Volume 4, Number 1 · Toronto’s official Plan, the population of the City of Toronto will grow by 537,000 people to three million by 2031. Population gr owth in the periph - eral

Volume 4, Number 1 www.ideasthatmatter.com

A publication to stimulate public discourse

In this issue:

• Urban Form, Transportation, andSustainability

• Something Old, Something New:Canada in the New Millennium

• Multiculturalism at a Crossroads

• Jane’s Walk 2007

Ideas That MatterVolume 4 Number 1August 2007

Executive Publisher: Alan Broadbent. C.M.Editor:Ann [email protected]/design: Sarah Gledhill

Copyright:All articles © the author, 2007Permission to reproduce should be requestedthrough the publisher.

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Cover: Design by Sarah Gledhill, Photos by (clock-wise from top left): Yvonne Bambrick, YvonneBambrick, Deborah Etsten, Chris Lawless, SteveCraig,Yvonne Bambrick.

.... Editor’s Notes

The Toronto Star recentlyreported that by 2008 morethan half of the Earth’s popu-

lation will be urban dwellers for thefirst time in history. The 21st centu-ry is increasingly an urban age asBruce Katz of the Brookings Institutestated in a recent address: “The newworld order is an urban order.”

Canada is no exception: 78% ofCanadians now live in urban areasand one-third of Canadians live inour four largest CMA areas (Vancou-ver, Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa).

Our urban growth is also inextricablylinked with immigration. As else-where in the world, immigrants toCanada overwhelmingly choose tolive in cities. The Toronto region isalso Canada’s destination of choicefor immigrants.

The population of the GTA is pro-jected to almost triple by 2031. Thismeans that a population equivalentto that of today’s City of Toronto isexpected to be added to the GTAbetween 1996 and 2031. Much ofthis growth will occur from immigra-tion.

These two topics, urban growth andthe changing face of Canada arelinked together in this issue. Withthe growth of our cities, the qualityof our urban space matters. Jack Dia-mond proposes a number ofapproaches to improve the sustain-ability and liveability of our urbanform. Senator Hugh Segal, in akeynote speech to the 2007 MaytreeLeadership Conference, argues formore coherence in our immigrationand diversity policies if Canada is todo more than just ‘muddle through’the next few decades of its growth.And we include a summary of someof the major ideas raised at the sameconference around Canada’s shiftingnotions of multiculturalism.

Our final two articles come back tothe idea of the nurturing of our urbanspace. On May 5th this year, Jane’sWalk was launched in Toronto as atribute to Jane Jacobs’ ideas of urban-ity and how they have transformedthe way we see our neighbourhoods.And our latest Jane Jacobs prize win-ner, Roberto Martella, embodies therichness diversity can bring to ideas,cultures and urban spaces. Enjoy theissue!

Ann PetersEditor

[email protected]

Volume 4 Number 1 To stimulate public discourse2

Ideas That Matter produces a wide range of events tostimulate public discourse concentrating on issues relat-ed to cities, economies and the values of diversity, com-munity and public good. Founded in 1997, the work ofIdeas That Matter is inspired by the wide-ranging ideasand principles of Jane Jacobs.

Contents

4 Urban Form,Transportation, andSustainabilityJack Diamond

8 Something Old,Something New: Canada inthe New MillenniumSenator Hugh Segal

11 Multiculturalism at aCrossroadsSandra Lopes

13 Jane’s Walk 2007

15 Jane Jacobs PrizeWinner 2006

To stimulate public discourse Volume 4 Number 1 3

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This article is based on a keynotepresentation which Jack Diamondgave at a seminar organized by theCanadian Urban Institute inNovember, 2005. The seminar wasentitled "Fusing Art and Sciencewith Economics; Challenges Facingthe City," part of an event called"Great Streets Need Great Buildings!Urbanizing the Avenues" held at thePantages Suites Hotel in Toronto.The material has been modifiedand updated for Ideas that Matter.

Urban form—the pattern ofdevelopment in an urbanarea—governs where and how

we live. It is closely tied with patternsfor how we move around. Together,these patterns are a litmus test for sus-tainability.

Cities of similar population can bevery different in terms of their urbanform. Two extremes can be seen inVienna and Houston. Vienna has apopulation of about 1.6 million.Houston has about 1.8 million inhabi-tants. Yet Vienna occupies less thanone twentieth of the area of Houston.This is so even though there are fewhigh-rise buildings in Vienna: mostbuildings are only four to six storieshigh.

A convenient way to consider andcompare the use of urban land is interms of floor area ratio. This is theratio of the total floor area of a buildingto the total land area of the site. InVienna, the floor area ratio is about 2:1to 3:1. The buildings are generally of aconsistent size and density throughoutthe city.

