Lögberg-Heimskringla - 09.02.1990, Page 4

4 • Lögberg - Heimskringla • Föstudagur 9. Febrúar 1990
Going it Alone
byTom Oleson
Will the Canadian govemment’s official
policy of multículturalism succeed where
the supposedly discredited and ahvays
unofficial policy of the melting pot failed?
That is, will the federal and provincial
govemments in Canada, under the name
of multículturalism, gradually discard vari-
ous cultural groups as they become more
established within Canadian society and
concentrate their attentíon - and their
money - on newer and more politícally
sexy ones?
A recent publication by Elections
Manitoba lends support to those who fear
that this is true. The pamphlet tells Mani-
tobans how and why they should vote in a
number of different languages, from Ara-
bic to Urdu. Icelandic is not among them,
even though Manitoba has the highest
concentratíon of Icelanders in the world
outside of Iceland and they have a long and
significant connectíon with this province.
Perhaps the feel in govemment is that we
have been here long enough thatwe should
all be good little Englishmen by now, and
if not, we don’t deserve to vote anyway.
As well as insulting Icelandic-Canadi-
ans by excluding their language, the
pamphlet insults various other groups by
butchering some of the languages that are
included. This is informatíon that should
be given out correctíy and an effort should
have been made to ensure that the various
languages were used properly, but accord-
ing to a multículturalism official, the pam-
phlet is riddled with serious errors. If
multículturalism matters, that sort of thing
shouldn’t happen. Or does it not matter
when it is just for as-yet unassimilated
ethnics?
Of all the so-called ethnic groups - that
is, those whoare neither native, nor French
nor English in origin - none has a longer
relatíonship with North America than the
Icelanders. The first white child bom in
North America was Snorri porfinnsson, in
Vfnland, somewhere on the east coast of
North America -perhaps Newfoundland -
around the year 1004. His father was the
Icelander porfinnur Karlsefiii, who was at-
temptíng to set up a permanent colony.
That failed because of violent conflict with
the aborigines, but the colonies in Green-
land thatthe Icelanders established lasted
for 400 years.
From their bases there, they explored
the eastem Arctíc, where they found much
of the wealth that would support the colo-
nies until contact with Europe was lost
In the 14th century, the Greenland
colonists vanished into the Arctíc, never
to be seen again. Five hundred years later
other groups of Icelanders arrived in North
America. Their presence has proved more
permanent. Indeed, given the fact that
sociologists - who, of course, cannot al-
ways be believed - say that the Scandina-
vians are the most easily assimilated of
ethnic groups in a white, Anglo-Saxon,
Protestant sodety, their presencehasbeen
surprisingly permanent and there are
today at least 60 Icelandic societíes in
North America.
In Canada the settlers suffered many
hardships, but they persevered to prove
that the sociologists are not far wrong.
They adapted easily to Canadian society
and blended in almost invisibly after a
while; many ofthem havegone on to some
distínctíon.
They have retained, perhaps to a sur-
prising degree, their sense of identity and
culture, as was evidenced by the fact that
an estimated 50,000 people attended the
lOOth anniversary of the Icelandic Festíval
in Manitoba last year. Is this a triumph of
multiculturalism, a tribute to the enduring
strength and richness of Canada’s much-
vaunted cultural mosaic? Or is it simply a
result of the circumstances in Westem
Canada when the Icelander s, the Mennon-
ites,theUkrainiansandotherethnicgroups
arrived here in large numbers in late 19th
and early 20th centuries?
One suspects that it is mostly due to the
latter. Multiculturalism is a relatively new
concept in Canada. The original idea was
that the ethnic immigrants would be as-
similated into the English majority, and it
was only in the 1960s, when bilingualism
became a major issue, that multicultural-
ism came into fashion. As an official feder al
govemment policy, it did not exist before
1971 - and even then it was widely re-
garded as simply a crude attempt to defuse
antíbilingual sentiments - and the prov-
inces did not pick up on it until even later.
By that time, if all had gone according
to plan, the ethnics were supposed to have
vanished as completely as the Greenland
colonists, absorbed by the majority and
remembered only by odd-sounding sur-
names. It is not surprising then, that many
members of Canada’s ethnic communitíes
are deeply suspicious of the sincerity and
even the intent of official multículturalism.
If the cultural mosaic is to mean any-
thing, it cannot simply mean that once a
year Canadians dust off their ethnic cos-
tumes, perform colorful dances and cook
up some pönnukökur, perogies or dim
sum, but that is all the politicians often
seem to think it is.
The Icelandic experience in Manitoba
is unique only in its details. Eveiy ethnic
group has similar memories, equal hard-
ships endured and triumphs accomplished.
That they did endure and triumph is largely
due to their own efforts, no matter what
govemment multicultural statements may
say now. The new groups of immigrants
arriving today can leam from their experi-
ences as they seek their own place in this
country. One lesson that would be wisely
leamed is that, while govemment benevo-
lence can be useful, it is a frail reed to lean
on if one’s cultural survival is at stake.
SENI0RS
TAKE N0TE!
Now is the time to renew your
Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS*)
Renewal application kits have
been mailed to everyone who
receives the Guaranteed
Income Supplement. If you
have already retumed your
completed application, it is
now being processed. If
approved, your payments will
continue in April.
If you have not retumed your
application, you should do so
today in order to avoid an
interruption in your payments.
When applying, please
remember to:
■ fill out your renewal
application completely;
■ include all the necessary
income information;
l+l Health and Welfare Santé et Blen-étre social
■ retum your renewal applica-
tion in the self-addressed
envelope by March 31,
1990.
If you did not receive your
renewal kit, or if you want
more information, contact
your nearest Income Security
Programs office. The
telephone number and address
are in the govemment listings
of the telephone book under
“Health and Welfare Canada,
Income Security Programs.”
Canada
Canada
*The Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) is
an income-tested, monthly benefit for Old Age
Security pensioners with limited income apart
from the Old Age Security pension.
Canada