For nearly three decades I have pondered the origin, meaning and eventual outcome of Canada’s official multicultural policy. During this period, certain conclusions have crystallized in my mind, and yet at the same time, many unanswered questions remain.
It is well known that the founder of multiculturalism is former prime minister Pierre Trudeau. What is not so well known are the circumstances under which this maverick prime minister formulated multicultural ideology, and it’s eventual legislation.
Trudeau was the first western leader to meet with Mao Tse Tung, founder of the People’s Republic of China, in 1970. Several subsequent visits to China would follow, including a visit to the Great Wall, during which, to the dismay of China’s top political figures, the Prime Minister did a ballet pirouette, subsequently explained as a way to break the formality of the occasion. Read more