To Be Inclusive, Canada Must Be Vigilant, Says Ambassador to Norway, Addressing Global Health Students
How do we combat discrimination? How do we facilitate integration? How do we ensure equality and inclusion for all citizens?
These were the questions raised in a recent WebEx presentation on multiculturalism in Canada, delivered by Canada’s Ambassador to Norway, Artur Wilczynski, who spoke to MSc Global Health students as part of McMaster’s joint course with University of Southeast Norway (USN): Global Transitions within local communities. Small places, big changes.
“Canada is at its core and will continue to become an increasingly diverse society – and how we manage that diversity is a fundamental question,” said the Ambassador, speaking from Norway and addressing students at USN and McMaster.
He set the stage with a personal story about his own positive experiences as an immigrant who was driven from Poland fifty years ago as a result of an anti-Semitic communist agenda.
The Ambassador drew attention to the ways in which Canada enabled him to shape and embrace the multiple facets to his identity – including being a refugee, a grandson of Holocaust survivors, and a gay man.
But he was careful to point out that Canada is not without its flaws.
“I want to tackle this perception that Canada has it ‘right’ – and that inclusion and respect for diversity is something that is innately Canadian; It’s not,” noted the Ambassador, referencing the anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim hate crimes which are on the rise here in Canada.
To tackle these issues, the Ambassador argued that countries like Canada must first acknowledge that there is a problem. And then they must be vigilant.
“Governments and public leaders need to engage with communities to address these issues so we can continue to strive to be that inclusive society everyone thinks we’ve already achieved,” said the Ambassador.
He called for a collective effort – on the part of leaders in various sectors, from education to health care – to practice vigilance and, beyond that, to speak out and address problems.
The Ambassador closed his presentation with the idea that what it means to be Canadian cannot be defined by a stereotype, and that integration is about “the ability to participate fully without barriers.”
McMaster’s partnership with USN is supported through the High North Fund, which has allowed the university and its partners in higher education to welcome experts from all over the world to share their experiences and foster global citizenship on campus and beyond.
Global Health News
Related News
News Listing
Daily News ➚
A win for Canadian research: Ottawa boosts funding for graduate students, research grants
Global Health News
5 days ago
McMaster University Formalizes Partnership with University of Alabama at Birmingham
Global Health News
March 28, 2024
March 4, 2024