Time Immortal

Let me clarify that title a little bit, since it’s mostly an attention-grabber. Basically, Canadians are seen as being very “polite” where other cultures are concerned. We tend to be very tactful, even to the point that we don’t want to give honest feedback to immigrants to our country about their behaviour and customs, and the compatibility thereof with Canadian values and customs.

Polite is all well and good, granted…but to many immigrants, it simply comes across as dishonest.

Canadians so prize their reputation as accommodating, welcoming and above all, tolerant, she said, that some may not want to hear what some recent immigrants have to say. That lack of feedback, on everything from personal space to facial expressions, leads to both confusion and a disinterest in bridging cultures.

Dan Shapiro, a research associate with the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership, agrees.

“It actually shows much greater respect to offer sincere criticisms, when cultural disagreements occur,” Shapiro said, “than to say nothing — or worse, to assume that behaviour you find inadequate is all you can expect from certain groups.” That, he added, is the very definition of patronizing, and is far more insulting than a well-intended critique.

Of course, some of this politeness is itself very artificial and enforced; one could end up being hauled before a human rights commission if one actually did offer “feedback” to a recent immigrant, if in fact one’s feedback was overheard and misconstrued by a progressive-minded busybody. At the same time, still more of this politeness comes in the form of what some call “the soft bigotry of low expectations,” the ugly assumption at the heart of Canadian multiculturalism that presumes that people from other cultures simply can’t adjust to “the Canadian way” of doing things (poor darlings). Cultural relativism also plays a role.

And yet, such things as these do more damage than they prevent, as evidenced by the above. Talk about your case of the cure being worse…

Update: Welcome, Steynians!