The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1963, Side 12

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
SUMMER 1963
10
EDITORIAL
MULTICULTURALISM
We appear to be living in an age that is very much concerned with a rather
nebulous thing called “culture”. As Canada’s centennial approaches we are like-
ly to be made increasingly aware of it. Ours is a nation with two official lan-
guages and, we assume, two official cultures. Of late, we have been experiencing
some difficulty in developing these two cultures in complete harmony with one
another. In fact, in one province of this Dominion there is an active and growing
movement known as “separatism”, whose avowed purpose it is to split the nation
in two so that that part of it which is predominently French-speaking may de-
velop in complete independence. This has now become a matter of such concern
that, in its Speech from the Throne at the opening of the Twenty-Sixth Parli-
ament, the Government of Canada announced its intention to establish a com-
mission “to inquire into and report upon the existing state of bilingualism and
biculturalism in Canada” and make recommendations.
Actually, Canada has for the past half century or more been more than just
a bi-cultural society. Despite the preponderance of Anglo-Saxon institutions, ours
might with some justification be described as a multicultural nation. Whether
this condition will alter considerably as the years go by, whether the cultural
traditions which our various national groups brought with them from Europe
will gradually melt together into a kind of Anglo-Canadianism; or, what is much
more likely, into a kind of Amero-Canadianism, remains to be seen. At any rate,
there is a growing body of opinion in Quebec Province which does not wish to
become involved in such a trend. Surely we will be richer for it if we are able to
retain some of our multicultural character in the face of this trend toward a
dead-level mono-culture.
Not long ago the Icelandic Canadian Club held an Arts and Crafts Fair in
Winnipeg at which various ethnic groups in the city were invited to display dis-
tinctive native handicraft of all description. It proved to be outstandingly suc-
cessful. Not only did it attract a large crowd, but everyone who attended was
most enthusiastic in praise of the whole effort. In its own small way, this handi-
crafts exhibition demonstrated the way in which various ethnic groups can be