Houston is the polar opposite in its

urban form. Most of thegeographical area of thecity consists of vast tractsof low-density residentialdevelopment where thefloor area ratio is about3:1 to 6:1. The centralbusiness district, muchsmaller in area, is a clus-ter of skyscrapers forty tosixty stories high. There,the floor area ratio is10:1 to 12:1.

The effects of this dif-ference in urban form areprofound. In Vienna, theland has a greater mix ofuses and there is a highlevel of social integra-tion. This urban formalso supports small-scaleretail enterprises. Thecity is also able to sup-port effective and conve-nient public transporta-tion. Commuting time isshort, and according toDer Standard (March 27,2007), 53% of Viennese workers travelto their workplace by public transit.Vienna enjoys a sustainable publiccost/revenue ratio.

In Houston, land uses are largely seg-regated, and so are the socioeconomicstrata. Until 2004, Houston was thelargest city in the United States with-out an urban rail line. (It now hasabout thirteen kilometres of track,with plans to double that in ten years.)The various other forms of publictransportation do not effectively con-nect the suburbs to the business centre.Retail outlets are concentrated in clus-

ters and the larger enterprises, mallsand the “big box” stores, are onlyaccessible by car. Thus, the city is verymuch dependent on the automobile.Yet paradoxically, auto dependencyrenders segments of the population,those without cars, immobile. Thepublic cost/revenue structure is unsus-tainable.

It might seem that high-rise housingwould be most effective in terms ofland consumption. Actually, above afloor area ratio of 2:1, there is onlymarginal improvement in land con-sumption. Moreover, high-rise con-struction reduces the options in types


Urban Form, Transportation,and Sustainability Jack Diamond

of housing, especially in ground-relatedunits. A floor area ratio of about 2:1also achieves savings in public infra-structure operating costs most effec-tively. Above that, the public savingsare again marginal. From a private per-spective, however, greater density gen-

erates correspondingly greater profit.Toronto, with a population of 2.5

million, occupies about half the area ofHouston and its population of 1.8 mil-lion. The city has an exceptional urbanstructure. Toronto’s genius lies in theability to satisfy local and regional

demands so that an expansion does notrequire the wholesale replacement ofadjacent areas. The result is a satisfyingmix of uses, congenial socioeconomicgrouping, and a wide variety of build-ing forms in appropriate locations.Most importantly, much of Toronto hasmade a connection between land use,density, and public transportationcapacity.

This is achieved via what might becalled a “superblock” structure. Eachsuperblock is bounded by arterialstreets about two kilometres by onekilometre apart. The arterial streets arelined with continuous mixed-use build-ings, varying in height from two to sixor eight stories. At grade are local retailservices, with residential or secondaryoffice functions above. The hinterland,bounded by arterial streets, has smaller-scale residential structures served byminor roads.

It is at the intersections of foursuperblocks that regional centresoccur. Subway stations or major busstations are located there also. Thearterial streets accommodate surfacepublic transit that feeds the subwayand serve local automobile movementand the traffic passing through thearea.

The high accessibility of these inter-sections or nodes supports regionalretail and service functions and high-density residential and commercialuses. A multi-centred city like thisclearly provides ease of access to cen-tres of regional specialization, and thecumulative perimeters of each centreprovide an aggregate of considerableexpansion capacity without threaten-ing the existing adjacent residentialuses.

Despite these advantages, housingdevelopment is largely adhering to theextremes of density on the urban formspectrum: either very low-densitydetached dwellings or very high-riseconstruction. The effect of theseextremes is overwhelming in terms ofpublic cost, including an uneconomic


Jack Diamond Urban Form, Transportation, and Sustainability

The above illustration depicts the various built forms required to house 1000 peopleat varying densities. It is largely the extremes of the built form spectrum which arecurrently used - either very low density detached dwellings or high rise construction.The forms that lie between, particularly at higher density, are rich in potential butseldom constructed.

public transportation system. Theforms that lie between the high-densi-ty and low-density extremes are rich inpotential, but they are seldom con-structed.

According to projections inToronto’s official Plan, the populationof the City of Toronto will grow by537,000 people to three million by2031. Population growth in the periph-eral areas of the city is expected to betriple the rate of growth within the cityduring the same period. Already, thaturban fringe is characterized by sprawl-ing residential development, inter-spersed with commercial centres sur-rounded by parking lots, all connectedby a vast, congested road network.

Road-based transportation is thelargest, most rapidly growing source ofgreenhouse gases in Ontario as awhole. Transportation is a major con-tributor to air pollution, which theOntario Medical Association estimatescosts the province almost $1 billion

and 5,800 prematuredeaths a year. The localimplications are like-wise severe. TheToronto Board of Tradecites regional conges-tion as the city’s great-est competitive disad-vantage.

