![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldThis news article surprised me when I first read it.
The data was taken from a Leger Marketing survey for Canada and a Eurobarometer surveys for the European Union. As the article notes, the data sets aren't directly comparable. That said, I wonder if there's something that Canadians de souche might be missing out on.
Thoughts?
Canadians report experiencing more discrimination than Europeans, according to new research that appears to contradict popular perceptions about Canada's multiculturalism.
While just 15 per cent of European Union residents say they've personally felt discriminated against or harassed for factors such as ethnicity, age or sexual orientation in the past year, 28 per cent of Canadians say the same. That figure rises to 39 per cent among francophones, according to research being released today by the Association for Canadian Studies.
But those numbers might be the result of Canada's diversity, not in spite of it, says Jack Jedwab, the association's executive director.
"Most surveys suggest that interaction creates better understanding between communities," he says. "It also creates this higher sensitivity or awareness of discrimination and a greater tendency to identify instances of discrimination."
Canadians are also more likely than Europeans to say they'd witnessed discrimination against someone else in the past year (41 per cent compared to 29 per cent), with race and sexual orientation being the most common targets.
More Canadians report having friends of different cultural backgrounds, and those with a diverse group of friends are more likely to say they've witnessed or experienced discrimination than those with friends who are just like them.
The findings create "a real dilemma" in trying to get a true read on the prevalence of discrimination, Jedwab says, because it gives the impression that a country like Canada that prides itself on multiculturalism has a more troubled record than other nations with comparatively little diversity.
The data was taken from a Leger Marketing survey for Canada and a Eurobarometer surveys for the European Union. As the article notes, the data sets aren't directly comparable. That said, I wonder if there's something that Canadians de souche might be missing out on.
Thoughts?
