Gérard Bouchard and Graham Fraser
Pluralist Societies: what’s their future?
Friday, June 3
12:15 to 13:20
Edmund Casey Hall, Ted Daigle Auditorium
Based on recent history in the Netherlands, France and Germany, one would believe that pluralism is running out of steam. Quebec is asking how far to go in accommodating cultural differences in a society and how far to go in protecting the French language. In other parts of the country, voices are being heard asking if the time has not come to start a new debate on the values and policies that enabled Canada to project its image of a bilingual, pluralist, and multicultural country.
Is it possible to reinvent Canadian society in the 21st century and build a future where each can live and contribute to the common good? Is pluralism, bilingualism and multilingualism the sole responsibility of governments? In a globalized world, how is it possible to understand and accommodate notions of identity, citizenship, and diversity which are no longer tied to place?
During this conversation at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, the Commissioner of Official Languages, Graham Fraser, and Quebec sociologist and co-chair of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission on Accommodation Practices Related to Cultural Differences, Dr. Gérard Bouchard, will discuss the new challenges that are created by the context of pluralist cultures, and variousethnic origins, languages and religion that exist in Canadian society today.
