Multiculturalism and the History of Canadian Diversity

R. Douglas Francis is a professor of history at the University of
Calgary and co-author of Destinies: Canadian History Since
Confederation.

In this book, Richard Day argues that the current state policy of
multiculturalism is not the final stage in the evolution of Canada from
divisive diversity to multicultural unity, but rather “the most recent
mode of reproduction and proliferation” of the problem of diversity.
“Far from achieving its goal, this state-sponsored attempt [of
multiculturalism] to design a unified nation has paradoxically led to an
increase in both the number of minority identities and in the amount of
effort required to ‘manage’ them.” It has failed, he argues,
because the philosophy behind state-sponsored multiculturalism is
contradictory: it wants to achieve a uniform and united Canada nation
while recognizing within that unity a diversity that can be accepted and
recognized only if it adheres to the ideal of unification and common
identity.

Day’s solution is not to abandon the dream of multiculturalism, but
to accept and embrace it in its full, logical, and extreme form, by
truly accepting the tenets of diversity and abandoning the underlying
(hidden) dream of unity within that diversity. As he concludes: “In
affirming difference as such, recognizing the impossibility of identity,
and accepting the necessity of an ongoing negotiation of all universal
horizons, Canada could start to move from multiculturalism as deep
diversity—as ‘more well-managed difference’ within an
authoritarian and hierarchical capitalist state form—to
multiculturalism as radial imaginary, as difference,
de-territorialization, more-than-life.”

While Day has noted some inherent flaws—or at least possible
contradictions—in the Canadian mantra of multiculturalism, he presents
his argument in prose so dense and turgid that the validity of his
argument is too often lost. This book is not meant for the general
reader who wants some basic understanding of the issue of Canadian
multiculturalism; it is a tome for philosophers, sociologists, and
anthropologists who are accustomed to the jargon that infuses it.