The cost to munici-palities for enablingsprawling developing isequally stupefying.Municipalities are gen-erating less in develop-ment fees and propertytax than they spend onemergency services andwaste removal and oninfrastructure costssuch as roads, watermains, and sewers. Forexample, if Torontowere built in a reason-ably compact form, sayat the densities preva-lent prior to post-

World War II suburban expansion,instead of at the density trends of the1980s and 1990s, the city would berealizing a $1 billion annual savings ininfrastructure operating costs. And thecost of low-density development is notconfined to large cities. The Niagararegion has found that for every $1 intax revenue from low-scale residentialdevelopment, the region incurs $1.40in servicing costs.

Given the projected populationgrowth in the greater Toronto area, thetwo unsatisfactory extremes of verylow-density suburban sprawl and veryhigh-density high-rises are not sustain-able. In my view, the approach to deal-ing with current problems and prepar-ing for population growth should takethree directions.

First, institute full-cost pricing forsuburban development. Each incre-ment should pay its share of both hardand soft infrastructure costs. Below the2:1 floor area ratio, serviced land gen-

erally has provincially subsidizedtrunk-line services: water, sewer, andhighways. This is obviously advanta-geous to tract developers, but thedevelopers do not bear the economicburden for it, nor do the purchasers ofthe tract housing stock. All taxpayersfoot the bill.

Hand in hand with that measure,incentives should be granted for devel-opment in the existing urban footprintand disincentives imposed (includingfull-cost pricing) for building on thegreen fields surrounding our cities. Thearterial streets and avenues in Torontoare not currently developed at appro-priate densities, and it is here that anexceptional opportunity exists toabsorb population growth withoutextending the urban area. There aresome 160 kilometres of arterial streetsin Toronto. This represents capacity tohouse at least a quarter of a millionpeople at about a 2:1 floor area ratio.Toronto also has large areas of unde-veloped and underdeveloped sites andbrownfields which should be usedinstead of encouraging more urbansprawl.

This would at once improve the via-bility of public transit systems that tra-verse the arterial streets. It would alsosupport local retail enterprise, add tothe richness of the land-use mix of thecity, buffer the low-density residencesin the interior of the superblocks, cre-ate congenial animation at groundlevel, and, from an urban design pointof view, line the avenues with appro-priately scaled buildings.

Second, tie density to transporta-tion capacity. Land use and transporta-tion should be seen as inseparable, andtransit capacity (both public and pri-vate) should be strictly correlated todensity. Infrastructure investmentshould explicitly favour public transit,walking, and cycling over single-pas-senger automobiles. By legislation, anynew development should be within300 metres of a public transit stop. Thiswill require new governance systems to


Urban Form, Transportation, and Sustainability Jack Diamond

ensure that provincial and regionalgoals are met and that local govern-ments have the resources and flexibili-ty to deliver.

The recent Conference Board ofCanada report, “Sustaining Prosperity,”underscored the imperative of “densifi-cation” to support a vibrant economyin the global marketplace. Cities thatmove people and freight efficiently willhave a competitive edge for highlymobile jobs, talent, and industries.Cities and regions that are not as auto-mobile dependent will also have a dis-tinct advantage in a world of steadilyrising oil prices. Compact, mixed-useneighbourhoods can dramaticallyreduce demand for electricity and heatgeneration—Ontario’s fastest-growingsource of greenhouse gases—while alsoreducing transportation emissions.Higher densities than are now currentare also more conducive for communi-ty energy systems.

Third, offer appropriate incentivesfor constructing mid-rise structuresin the 1.5–2.5:1 floor area ratiorange. This range of floor area ratioimproves land consumption andreduces infrastructure operating costs,but there are other advantages. For

example, duplexes, townhouses, andlow-rise and mid-rise apartments havethe potential for much greater thermalefficiency than single, detached homesdo. Given incentive, innovation willfollow to render such buildings in away that will be attractive to the mar-ket.

It is important to emphasize thatincreasing density does not have tomean compromising livability. In fact,as the Vienna example shows, it canenhance it. In Canada, the downtowndensification efforts in the city ofVancouver were entirely predicated onlivability. “Complete neighbourhood”and “pedestrian first” policies guidedinfill development. Infrastructureinvestment in walking paths andexpress buses made alternatives to thecar attractive. In the last decade,Vancouver’s population increased by50,000, but absolute vehicle numbersfroze and vehicle kilometres travelledper year dropped by thirty percent.Trips by transit increased by fifty per-cent and bicycle and pedestrian tripsdoubled. Extensive playing fields,nature parks, picnic areas, and commu-nity gardens provide space for recre-ation and relaxation. With shorter

commuting times, people have moretime to enjoy these amenities.Residents, visitors, and internationalstudies agree that the quality of life hasimproved.

Urban form as we are currently shap-ing it is clearly unsustainable environ-mentally, economically, and socially.With a systematic review of provincialand municipal policies, and clearlycrafted strategies including the threemeasures described, we can begin toredirect our planning energy towardthe sustainable development of ourcities and communities.

Jack Diamond is a renownedCanadian architect who is a princi-pal and founding partner of thefirm Diamond + Schmitt Architects,Inc.


