Multiculturalism – News release
Bhikhu Parekh argues for a pluralist perspective on cultural diversity. Writing from both within the liberal tradition and outside of it as a critic, he challenges what he calls the "moral monism" of much of traditional moral philosophy, including contemporary liberalism--its tendency to assert that only one way of life or set of values is worthwhile and to dismiss the rest as misguided or false. He defends his pluralist perspective both at the level of theory and in subtle nuanced analyses of...
When this news release came out in 1987, Canada was at a pivotal moment in its national conversation about identity and belonging. The Canada Multiculturalism Directorate had just released a document that would become foundational to how the nation understood itself—not as a melting pot, but as a genuinely pluralistic society where diverse cultures could coexist and flourish together. What makes this release significant isn’t just what it said, but what it represented: an official acknowledgment that multiculturalism wasn’t merely a social reality Canada had to manage, but a defining national value worth enshrining in policy and practice.
The timing of this publication was crucial. Just as Parliament was examining extensive reports on multiculturalism and the broader machinery of government was being reorganized to prioritize these concerns, this release served as a public-facing articulation of those high-level discussions. It arrived at a moment when voices like those of Howard McCurdy and other Members of Parliament were actively shaping the conversation around what multiculturalism could mean for Canadian society. The document became part of a larger institutional shift—one that would eventually lead to the creation of dedicated offices and departments focused on multicultural affairs—but it did something equally important: it spoke directly to Canadians about why these changes mattered.
What’s particularly interesting about this release is how it functioned within the broader discourse of the era. It wasn’t a lengthy narrative or a comprehensive treatise; rather, it distilled complex policy conversations into an accessible format designed to reach diverse audiences. The Directorate’s approach was notably practical and inclusive, reflecting a genuine attempt to communicate across cultural and linguistic lines about matters that affected every Canadian community.
The document’s cultural impact extended far beyond government circles. It resonated because it addressed something Canadians were grappling with in their daily lives:
- The question of national identity – what does it mean to be Canadian in a country without a single dominant cultural narrative?
- The tension between unity and diversity – how can society celebrate difference while maintaining social cohesion?
- The practicalities of inclusion – what policies and institutional changes would actually enable multiculturalism to work?
- The international perspective – Canada was positioning itself as a model for how diverse societies could function democratically
What truly made this release endure in Canadian memory is how it captured a specific moment when multiculturalism transitioned from being primarily an academic or activist concern to becoming explicit government policy. The timing aligned with broader institutional developments—the Office of Multicultural Affairs was being created in the Prime Minister’s own office, signaling that this wasn’t a peripheral concern but central to governance. This news release, then, served as the public window into those corridors of power.
> The release articulated something that would influence Canadian identity discourse for decades: the idea that diversity could be a source of national strength rather than a social problem requiring management.
The creative achievement here lies in how the Directorate communicated such potentially contentious material. Rather than delivering heavy-handed propaganda or dense policy language, the release spoke to shared values while acknowledging real complexities. It didn’t pretend that multiculturalism was simple or that it had all the answers. Instead, it invited Canadians into an ongoing conversation about what kind of society they wanted to build together.
The legacy of this 1987 release extends into how Canada has continued to shape its identity policies and institutional structures. It became a reference point for subsequent multicultural initiatives and helped establish a vocabulary that subsequent governments would either embrace or push back against. The document’s influence appears in:
- The formalization of multicultural affairs within government structures that has persisted and evolved over nearly four decades
- The framing of diversity as strategic rather than merely accommodated or tolerated
- The emphasis on official recognition that immigrant and racialized communities weren’t creating multiculturalism but were themselves the foundation of it
- The international positioning of Canada as a leader in multicultural policy
Reading this release today, nearly forty years after its publication, reveals something poignant about how institutions sometimes get multiculturalism right. The Directorate recognized that this wasn’t something that could be legislated into existence; it required sustained institutional commitment, genuine dialogue across communities, and a willingness to continuously adapt and evolve policies based on real-world experience. That wisdom hasn’t aged poorly—if anything, it feels more relevant in an era of rising nationalism and fragmentation.
For anyone interested in Canadian history, policy studies, or the broader question of how diverse societies organize themselves, this release offers fascinating insight. It’s a moment crystallized on the page where a nation explicitly chose pluralism as a organizing principle. That choice—and the conversations that surrounded it—continue to shape Canadian life today.
