charter of Rights protects minority rights, and the courts play an important role in constitutional process; hence, the themes of the essays are varied but significant.

A lengthy introduction by the editors, “Minorities in Canada: An Overview,” provides a major link binding all the essays, and the brief introductions provided at the beginning of each essay also supply building blocks for the materials presented. Similarly the book is significantly divided into Part I, “Minority Rights, Human Rights and the Charter” and Part II, “Minorities in Canadian Society: Problems, Prospects, Perspectives.” There are some 23 tables and six figures in various articles, making the volume important for sociologists, political scientists, and policy-makers.

The volume is a product of the conference held in May 1984 at Banff, Alberta. But, unlike some edited books in which papers are hastily put together, reflecting on the conference as well as the quality of its products, these published papers were subjected to critical analysis. And, despite the disagreement on the characterization of a minority group, the editors have been successful in producing a good collection of very readable and interesting papers.