Jack Diamond Urban Form, Transportation, and Sustainability

An example of a mid-rise structure in the 1.5–2.5:1 floor area ratio range.


The following speech was part ofthe keynote addresses given at the2007 Maytree Leadership Confer-ence held on May 2, 2007 in Toron-to. Senator Hugh Segal and SalimahY. Ebrahim both spoke on the theme,“Something old, Something New:Canada in the New Millennium”.More information: www. maytree.com

Our first Prime Minister, Sir JohnA. Macdonald was born not farfrom Glasgow and came to

Canada with his mother as a kid. Hismother moved to Kingston because shehad a cousin who had a business there.There was family support and theprospect of work. Throughout his longand circuitous political career - henever had a working majority in theHouse of Commons - he was called“Old Tomorrow” by many of his politi-cal contemporaries. He always thoughtoutside the political box of his day. Hedreamed about goals and achievementsthat the more parochial and provincial-ly-minded could not grasp or accept. Hereached across what were the great eth-nic and cultural divides of his time -English and French, Protestant andCatholic - to shape a measure of con-sensus that had eluded previous genera-tions and shape a country not throughwar but through compromise. Notthrough the barrel of a rifle but throughreason and decency. His vision of whatCanada could be was very large indeed.He also did not avoid unpleasantnesswhen it was unavoidable — such as inconfronting the Métis Rebellion in theNorthwest region. He did so with forceand clarity when there was no otherchoice.

We need some clarity and large

thinking in this country as we embracethe mix of diversity, immigration, set-tlement and inclusion challenges inwhich Canada must now engage. In asense, we are at a divide in our demo-graphic, social and economic history.Up to this point we have in the pastsucceeded by muddling through on therelated issues of settlement, employ-ment, diversity and immigration, withenough natural resource revenues com-ing in to pay the costs of not getting itright; and getting more of it right thanwe cared to believe or perhaps deserve.Going forward we need more coherencein our relative policies and goals as acountry if we are to succeed in thesemore challenging times.

In my days at the Institute forResearch on Public Policy [as Presi-dent], we commissioned studies andheld symposia on how one managesdiversity in a modern society. We can-vassed elite and academic opinions,along with practitioners from a broadreach of Canadian society, includingMuslim, Christian and other religiouscultural groups, both well-entrenchedand those recently arrived, because wewanted voices and the perspectives sothat we could learn from best practicesand setbacks here and elsewhere.

Other organizations like TheMaytree Foundation have been engagedintensely at the interface of employ-ment, network and opportunity issuesthrough superb initiatives and fundingand collaborative undertakings ofimmense focus and determination. TheWalter and Duncan Gordon Founda-tion, on which I am honoured to serveas a voluntary trustee, is also engaged indiaspora-related activities in Canada.These engagements, along with many

others, are all underway because we vis-cerally understand as Canadians thatthere are imbalances and pressureswhich are building. If not dealt with,these can seriously corrode the notionmost Canadians have of the kind ofcountry we are building and the kind ofopportunity we hope to be sharing.

Let’s be frank: our first generationimmigrant economic performance isnot in any way as robust as was the case20 or 30 years ago when the immigrantswere largely European. There are manyreasons for that. We should never dis-count discrimination as one of them.While there is some controversybetween researchers on this issue, sec-ond generation identification withCanada is also not as robust as was thecase with the prior generation. Grind-ing poverty in parts of Toronto associat-ed with particular diaspora and immi-grant populations appears, as apercentage of our total economic well-being, not to be improving measurably.The overall rate of poverty is notimproving in this country. Dependingon how one counts, there is a solid 11%of Canadians who fall beneath thepoverty line. In some areas of Canada,particularly in rural Canada, that num-ber is much, much higher, as it is amongsome immigrant populations.

The ability of our school system tomanage in the face of massive culturaldiversity, under-funding and the pres-sure under which English and French asa Second Language programs mustoperate, all add, despite the outstandingefforts of many in the educational sys-tem, to the complexity and capacityissues in the areas of economic andsocial inclusion and constructive inte-gration. Our federal, provincial and

Something Old, Something NewCanada in the New MillenniumSenator Hugh Segal

municipal morass of programs and juris-dictions adds to the complexity; animpenetrable reality that for many pro-duces frustration and discouragement.The massive dichotomy between ruralCanada - largely white, without mean-ingful ethnic or new immigrant popula-tions and, sadly, substantially poorerthan urban areas - and our large cities,is creating political imbalances that are,in my view, deeply problematic in thenear term.

We have for some time lacked what Iwould call an instructive clarity, rela-tive to the mix and hierarchy, aroundthe totemic pillars of Canadian identityand society, such as the Charter ofRights and Freedoms, the rights andobligations of a permanent resident orlanded immigrant, the instruments ofeconomic opportunity and socialprogress that have attracted immigrantsto our shores for centuries, and theengaged efforts of practical confronta-tion between the twin evils of racial dis-crimination and simple network exclu-sion.

