canadian identity

Although mass migration has been happening for decades, in recent years the flight of refugees from conflict zones in Africa and the Middle East has produced striking images of desperate people searching for a safe place to land.

Even as most of us are glued to America's rancorous election, some Canadians--notably committed Conservatives and New Democrats--are charged with choosing leaders whose ideas and personal identities will rally current supporters and even attract some new ones.

US Democratic Party strategist James Carville famously coined the phrase "It’s the economy, stupid" as the theme of Bill Clinton's successful 1992 presidential campaign.

Many Canadians who will not vote Green will confide that they rather like Elizabeth May. She stands out as the only female party leader, and given her fourth-party status she can speak with a candour others won’t risk.

The last few years have not been good ones for immigrants and multicultural diversity – worldwide or in Canada. At the global level, the flow of migrants is now higher than at any time in human history.

What has Stephen Harper done to Canada? To some, that‟s a rueful, rhetorical question. To them it‟s obvious: this government has changed the country drastically and for the worse.

Much has been made of a purported rightward shift in Canadian values. But research shows that Canadians still want government in their lives, and a majority are not embracing conservative social values.

I’ve been committing sociology since my early youth. My parents and even my parish priest failed to detect early signs of trouble, even though I read the daily newspaper voraciously (a common warning signal among teenagers in the 1960s).

It seems every day Canadians awake to another sober message from a bank economist or cabinet minister – one part scolding, one part warning, all very serious. We are spending too much relative to our earnings.