Tag: identity

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Opinions

Jagmeet Singh and the future of Canadian identity

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth.

As a visible minority, Singh’s NDP leadership win highlights a positive change in our country

Following the announcement of his NDP leadership win on Oct. 1, Jagmeet Singh said, “Canadians must stand united and champion a politics of courage to fight the politics of fear […] a politics of love to fight the growing politics of division,” reported CTV News.

Leading with 53 per cent of the ballot vote, Singh is the first person from a visible minority to be elected to lead a federal party in Canada, according to CTV News. In the aftermath of the election, many Canadians are asking what this historic moment could mean for the future of Canada’s identity.

According to an article from The Globe and Mail, at least 70 per cent of Canadians believe having a person of colour in a position of leadership at a national level is a good thing for Canada. Nonetheless, when the Angus Reid Institute surveyed 1,477 Canadians between Oct. 2 and 4, the results showed that 31 per cent would not vote for a Sikh man who wears a turban and carries a ceremonial kirpan knife—as Singh does.

Despite this statistic, it is an improvement compared to the results of a previous poll about Singh conducted in June. As a result of these improved statistics, there is growing belief that public acceptance of openly religious Sikh men has increased since Singh’s election victory, according to the same article by The Globe and Mail. Coupled with his young age, 38, making him the youngest leader the NDP has ever had, Singh’s success to date is nothing short of a breakthrough. Even though he still faces criticism from some because of his faith, Singh is diligent and dedicated to his work.

According to CBC News, Singh constantly faced criticism while growing up and was often bullied for being different. His childhood experiences in a society where minority groups are often looked down upon was a motivation for him. Singh dedicated himself to fighting for those who, like him, were and are still harassed for being different.

According to CBC News, one of Singh’s primary objectives is to show Canadians that he is more progressive and willing to go further than the Liberals. He has discussed his intentions to fight social oppression, denounce stereotypes about Sikh men and help eliminate racial profiling. In an interview with CBC News in May 2015, Singh claimed he had been a victim of racial profiling by Toronto police at least 10 times. He was later involved in pushing a motion to ban random police checks in Ontario that was implemented by the provincial government in 2016, according to CBC News.

Singh’s rise to power has shattered social barriers preventing the progressive evolution of Canada’s political identity. His acceptance by the NDP party and its supporters, as well as the growing support from his fellow Canadians, demonstrates a substantial step forward for Canada. Regardless of race and cultural background, Singh is making progress not just for himself, but for others who have been marginalized by society. He is opening the eyes of Canadians and working himself to the bone every day to renew and reconcile the relationship between Canadians with diverse backgrounds. If he, a member of a visible minority, can be accepted by Canadians of various cultures and faiths, then it speaks volumes for our progress as a multicultural nation.

And it does not stop here. Singh has only begun to change what it means to identify as Canadian. As his party’s new leader, Singh is beginning his campaign to reclaim the NDP’s title as the country’s most progressive party. As he explained in an interview with The Globe and Mail, Singh wants to transform the NDP into “the party that inspires, that truly touches the hearts of the people. We have to inspire because we have to win—we owe it to Canadians to do so.”

In a first step on his way to perhaps becoming prime minister, Singh is now touring the country to gain support from suburban ridings, which could potentially result in a significant shift of support for Singh and his party. Considering his current progress, I believe it’s highly likely Singh may once again defy the country’s expectations. Certainly he will continue to redefine what it means to be Canadian.

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth

Categories
Opinions

Being Canadian rather than ‘not American’

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin

A reflection on Canada’s national identity and why we should just be ourselves

The celebration of 150 years since Canada’s Confederation does not come without a few controversial questions. Amid the festivities, people from across the country have been denouncing the treatment of Indigenous peoples. As well, some people in Quebec—citizens and politicians alike—have reiterated the need for the province to be part of the constitution or to become a sovereign state.

While reconciliation and constitutional issues are of the utmost importance, I’d like to bring forward an aspect of Canada’s identity that’s often omitted. It’s an aspect that is crucial to what we’ve become in the century and a half since Confederation.