Notionally, racial discrimination haslegal and administrative remedies, how-ever cumbersome and impractical, forthe young technologist from South Asiaseeking work or housing now. Howevernetwork exclusion is the real silentkiller of opportunity. All successful jobapplicants and career achievers benefitfrom networks at critical spots along theway. Networks do not replace merit,hard work or great academic marks. Butnetworks constitute the ‘social and eco-nomic DNA’ by which skills, talentsand labours are recognized and drawninto the broad economic mainstreamand larger Canadian family.

I also worry that, at both the institu-tional and political level, we have con-fused the imperatives of inclusion, theexigencies of our demographic realityand the cornerstones of Canadian soci-ety that are the reason we have alwaysbeen blessed with many immigrants andwould-be immigrants to our shores.Study after study, including the mostrecent by Statistics Canada, underlines

that there is precise symmetry betweenwho we are as Canadians, what webelieve, what our core values are andwhy people wish to come to our countryto begin with. Our demographic princi-ples, the openness and fairness of oursociety, the belief in freedom and pro-tections we have for that freedom, thediversity this implies and protects, theequality we all face before the law, lawsthat are democratically produced, coreeconomic opportunities, our opennessto new arrivals and different culturesand backgrounds — all these constitutethe mixture of what attracts newarrivals to our shores.

It is essential to understand that how-ever we choose to embrace compellingaspects of our multicultural and bilin-gual culture, we must hold fast to ourown core values and principles. Whenwe desert them, we begin to dull theflame of attraction that makes Canada acontinuing preferred place of choice forthose looking to better their own eco-

nomic and family prospects. Whetherthey are leaving economic hardship,religious or political persecution orfailed states unable to sustain anyopportunity for them or their family atall, the attraction of Canada is broadlythe same.

So my first rule - I’m afraid this willsound a little bit conservative - is thatwe must never apologize for our democ-ratic infrastructure: our Anglo-French-Aboriginal origins, our Anglo-Frenchinstitutions, culture and history, thevalues of conciliation, the rule of law,British jurisprudence, the Charter ofRights and Freedoms and other preceptsthat have shaped who we are and whypeople have voted with their feet tocome to this country for generations.

Today, all permanent residents, whenthey become a permanent resident, aregiven a pamphlet which describes someof the core organizing principles of ourway of life in Canada, like the equalityof men and women, and the presump-


Senator Hugh Segal Something Old: Something New: Canada in the New Millennium

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Something Old: Something New: Canada in the New Millennium Senator Hugh Segal

tion of innocence — not always thesame elsewhere. If I had my way, newarrivals approved for permanent statuswould sign a formal attestation of rightsand responsibilities as part of the condi-tion of their permanent resident status,which would be an important way sta-tion to full citizenship as Canadians.Permanent residents already hereshould be asked to sign a similar attes-tation upon applying for citizenship.

But if recognition by all new arrivalsof the Canadian architecture of civilityis a point of departure, then more sub-stantive action on the part of Canadiansociety to achieve full economic inte-gration for new and lawful arrivalsshould also be the new order of the day.This must be more activist and deter-mined than it has been heretofore.

I have long believed that Ottawa hasunused capacity within the constitution— federal trade and commerce powersto legislate more broadly in areas criti-cal to this challenge — and they havemore power than most governmentshave had the courage to embrace. Forexample, let’s look at the matter of cre-dentials which keep so many people outof doing what they have the ability todo, and should be allowed to do, inCanada, The notion that it is alwaysthe new arrival with a degree from else-where who must prove the integrity ofhis or her educational institution strikesme as handing the levers of power unre-strictedly to local professional organiza-tions who often act as closed shopsseeking to reduce competition to pro-tect their own existing membership.This protectionism, whether it be inmedical, engineering or other technicalareas, works to limit productivity,reduce integration, reduce constructivecompetition and curtail services to thepublic.

Some years ago, Thomas Courchene,a senior scholar at the IRPP and aneconomist at Queen’s University, pro-posed with respect to inter-provincialaccreditation, that the onus of proofwhen a pharmacist or an engineer orsimilarly licensed professional moves

from province to province should be onthe local administration. In otherwords, the arrival is deemed to be com-petent to practice unless informed with-in 30 to 60 days to the contrary andwith explicit and technical reasons, notjust jurisdictional imperialism. This is aprinciple I would like to see the federalgovernment legislate under its tradeand commerce powers on a reasonableand phased-in basis for trades and pro-fessions. It would send a message thatwe are realistic and serious about Cana-da’s promise to immigrants and the coreidea of Canada as a land of opportunityand fairness.

