Finding Our Way: Rethinking Ethnocultural Relations in Canada

...something of a page-turner, increasingly revealing a real drama under the unruffled surface of its moderation and objectivity... a source of endless good argument...

Sam Ajzenstat, Books in Canada

Many people today believe that ethnocultural politics in Canada are spiralling out of control, with ever more groups in society making ever greater demands. Finding Our Way offers a more balanced view. Will Kymlicka argues that the difficulties involved in accommodating ethnocultural diversity are not insurmountable, and that Canadians have an impressive range of experience and resources on which to draw in addressing them. A crucial part of his argument is the distinction between the ethnic groups formed by immigration and the 'nations within' constituted by the Québécois and Aboriginal peoples, whose existence pre-dates that of the Canadian state. With respect to immigrant groups, he maintains that the 'multicultural' model of integration adopted by the federal government in 1971 has worked much better that is commonly thought, and can be adapted to new circumstances. The challenges of accommodating the self-government demands of national minorities are admittedly greater. Yet here too Kymlicka argues that we have lost confidence in our ability to work out fair and mutually beneficial solutions to ethnocultural conflicts, Finding Our Way makes an invaluable contribution to two critical national debates.

Kymlicka's defense of multiculturalism is infinitely superior to any public defence of the policy by governments in more than a quarter of a century...

Alan Cairns in Canadian Journal of Political Science

Table of Contents

• Part One. The Merits of Multiculturalism

  1. Setting the Record Straight
  2. Putting Multiculturalism into Perspective
  3. Renegotiating the Terms of Integration
  4. The Limits of Tolerance
  5. A Crossroads in Race Relations
  6. Can Multiculturalism Be Extended to Non-Ethnic Groups?
  7. Towards a More Representative Democracy
  8. A Truce in the Multiculturalism Wars?

• Part Two: The Unhappy Marriage of Federalism and Nationalism

  9. Taking Nationalism Seriously
  10. Two Models of Federalism in Canada
  11. Papering Over the Differences
  12. Rethinking English Canada
  13. The Bonds of Social Unity Conclusion