The Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of State (Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity) issued a news release April 3/08 commenting on Statistics Canada latest release on immigration in Canada, “Canada’s Ethnocultural Mosaic, 2006 Census“. Here’s some of what was in the release:
“A particularly interesting statistic from the 2006 Census shows the highest ever proportion of people reporting “Canadian” as ethnic origin. Almost 10.1 million people, one-third of the total population, reported Canadian as their ethnic ancestry. In addition, more than half of those reporting have multiple origins, better illustrating the living diversity in our country.
Our government is pleased to support initiatives that preserve and promote Canadian identity. For example, we are a partner in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, a powerful symbol of this country’s commitment to recognizing, promoting, and celebrating human rights. We are also supporting the Aga Khan’s Global Centre for Pluralism, which will serve as a cornerstone of good governance, the rule of law, and human development in the years ahead.
The Government of Canada is also fully cognizant of the need to have policies and programs that reflect our changing population. We have revised the Multiculturalism Program to focus on promoting integration, combatting radicalization, and encouraging collaborative projects between Canadians from diverse backgrounds. In fact, our annual report to Parliament underscored this new focus with its title, Promoting Integration“.
Promoting Integration includes several references to children. PDF version available here. HTML version.