Moreover, I believe that here inOntario, we should be giving seriousconsideration to a more textured out-reach to our non-public schooling sys-tem. In return for measures of financialsupport, we should insure that noschools that operate in this province beallowed to be religiously or ethnicallysegregated. We must have a plan inplace to ensure that economic ghettosthat have sprung up are not also dead-ends for narrow, ethnically-defined edu-cation with limited economic and self-improvement prospects. Respect fordiversity is no excuse for tolerating self-imposed exclusion. Exclusionary poli-tics or economics, when practiced bythe economic elite, is clearly unaccept-able. It should be no more acceptablefrom the hands of ethnic leadership,who for whatever reason, maybe seek-ing to perpetuate segregation for small“p” or large “r” political reasons.

One of the myths of Canadian histo-ry, often advanced by the great, squishymiddle of our politics, is that goodthings can happen without any unpleas-antness. I often express it this way: "It’salways fair weather when the elites gettogether." The Canada of tomorrowand the full promise of tomorrow’sCanada, requires a more robust realismand a more precise focus. Charters ofRights, labour laws, anti-discriminatorylegal, hiring and housing provisions, theright to vote often came through diffi-cult demonstrations, through tough

court battles, and through difficultevents like the Winnipeg GeneralStrike. Poverty among many who havecome, relative lack of economic oppor-tunity in some circumstances, and agrowing gap that is all too often definedby colour and race, is here and with usnow. We ignore it at our peril.

For me, civil responses around educa-tional opportunity, access to job mar-kets and networks, a basic income floorfor all Canadians, including new per-manent residents, are relatively inex-pensive alternatives to what we wouldface if we were prepared to see the dif-ferences in economic prospects widenand the edges between different parts ofour society become more jagged andhostile, as poverty always produces.

Tomorrow’s Canada needs a some-what more proactive engagement fromall of us. In these climate-anxious times,allow me the indiscretion of suggestingthat poverty, racial exclusion, econom-ic disaffection and inter-generationallack of opportunity are rotten for theenvironment in any civilized country.We should keep that in mind as wedefend Canada’s multi-racial anddiverse tomorrow, and ensure thestrength and vitality of the idea ofCanada and the Canadian ideal itself.

Senator Hugh Segal was appointedto the Senate in August of 2005.TheSenator is Chair of the StandingCommittee of the Senate on ForeignAffairs, and sits on the Agricultureand Aboriginal Affairs Committees.A former President and CEO of theInstitute for Research on Public Poli-cy (1999-2006) The Senator is alsoa Senior Fellow at the Policy StudiesSchool and School of Business atQueen's University where he hastaught since 1993. In 2003, he wasmade a Member of the Order ofCanada.


Multiculturalism at aCrossroads

Sandra Lopes

Canada welcomes between225,000 to 250,000 immigrantseach year, the majority of these

newcomers settle in Canada’s threelargest cities: Toronto, Vancouver andMontreal. These cities are diverse andvibrant. But they are also home to agrowing number of ethnic enclaves,some of which are home to the poorestof city residents.

Since the late 1970s, multicultural-ism has been a cornerstone of Canada’scommitment to diversity. Recently,this policy has come under attack, par-ticularly by the media. Critics say mul-ticulturalism divides us, focuses on ourdifferences, and depoliticizes us. Theysay that multiculturalism is notequipped to address the challenges thatresult from modern-day diversity in the

21st century. Supporters insist the con-cept encourages tolerance, and the pol-icy has evolved over time to support it.

To explore multiculturalism in the

21st century, The Maytree Foundationorganized a workshop at its 2007 Lead-ership Conference. The workshop,entitled “A New Multiculturalism:Moving the Discourse Forward,” asked,“Does the policy framework need toexpand, deepen or start from scratch?”and “How can the discourse of multi-culturalism more fully address partici-pation in society and interactionbetween communities?”

Jean Lock Kunz, Associate ProjectDirector, at the Policy Research Initia-tive described how multiculturalismpolicies have evolved since their wide-spread adoption in the late 1970s. Ini-tially, the policy was created for immi-grants arriving primarily fromEuropean countries, and was developed

to help these and other groups findtheir place in a bi-cultural Canada. Atthis time, newcomers were encouragedto celebrate their differences, and thefocus of multiculturalism policy was onpromoting and maintaining their eth-nic and cultural background. By the1980s, as more and more visible minor-ity newcomers arrived to Canada, thefocus shifted from ethnicity to race.Multiculturalism discourse becameabout systemic discrimination, and thesolutions to these issues were employ-ment equity. In the 1990s another shiftoccurred, and the focus of multicultur-alism became one of citizenship, inclu-sion and belonging.

