Canada: Nation of Minorities?

July 24, 2024

Over the week of June 24th through July 1 Quebecers mark the fete nationale and the following week is Canada day which for several decades has been the object of much less uptake in what was once described as la belle province. Neither the fete nationale nor Canada day give rise to meaningful reflection about our identities but rather serve as a widely appreciated break before summer. Identity debates nonetheless persist in Canada and without oversimplifying things, in Quebec, the existential question continues to pit those influencers who believe that we needn’t choose between our Quebec and Canadian identities and those who feel that a choice must be made between these two inevitably conflicting identities. Canada has been described as a nation of minorities and with its rapidly changing demographics and the growing ethnic and racial diversity to which it gives rise we re likely to see greater numbers of Canadians identifying themselves as members of minority groups. That’s partly because however important language identities are in Quebec they appear to be less so in the rest of Canada as regards to principal lens via which people define themselves