A Realistic Look At Multiculturalism

+Not the sham perpetuated by the Liberals over the last four decades in order to garner votes.......

Antiquated notions' can take us only so far TheStar.com - columnists - `Antiquated notions' can take us only so far
April 19, 2007
Christopher Hume

Toronto likes to think of itself as the most multicultural city in the world. But is that an idea whose time has passed?

Among those who think so is published poet and executive director of the Italian Chamber of Commerce, Corrado Paina.

Born in Milan, resident in Toronto, Paina argues that this city must get beyond antiquated notions that are little more than truisms.

"Even ancient Egypt was multicultural," he argues. "Today in the western world, there are no cities that aren't multicultural. Immigration has always taken place. Multiculturalism is a concept that isn't serving people any more."

Multiculturalism, as Paina understands the term, means an approach that paradoxically encourages people to maintain an identity and a tradition but also to integrate.

"It's pure paternalism," he says of Toronto-style multiculturalism. "It's about cultural festivals, food and folkloric music. Toronto today isn't the Toronto of the 1950s. For example, Little Italy is no longer Italian. Only a small percentage of the people there these days are Italian.

"The real challenge is to allow everyone to participate. We should brand the city not as multicultural, but as a city of the future, a city of syncretism, what you could call metacultural."

As Paina sees it, in a top-down political system such as ours, the dialogue happens between individual cultures and those in control. But given the unprecedented diversity of Toronto, he says, there is no one – short of a superman – who can speak for the whole community.

"As a chamber," he explains, "we need to speak to other chambers. Italians need to speak to Chinese and Indians to share their experience.

"We have an immigration policy that's better than other countries, but the ideal of multiculturalism is dated. It has served its purpose and now it's obsolete. It doesn't emancipate people. We know we have ghettos in Toronto, that there are neighbourhoods at risk."

In the end, he insists, multiculturalism emphasizes differences; a more syncretic approach would highlight areas of commonality.

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