Today, in a post-911 world, global-ization and security have againchanged the discourse of multicultural-

ism, to one that focuses on "rights andresponsibilities" and the "two-waystreet” between newcomers and thereceiving society. But today's multicul-turalism is still evolving and the solu-tions have yet to be defined. Whilemulticulturalism policies are sound inprinciple, said Kunz, it is difficult totranslate these principles into measur-able goals. Kunz supported the idea ofcreating greater accountability for mul-ticulturalism policy by developingmeasurable criteria for success, such asthose that support bilingualism in thepublic service and those measures usedin environment policies. Further, whilethe goal is to value Canada's multicul-tural diversity and ensure equality forall Canadians, the policy is still misun-derstood as one that is only important

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EthnicityMulticulturalism(1970s)*

EquityMulticultura-lism (1980s)*

CivicMulticultura-lism (1990s)*

IntegrativeMulticultura-lism (2000s)

FocusCelebrating differences

Managing diversity

Constructiveengagement

Inclusive citizenship

ReferencePoint

Culture Structure Society building Rights andresponsibilities

Mandate Ethnicity Race relations Citizenship Identity

ProblemSource

Prejudice Systemic discrimination

Exclusion Globalization,security

Solution Cultural sensitivity

Employmentequity

Inclusiveness ???

KeyMetaphor

‘Mosaic' ‘Level playingfield'

‘Belonging' ‘Two-waystreet'

Media and Minorities

to newcomers and visible minorities.Mohammad Qadeer, Professor

Emeritus, Queen's University, said thatwhat today's multiculturalism needs isa little benign neglect. Societies havealways been multicultural and diverse,and using the USSR as an example, hesaid that even that totalitarian statecould not wash out ethnic cultures andreligions. However, just as diversity isinevitable, so are shared institutionsand shared experiences. Qadeerexplained that newcomers will not cre-ate their own ghettos, as some fear,because they must work, go to schooland participate in a political contextthat is shared with other newcomersand Canadians. He says that ratherthan focusing on multiculturalism, andwhat naturally makes us different, thefocus should be on having an activedebate on the common ground we allshare: what it is and what it should be.This debate, said Qadeer, should begovernment-led, and protected for thepitfalls of political correctness. Civiceducation would support this dialogue.

Farouk S. Jiwa, Global Youth Fellow,Walter and Duncan Gordon Founda-tion, added that multiculturalism, nowand into the future, needs to under-stand and appreciate the complexityand multiplicity of identities and affili-ations (that is, the pluralism of identity).People may choose to identify, in differ-ent contexts and situations or even atany one time, with one or more of ahost of identities (gender, race, sexual-ity, nationality, ethnicity, etc.). He saidhis sensitivity comes from his observa-tion that in a globalizing, post-Septem-ber 11th world, there is a growing ten-dency to homogenize identities asthough they were unique. Jiwa notedthat even the category “immigrant”hides the complexity and reality ofpeople’s experiences in Canada. Hesuggested that it may be in the plural-ism of identity that Canadians will findtheir commonalities.

Increasingly, said Jiwa, our historicaland multicultural diversity is leading to

interesting manifestations and expres-sions of identities. As an example, hehighlighted the role of Québec atUNESCO and the Canadian govern-ment engaging diaspora communitieson issues such as security, trade andpeacekeeping. This has led him to askquestions such as: "Who legitimatelyrepresents who?", "Who gets — anddoesn’t get — heard and why?" and“Do we limit what we as people and as acountry are capable of accomplishingby seeing some members of our societyand/or one another through homoge-nizing, unique identities?"

Despite the challenges and complex-ity facing researchers and policymakersas they define and redefine multicul-turalism the 21st century, MichaelAdams left participants with a fewoptimistic findings. He said that whileCanadians have a healthy tendencytowards self-criticism, they also tend tosee multiculturalism as a positive forcein their country. To illustrate this fact,he noted that in 2003, 85 percent ofCanadians said that multiculturalismwas an important part of the Canadianidentity. Adams also pointed to pollswhich suggest that on a global scaleCanadians are more positive thanother countries about immigration andethnic diversity. Canadians are morelikely than citizens of any other nationto believe that immigrants are general-ly good for the country to which theymigrate.

These positive attitudes may bereflected in the experiences of new-comers. Adams explained that inrecent polling he conducted on theexperiences of Muslims in Canada(this study replicated surveys conduct-ed by the Pew Center in Washington,D.C. of Muslim minorities in severalWestern countries), Canadian Muslimstended to express the highest levels ofsatisfaction with life in Canada andwere the least likely to feel that othersin their adoptive country were hostileto Muslims.

Together these speakers provideinsight into some of the issues anddebates about multiculturalism policy.The concept of multiculturalism isimportant to Canadians, but how it hasexpressed itself in policy is shifting toreflect the changing nature of Canadi-an societies. The success of multicul-turalism and other policies that pro-mote inclusion will determine thefuture economic, social and culturalsuccess of cities.

Sandra Lopes is the Manger of Policyand Research at The Maytree Foun-dation.

Additional Reading:

Belonging? Diversity, Recognition and SharedCitizenship in Canada, edited by KeithBanting, Thomas J. Courchene and F.Leslie Seidle. Institute for Research onPublic Policy, February 2007.

