The recently published government guide for new citizens is, by and large, a well thought out document - it should even be distributed to high-school students, who know so little of Canada's history. Yet there are several flaws that should be corrected when the guide is reissued.
One is the use of the adjective "barbaric" to describe cultural practices that are unacceptable in Canada. Such an emotional and judgmental word can appear in a newspaper column, but does not belong in an official document that is, as it should be, generally characterized by a neutral tone and a commendable search for objectivity. It would have been sufficient to state that cultural practices such as honour killings and female genital mutilations are considered crimes in Canada. Also, why include spousal violence among cultural practices, as if this never happened in old-stock Canadian and aboriginal households?
In the same paragraph, the guide mentions that "Canada's openness and generosity do not extend" to these practices. This remark is irrelevant. If Canada forbids said cultural practices, it is not because there are limits to openness and generosity, but because they go against the basic values of a liberal democracy.
There certainly is an obvious electoral motive here. The condemnation of the most repulsive gender-based cultural practices was widely acclaimed in Quebec, where anxious debates over such issues are still going on. But because something is politically useful doesn't mean it's bad. Canada has every right to repress behaviours that are incompatible with its laws and values - and the guide correctly emphasizes that if Canadian citizenship comes with rights, it also comes with duties and responsibilities.
Another good point is the guide's historical accuracy - a sharp contrast with the guide published in 1995 under the Chrétien government, which evoked a rather utopian country. For instance, this guide devotes much more space to the Canadian role in the First and Second World Wars than to Lester Pearson's peacekeeping missions. Indeed, Canada has been deeply shaped by the two world wars, and if Canadians remember Vimy, Dieppe and even Korea, how many families talk about Cyprus? (Cyprus, in case one has forgotten, was the longest mission of the blue helmets.)
All references to Quebec and the history of the French Canadians are impeccable. And this guide mentions, in a short albeit perfectly objective paragraph, the sovereigntist movement and the two referendums - something the previous guide basely buried as if these events had been shameful episodes.
For a francophone, though, the relentless emphasis on the British monarchy is somewhat eerie. In a mean gesture of crude partisanship, the photo of the Queen signing the 1982 Constitution has been cropped to cut out Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau, who was at her side and co-signed the document.
There are larger flaws and they all betray the Conservative Party's populist biases and prejudices. On more than 200 illustrations, only two depict a city, as if most Canadians lived in rural (Conservative!) areas. And the (very short) chapter on the arts and culture is a shame.
There's as much space devoted to Terry Fox's odyssey as to scientific research, and the word "university" doesn't appear once. There is more space devoted to sports than to the arts. Canada's major painters are mentioned; they're all deceased, which is fine because choosing among living artists is quite tricky. But then, the guide mentions three contemporary filmmakers, ignoring Norman McLaren, who was Canada's most innovative filmmaker. And it's as if there were no books in Canada. Not one writer is mentioned.
The wise thing to do would have been to pay homage to the deceased authors and artists who are recognized Canada-wide as being in the pantheon.
Lysiane Gagnon