Sean Kilpatrick
Canada's new immigration guide traces a national portrait that may be unfamiliar to many Canadians, one that draws heavily on historic symbols long exiled from the national consciousness.
The monarchy and the military, dominant themes through the middle of the 20th century, are given much greater prominence in this new document.
The land, the environment and health care, mainstays of Canada's self image through the past two decades, are largely ignored.
Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney unveiled the guide in Ottawa Thursday.
It will be given to the 250,000 new immigrants who apply to become Canadian every year to help them prepare for their citizenship exams.
The minister said the document is a major improvement on the previous version, a 47-page booklet last updated under the Liberals in 1995.
"I think this is responding to a growing public demand for a deeper sense of citizenship," he said.
"It's hopefully a useful resource for all Canadians, particularly young Canadians, to better know their country. I'm frankly more concerned about historical amnesia and civic illiteracy amongst native-born young Canadians than I am about immigrants who become Canadians."
Historian Margaret Conrad said the new guide "represents a new kind of Canada, one that is less sympathetic with my personal sense of a progressive, forward-looking nation, but the new slant is no doubt in keeping with the sentiments of the current administration in Ottawa."
She said she was surprised that the environment, given two pages in the previous guide, disappeared in the new document. The emphasis on the Queen and the Canadian Forces also struck her as unusual.
"It's kind of like a throwback to the 1950s," she said. "It's a tough, manly country with military and sports heroes that are all men.
"It's a tougher Canada than the one the Liberals depicted."
In its photos and illustrations, the new guide paints a picture of a multicultural country, but it offers very little discussion of the accomplishments of Canadian women, Prof. Conrad said. None of the great Canadian thinkers highlighted is a woman, and the only female athlete mentioned is Paralympic medal winner Chantal Petitclerc.
The language in the document is also much more centred on the responsibilities of citizenship, which Mr. Kenney highlighted Thursday.
"When you become a citizen, you're not just getting a travel document into Hotel Canada. You are inheriting a set of responsibilities, of obligations as a citizen," he said.
Many historians praised the new guide for tackling the difficult chapters of Canadian history. The Indian residential schools, the internment of immigrants during two world wars and the growth of Quebec separatism are all dealt with in forthright language.
The document was written by the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration with input from a blue-ribbon panel of experts, including John Ralston Saul, Adrienne Clarkson and historians Jack Granatstein, Margaret MacMillan and Desmond Morton. The group never met, but were asked for comments on drafts over e-mail.
Xavier Gélinas, one of the historians consulted by the ministry on this project, said it is a faithful, accurate reflection of the country's past.
"I view it not as a public-relations guide or travel brochure," he said. "It's a gesture of trust toward the newcomers."
Mr. Kenney explained that a section on gender equality states bluntly that "barbaric" practices, such as spousal abuse, honour killings and female genital mutilation, are not welcome in Canada.
"Multiculturalism doesn't mean anything goes," he said. "Multiculturalism means that we celebrate what's best about our backgrounds, but we do so on the basis of common Canadian values and respect for our laws."
Liberal MP Maurizio Bevilacqua said that while he would have liked to see more discussion of the contribution of immigrants in Canada, the guide does what it should.
"I think it will serve new Canadians well," he said.
NDP MP Olivia Chow said the report should have recognized the importance of Canada's natural environment and shared social programs.
The Bloc Québécois was strongly opposed. Bloc MP Thierry St-Cyr said it goes against the Conservative government's 2006 vote in favour of a motion recognizing the Quebecois as a nation. "It marginalizes the notion of two founding peoples," he said. "It presents Quebec as a province like the others, not as a nation."
The Bloc MP also took issue with the repeated references to the Queen. "That doesn't resonate among Quebeckers. Quebeckers don't have any attachment to the Queen, why should new immigrants?"
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