The Conservative approach to multiculturalism is one based on transactions aimed at buying votes rather than an actual engagement with the issues that mean the most to Canada’s diverse communities, Liberal MPs Justin Trudeau and Rob Oliphant charged today.
“Minister Kenney treats ethnic communities as a means to an end, a way to get the votes he wants for a Conservative majority in the next election,” said Liberal Multiculturalism Critic Rob Oliphant.
“Does that work? For a time, perhaps. But communities as groups, and ‘ethnic’ Canadians as individuals, certainly are more intelligent and sophisticated than that. They know when they’re being used through one-time spending: money for mementos, monuments and memorabilia. And they know when they are being treated as ‘very ethnic’ for a purpose.”
“While it takes more work and a long-term approach, I’ve found we all see ourselves as Canadians first, and want to be treated as such. No Canadian community should be a chess piece on a board game played for electoral gain.”
Mr. Oliphant and Liberal Citizenship and Immigration Critic Justin Trudeau took part in a wide-ranging discussion with multicultural media outlets to address the recent scandal centred on the misuse of Minister Kenney’s parliamentary budget. One of his staffers had sent out a plea for Conservative party funds on the MP’s letterhead in order to support an outreach strategy that targeted ‘very ethnic’ ridings across the country.
“The real challenge, and the real vision behind the concept of multiculturalism that Liberals under my father’s leadership introduced, addresses a bigger question than ‘what can you do for me?’” Mr. Trudeau said.
“It is about building bridges to the bigger community we all want to be a part of so each of us can live up to our full potential in Canadian society. That’s about economic opportunity, about education and training, about the full range of issues that affect our lives not just as newcomers but as full participants in Canadian society over generations.”
