[LINK] "Canada's changing faith"

[rfmcdonald]

At the Globe and Mail, Joe Friesen and Sandra Martin take a look at the issue--potential problem, really--of the greater religiosity of immigrants as compared to the native-born Canadian population.

The numbers tell the tale of an important demographic shift. More than 40 per cent of the people who landed here between 1982 and 2001 have a high degree of religiosity, according to Statistics Canada’s General Social Survey, compared with 26 per cent of native-born Canadians. Many of those immigrants, especially from Latin America and such countries as the Philippines and South Korea, are bolstering congregations at long-established Christian denominations. Others, from Asia, the Middle East and Africa, are primarily Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Muslims, religions that have been practised here since before Canada was a country, but never in such large concentrations. Muslims, for example, are the fastest-growing religious group in Canada. They make up a little more than 2 per cent of the population, but that number is expected to grow to nearly 8 per cent by 2031.

It’s a reality most Canadians would prefer to ignore: Although we think of ourselves as a secular, tolerant society, Canada is becoming increasingly religious because of immigration.

Dealing with that change will require a sustained effort to accommodate one another. But compromise may not come easily. Religious beliefs are protected in the Charter of Rights, which must be interpreted in a manner “consistent with the preservation and enhancement of the multicultural heritage of Canadians.” But what if those values clash with the principle of equality of men and women? Since there is no established hierarchy of rights, could the right to religious and cultural practice supersede the right to gender equality enshrined in sections 15 and 28?

It’s that kind of multicultural anxiety that has reverberated across Europe and is now increasingly visible in Canada. Following France’s lead, Quebec Premier Jean Charest introduced anti-niqab legislation earlier this year. If passed, Muslim women will be required to remove face coverings if they want access to government venues including schools, hospitals and government buildings. And yet, Quebec also voted to retain the crucifix on the wall of the National Assembly as a historical rather than a religious symbol.

Religious arbitration courts were encouraged for generations in the Christian and Jewish faiths to deflect Family Law disputes from the costly and adversarial legal system. Ontario banned them outright in 2005 rather than allow an Islamic version, popularly described as sharia law, because of the outcry that questioned whether principles of gender equality would be threatened.

The authors are cautiously optimistic inasmuch as there's a greater tolerance for hyphenated identities in Canada as opposed to many other countries, lacking negative histories with its sources of immigrants, and selecting for a diverse immigrant population relatively qualified for the Canadian economy. Then again, there's always the possibility for nasty conflict if something goes very wrong.