Canada is a nation of immigrants and increasingly those coming to our country are more and more diverse. With this diversity comes a greater risk of conflict between cultural norms, but this conflict is only a given if people are inflexible and intolerant. New immigrants must understand that when moving to a new country the must give some things up; they must be willing to integrate into the society. But at the same time those of us who are already here, especially those of us whose have deep roots in this country must accept that new immigrants will not necessarily look, dress or act like them.
In the recent debate surrounding the expulsion of a niqab-wearing woman from a French class, a few factors were often overlooked: first, she refused to face the room when she made class presentations, because she did not want to look at the two men in the class; also, she made the instructor, who had the class sit in a u-shape, rearrange the seating plan again so that she would not have to look at men. Should one person, based on their cultural traditions, be able to prevent a teacher from teaching in the way that she feels is most effective? Force other people to change seats because she does not want to look at them? Would we tolerate this conduct in any context other than "cultural sensitivity?"
The niqab is admittedly a difficult issue. Many feminists and moderate Muslims have denounced the garment, which renders women anonymous, as fundamentally oppressive. But living in a multi-cultural, secular, society means a give and take situation for everyone.
But, rather than making legitimate claims in this case, the government of Jean Charest succumbed to the pressures of the opposition in claiming that this woman's niqab infringes upon Quebec culture. The issue should be her demands which impeded the curriculum and the learning environment of the language course, not the fact she chooses to wear a garment that covers her face. It is a false argument to claim, in a reactionary fashion, that the local culture is threatened when immigrants present outward displays of their religious or cultural beliefs.
Just to humour the notion of Quebec culture under threat by this woman: will the Quebec youth enrolled in hundreds of educational institutions in the province suddenly forget how to speak French? Will people start watching American television programming and nothing else? Will people start hating maple syrup? All this because an Egyptian woman wants to preserve her choice to wear her piece of fabric over her mouth? To say so would be to assert that any or all aspects of one culture is mutually-exclusive with those of another.
This has become a classic case of ethnocentrism on the part of those who constantly come to the rescue of Quebec culture. It's not really about the principle of preserving any culture in this province that is under threat of extinction as much as looking after the interests of only their own.
Montreal is one of the most culturally-diverse cities in Canada, and that is reassuring because exposure and familiarity are two proven cures for tensions between people of different cultures. Just look at Concordia University itself: we have clubs representing dozens of countries on campus, a "multi-faith" chaplaincy and if you happen to be on the seventh floor on Friday evenings, the chorus of Muslims students praying together.
Unfortunately, all the joys of experiencing the richness of cultures other than your own are lost when dogma rears its head and becomes the elephant in the room. As of late, Quebec's image is suffering greatly because of this controversy. It all started with a Muslim woman in a classroom, and then became an issue on the floor of the National Assembly. The woman and the Quebec government are both forgetting something important: tolerance goes both ways.
4 comments
Yes when you are in Rome, you do like the Romans do: this means you respect their laws, you respect the majority society, you respect it's culture, your respect it's heritage, you respect the history of the society, you respect the evolution ot the society, you respect their way of life and you do not imposed your rules or your way of life.
So elementary to understand.