Quebec is no more a racist society than other jurisdictions in the Western world, but it faces problems integrating immigrants which it will need to tackle immediately, says a report on the reasonable accommodation of the province's minorities.
The report by sociologist Gérard Bouchard and philosopher Charles Taylor says there is no chaos in Quebec but rather a serious problem of perception. The academics insist that both the francophone and immigrant communities must come together in a moral contract where both have a responsibility in ensuring social harmony.
What would you like to know about reasonable accommodation? Do you have questions about any of the issues raised during the commission's hearings? What is the situation like outside Quebec? Has the so-called clash of cultures impacted your life in any way?
Jacob Levy, Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory in McGill University's Political Science department and a member of the school's Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, joined us online Thursday to take your questions.
Your questions and Dr. Levy's replies appear at the bottom of this page.
Dr. Levy's areas of research include multiculturalism and nationalism, federalism, the rights of indigenous peoples, constitutional theory and jurisprudence, and 17th-19th century political thought.
He is the author of The Multiculturalism of Fear (Oxford University Press 2000) and numerous articles and chapters. He is currently writing a book on the historical and contemporary tension between rationalist and pluralist liberalisms.
After earning his political science degree at Brown University, Dr. Levy received his MA and PhD in politics from Princeton University, and a master of laws from the University of Chicago Law School.
He has been a National Science Foundation graduate fellow and a Fulbright Scholar at the University College, University of New South Wales, Australia, and has received fellowships from the Social Philosophy and Policy Center, the Earhart Foundation, and the Mellon Foundation New Directions program.
He is Secretary-Treasurer of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy, and Early Modern and Enlightenment Editor for the Sage Encyclopedia of Political Theory.
Editor's Note: globeandmail.com editors will read and allow or reject each question/comment. Comments/questions may be edited for length or clarity. We will not publish questions/comments that include personal attacks on participants in these discussions, that make false or unsubstantiated allegations, that purport to quote people or reports where the purported quote or fact cannot be easily verified, or questions/comments that include vulgar language or libellous statements.
Brodie Fenlon, globeandmail.com: Thank you for joining us Dr. Levy on this very interesting day in Quebec. The 300-page report has been public now for only a few hours, so I certainly don't expect you to know it inside and out. But based on what you've heard and read so far, do you have any first impressions to share?
Jacob Levy: I've read most of the 99-page executive summary and the recommendations. I think the report is a very impressive, thoughtful document, very careful and judicious but also brave. The commissioners haven't backed off from saying: there is no grave threat to Quebec identity brought on by immigration or by religious minorities, there is no crisis here, and the perceptions of a crisis are the actual problem.
That bravery, unfortunately, also means that I don't expect the report to accomplish very much. The commissioners were given an impossible combination of tasks, and there was no way for them to dissolve away the genuine disagreements in Quebec society about immigration, religion, and culture. It's an admirable work, but it's a work that's pretty far from the majority opinions among Quebec voters, and so I don't expect to see very much result from it.
Mark Thornton from Toronto writes: Quebec is usually thought of as less hospitable to the policy of multiculturalism than, say, Ontario. Is this the case? Does the Bouchard-Taylor report answer Quebeckers' doubts about multiculturalism? Does the report suggest that Quebec, because of its francophone identity in a sea of anglophones, requires special measures? If so, are their recommendations adequate? If not, are they right?
Jacob Levy: Identity questions in Quebec are more sensitive than in other provinces, for two separate reasons. One is the language question. The other is the Quiet Revolution, and ongoing tensions between secular and Catholic Quebeckers about the place of religion in the public sphere.