I’ve always been interested in the different political ideologies in Canada. It wasn’t until recently, though, that I realized there is a hidden one. One that pervades and homogenizes other ideologies so well that all lines are blurred, making us oblivious to it.

Indeed, I think there are not two but three main ideologies in today’s Canada: Quebec nationalism, Canada’s British roots and American exceptionalism. The latter proposes that the American economic system, political culture and democracy are uniquely rightful, thus making them the default model to follow. This ideology is certainly the most entrenched in our public discourse, as we see Canada becoming more similar to the United States.

American exceptionalism has positive and negative sides, depending on one’s position. For many Maritimers, the ideology is a denial of their deeply-rooted identity, while for some Québécois, it may reinforce republicanism and the sovereigntist sentiment, stemming from a shared sense of British oppression. But for both groups, it entails the takeover of their culture by mass consumption as sold by large media and corporations. That said, the Americanization of Canada likely serves neither Québécois nationalists nor Maritime loyalists.

The United States is currently walking down the road of isolationism and protectionism, a road that none of Canada’s identity groups are fond of. This is why I believe uniting to assert our right to political independence is the best thing we can do. In many ways, the current U.S. president has proven his values conflict with those of our country, and yet it is very difficult to stand up against our closest ally and neighbour.

Most of the time, when I ask someone what it means to be Canadian, the answer either has to do with multiculturalism or not being American. But to what extent is the latter true?

Our economies are integrated to the extent that we can’t foresee a future without a trade partnership with the United States. From NAFTA to Netflix, we are annexed now more than ever––the result of decades of neighbour-friendly policy making. I think this is concerning, given the political polarization in the United States and the looming threat of a war with North Korea. No matter how different we Canadians think we are, we may one day begin to see the downsides of such a close link with our southern neighbour.

I’m not here to tell anyone what kind of Canada they should strive for, nor am I here to lecture the United States. What I’m here for is to claim that we don’t have to be like Americans to be more favourable as a world power. We can make our own path, we can be ourselves and we can stand for what we want.

Our government should be more receptive to different identity groups in Canada than to the United States’s influence. It should take Canada for what it is: a politically and geographically complex place rather than an attempted replica of the United States. But the first step is for the population to read and learn about the past, and realize how Americanized Canada has become.

Graphic by ZeZe Le Lin

Categories
Arts

Tackling questions of identity in a digital age

The work of eight Concordia students put on display in the current VAV exhibition, Ctrl_Alt_Del_. Photo by Mackenzie Lad

Concordia artists experiment with new media and the body in Ctrl_Alt_Del_

Concordia’s Visual Arts Visuels (VAV) Gallery described its current exhibition as “a glimpse into the ways in which global communications have changed” in the age of the internet — and the name truly does catch you off guard. Ctrl_Alt_Del_ is a collection of various works, ranging from installations to paintings to performance pieces that, simply put, sum up the millennial digital age.

Featuring Concordia students Maxime Brown, Sophie Heyen-Dubé, Gabrielle Hoole, Caroline Kinkead, Jessica Sofia Lopez, Alejandra Morales, Diane Roe and Raphael Sandler, the exhibit’s eight pieces explore politics, identity and the process of identifying oneself as an artist and a physical being. Through experimenting with new media and exploring the raw movements of the body, the exhibition takes shape, allowing many forms of art and thought to coexist.

The role of women in history is a prominent element of the exhibition. It explores binary and nonbinary interpretations of ‘feminine’ traits: how women should dress, how they should act and carry themselves, who they should vote for and how to identify themselves.

Morales’ piece, Your Attention is Not Enough, subtly juxtaposes women with unconventional birds, like the ostrich and the rooster, contradicting traditional female stereotypes of being small, frail and free.

Hoole’s cardboard piece — which I truly believe is the highlight of the exhibit — exposes the hypocrisy in white feminism. In the exhibition pamphlet, Hoole quotes political commentator Christina Greer, writing, “You don’t need men to have the patriarchy, white women hold up the patriarchy as well.”

