By Ken Herar
Now that the elections are over and the signs have come down, it’s time to look towards the future and create positive dialogue regarding the issues in our community. One of the issues that wasn’t discussed during this election was our growing cultural divide. This divide does not only exist here in the Lower Mainland, but throughout several pockets within our country. Local elected officials have an important role and responsibility in demonstrating leadership on this topic. The main reason why the cultural divide in Canada has continually grown is because we have allowed it to and our elected officials have paid very little attention to the matter. For example, Saturday night I had a conversation with a local MLA from Abbotsford who was surprised to hear me speak about some of these concerns. In order for us to change things, we must be aware of the issues at hand.
In the next 20 years, if Canadians do not tackle or change the course of action the cultural polarization will continue to spread. We’re at a crucial turning point where we can build bridges and strengthen our partnerships within our communities or face the consequences of isolation growing stronger. The more isolated communities become, the risk of racism becomes a reality.
Unfortunately in recent years, many ethnic groups have steered away from becoming involved with other cultures other than their own in mainstream activities. Parents and their children need to encourage each other daily to speak to other people outside of their own ethnic backgrounds and invite them into their homes. Some of the ways where families and people within our communities can be proactive in this change is to join integrated sports teams and leagues or become involved in local activities.
I had the pleasure of meeting Svitlana Zafiekina at a Diwali function in Mission. She is visiting us for the third time as part of the Canada World Youth volunteer exchange program. As part of her PHD research, she is studying our diversity model and plans on taking our example back to the Ukraine to share with others. She said: “Canada is diverse and multicultural, I wanted to learn if diversity was taught here and if so how? It’s an exciting program because I’m able to work with different cultures.”
This story is a leading example in how we can build relationships with people from different countries and cultures.
Someone recently mentioned that newer Canadians who come to this country are not doing their fair share in becoming part of the local communities. If this is the case, then I encourage and welcome newcomers to be part of our system. With some of the recent changes scheduled to come in respect to the immigration policies in attracting more entrepreneurial newcomers this can only help to close the “cultural gap” within our nation.
Throughout my years as a columnist, I’ve always strived to strike a fair balance in building a strongly connected diverse community. Sometimes I receive negative feedback that may surprise some. Recently, I was told: “You’re against your own ethnic (South Asian) community.” It’s extremely disheartening to hear such a remark. What I have been, is fair and honest in my commentary without favoritism or biases.
Ken “Kulwinder” Herar is a Mission-based writer and a winner of the champions of diversity award for his columns in the LINK newspaper and other Fraser Valley newspapers. Herar can be reached at [email protected] or view his blog at http://www.kenherar.blogspot.com
