Canadian Ethnic Conflict

McGarry and O'Leary discuss regional and ethnic conflicts in terms of the two ways of coping with them--eliminating differences, or managing differences. At one time, it might have been hoped in Canada that the linguistic differences would disappear. We have seen efforts in the United States in recent years to avoid this sort of problem by insisting on English only at the level of government. In Canada, linguistic differences were essentially institutionalized through the means taken to manage differences, such as consociationalism. Many of the means taken elsewhere to eliminate differences have involved violence and forced mass movements, which Canada has avoided by undertaking to manage differences. The problem now is that much of the French-speaking population in Quebec is seeking a different solution--secession and self-determination.

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r that causes each to insist on linguistic dominance is the uneven geographical distribution of the two main linguistic groups. Historically, the position of the two groups has shifted, for the French were originally the majority. The English and French elites negotiated a power-sharing arrangement to avoid a civil war (McGarry and O'Leary 42-45). The Canadian system has emphasized rather than diminished the differences between the two populations, and other cleavages have also prevented a truly national consensus from emerging on these issues and others. The Canadian system has always been one in which the people have trusted local government more than federal government, and this has contributed to the retention of certain local attitudes and has bolstered the separatists in Quebec. The balance between federalism and confederation has contributed to continuing ethnic and regional differences rather than truly managing them. Work Cited McGarry, John and Brendan O'Leary. The Politics of Ethnic Conflict Regulation. New York: Routledge, 1993. Different elements of ethnoregional conflict can be seen in the situations in the Basque country of Spain and in the rise of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in Scotland. The
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Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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