John Biles and Humera Ibrahim, “Religionand Public Policy: Immigration, Citizen-ship, and Multiculturalism – Guess who iscoming to dinner?” in Religion and Ethnicityin Canada edited by P. Bramadat and D.Seljak. Person Longman, 2005.

“Multicultural Futures? Challenges andSolutions,” Special Issue of Canadian Diver-sity, Vol. 4 No. 1, Winter 2005.

Multiculturalism and the Welfare State:Recognition and Redistribution in Contempo-rary Democracies, edited by Keith Bantingand Will Kymlicka. Oxford UniversityPress, 2006.

Mohammad A. Qadeer, “The Charter andMulticulturalism.” Policy Options. Institutefor Research on Public Policy, February2007.

Janice Stein, David Robertson Cameron,John Ibbitson, Will Kymlicka, John Meisel,Haroon Siddiqui, and Michael Valpy.Uneasy Partners: Multiculturalism and Rightsin Canada. Wilfrid Laurier UniversityPress, 2007.


Multiculturalism at a Crossroads Sandra Lopes

To honour author and urbanactivist Jane Jacobs, who diedApril 25, 2006, Mayor David

Miller announced in November 2006that May 4th would officially be “JaneJacobs Day” in Toronto.

Many of Jane’s peers, colleagues,friends and admirers discussed how bestto honour her legacy and settled on theidea of “Jane’s Walk”, to reinforce heridea of walkable, dense, compact anddiverse neighbourhoods as the hall-marks of a healthy city. These charac-teristics help knit together the peopleof a neighborhood into a strong andresourceful community.

The First Annual “Jane’s Walk” tookplace on Saturday, May 5, 2007, innumerous locations throughoutToronto. Each walk featured a tourguide who spoke knowledgeably aboutthe neighbourhood, and highlightedthe people, places, and public spacesthat make that particular communityinteresting and unique.

Turnout for the walks was an excep-tional 2,000 estimated participants,and the walks varied from aCabbagetown tour with formerToronto mayor John Sewell, to a tourof Kensington Market with CouncillorAdam Vaughan, to a nighttime walk inthe back alleys of the Grange with MaxAllen (to name only a few).

A photo contest also yielded somewonderful entries taken on the walks,some of which are presented on thecover of this issue, and also in the fol-lowing pages.

“Jane’s Walk” was an opportunity forTorontonians to discover the city; bothplaces they know well, and places theywant to explore.

www.janeswalk.net


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For the last twenty years, RobertoMartella has greeted neighbours,friends and celebrities alike at the

North Toronto restaurant that he andhis wife, Lucia, operate on YongeStreet just south of Eglinton Avenue.The restaurant is a mix of culinary andcultural expression; a meeting placewhere musicians, artists, academics,entrepreneurs, writers and wine loverscome together under the spell ofRoberto’s gracious and warm hospitali-ty. Roberto is the consummate host,connecting together food and ideasand people, all the while championingthe best of Canadian and Italian cul-ture.

Grano is much more than just arestaurant; Roberto has brought peopletogether through Italian languageclasses, the well-known Grano Series(a salon series of current events), liter-ary readings, mentoring dinners bring-ing new young artists and musicianstogether with the older establishment,a TV show, Cooking with Saints, andnumerous other planned and sponta-neous gatherings of the interested andinteresting. Roberto says, “In Canadaour institutions have failed to bring ustogether. We need to get out of ourpsychic enclaves and recognize howmuch we share in common.”

“Jane liked the idea of what shecalled ‘commensality’, the building ofcommunity by breaking bread togeth-er”, says Alan Broadbent, founder ofthe prize. “Roberto understands thisin his bones and has made Grano somuch more than just a restaurant. Ithas become a vital centre of socialcohesion in Toronto.”

In 1986 Roberto and his wife Luciapurchased part of the current YongeStreet property and opened the restau-

rant. While Lucia oversees thekitchen, Roberto works the front of thehouse. They have always livedupstairs, expanding the premises as therestaurant prospered and their familyexpanded. Their home reflects thesame mix of rich colours, country fur-niture and art as the restaurant below.

In addition to the restaurant and itsmany gatherings, Roberto has con-tributed to the broader community byserving on a wide range of boardsincluding the Canadian OperaCompany, the Columbus Centre, the

Institute of Contemporary Culture atthe Royal Ontario Museum, theToronto City Summit Alliance, theToronto Symphony Orchestra, and theLuminato Arts Festival.

As the recipient of the eighth annu-al Jane Jacobs Prize, Roberto receives acash award of $5,000 per year for threeyears. The prize was created to high-light and celebrate the contribution ofan individual to the life of the TorontoRegion.


Jane Jacobs Prize Winner 2006 Roberto Martella

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Documents

Volume 4, Number 1 · Toronto’s official Plan, the population of the City of Toronto will grow by 537,000 people to three million by 2031. Population gr owth in the periph - eral