Those Trump Girls balances on one leg, with four arms and two heads. This piece is meant to illustrate the educated white women under 30 who voted for Trump. In Hoole’s words, as a white female artist of privilege, “summing up the insidious nature of being a white woman in our current era … the contemporary white woman finds herself straddling the dichotomy of privilege and sexism.”

Emerging out of a country living a silenced war, alternative facts have become a dreadful norm, the exhibition’s pamphlet explains, and the process of moving on becomes a “sweet cyber dream, a network interruption, the blue screen of death.” Lopez’s piece, No HD, is a low-definition video of a contemporary dance that takes the viewer on a raw journey of self-discovery. Accompanied by the sound of a beating heart and panting breath, the audience watches Lopez as she moves to “reconnect with her roots and become her own friend.”

“Ctrl_Alt_Del_ is, for me, a way of saying, ‘F**k it!’ And I love it. I said to myself, it’s time. This is me, raw, in pain, true and, yes it hurts, but I decided not to be colonized by fear,” Lopez said. “Instead, I am riding the wave.”

Ctrl_Alt_Del_ is on display at the VAV Gallery until Sept. 8. There will be a finissage with a live performance by Heyen-Dubé on Sept. 5, from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. Admission is free.

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News

A talk on the evolution of what it means to live in Quebec

First of three conversations on our shared hybrid identities

A group of participants sat crowded together in a café to discuss the hybrid identities within Quebec, yet this scene took place not in the 1970s, but on Wednesday Sept. 10 at the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery on Concordia’s campus.

In collaboration with Just Watch Me, the University of the Streets Café held its first public conversation of the season under the casually flickering lights of a disco ball. Participants gathered around intimately, nestled with a mug of tea or coffee, and became a part of the collective conversation. There were those in the crowd who spoke their mind freely and articulately, and others who began with half-formed ideas, only to finish with more thought-provoking questions. There were also many who simply listened as the dialogue flowed smoothly from English to French.

“We’re looking at questions of identity construction,” said Susan Edey, Coordinator of University of the Streets Café about that night’s talk. This was the first in a series of three talks, the second of which will take place Wednesday Sept. 17. The collaboration with Romeo Gongora, creator of the Just Watch Me space, came about in part because the exhibit also examines identity construction in the context of Quebec. The rest of the conversations in the series will examine identity on a personal level, then identity on a local level. While the conversation itself may look intimidatingly intellectual, many in the crowd spoke of their own personal experiences, mixing their viewpoints in with those who approached the topic from a more academic mindset.

From political discussions and linguistic topics to formative high school experiences, everyone’s input to the discussion was valuable. Many often returned to languages as a signifier of identity, and small wonder that, with several participants noting they perceived a tension between English and French, particularly here in Montreal.

“I find it interesting that some people — the immigrants or some other people from all around the world  — were sharing their experiences,” said Julian Angulo, a volunteer with University of the Streets Café.

Although he did not engage, he found himself relating to the speakers. “That helps me a lot because I’ve just been here for two years and I’m trying to find myself.”

For Angulo, the conversations are a way for him to step out of his intense graduate studies and into a more community-engaged world. It also ends up being a way for him to practice both his French and English at the same time.

At the end of the night, a flurry of contacts were exchanged. The conversation, limited to just two hours, could not fully explore every single line of thought.

“I think that the conversation moved. It went to really interesting places,” Edey said, after the crowd had dispersed into the night. “I was glad to see a mixture of Anglophone Quebecers, Canadians, Francophone Quebecers, Allophone Quebecers, and new arrivals. I thought that added to the richness.”

Amongst all the different identities, the conversation that night managed to bridge the language divide and overcome the initial awkwardness of not knowing how to begin.

For more information on future conversations by University of the Streets Café, there is a schedule available online at Concordia’s website for the entire semester in which 12 more conversations are planned.

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