The Quest for an Inclusive City - Metropolis BC

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‘What we like as Tamils … they recognize each one (culture) and give them respect
and rights. … It is not enough, but at least we have it. They are broadminded, not like
other countries or their policies. So we are lucky actually, to be here’ (Org2).
What all of these participants were telling us was that they were grateful to be here, that they
knew anecdotally that Canada is a better place to be than, for example, most European countries, and
that it didn’t feel appropriate to be critical. Fear, too, may have been a factor in this reluctance. But,
as one older man reflected, the fear is relative. ‘The fear we had when we came here, compared to the
fear we had there – is nothing. There you lived in 24 hours without knowing in the next minute
whether you will live or not’ (Org9). Nevertheless this same man went on to talk about everyday
experiences of racism in Toronto. ‘You know, we had incidents of these people coming after us and
telling us something, you know. Or police stop, will ask you questions. Or your employer will tell
you something. Those are small incidents that comes and goes. … When you go to a bar, sometimes
they joke with you. I was working at the Silver Dollar. … I face a lot of difficulties there too. People
come to me, shout at me, fight with me, what are you doing here and all those things. But… it didn’t
stop me’ (Org9).
In this section we explore the experience of being a citizen, from a Tamil perspective, asking
whether their experience corresponds at all to the normative ideal of multicultural citizenship. To
answer these probing questions we draw primarily on the focus group interviews because it was in
this session that we felt participants in our study were at their most open and frank. This may have
been because we had by the time of the focus group been getting acquainted with this community for
over a year. It may also have been because it’s more comfortable to speak when surrounded by
familiarity when among people who understand your cultural perspective. Finally, the eight
participants in the focus group, as members of the CTC, are politicized individuals who have been
working together on Tamil issues for a few years and spend a lot of time discussing among
themselves the kinds of questions we posed.
We specifically plumb the focus group session for the ways it illuminates the experience of
belonging, of citizenship, as an ability to occupy space, to retain a strong sense of cultural identity,
and to participate in the life and decisions of the city. In addition, we will draw on focus group
references to service provision and resource allocation, and to the perceived role of civil society in
creating an environment to foster multiculturalism.
In section 2 we described the social geography of Tamil settlement in the past two decades,
and the creation of two distinct enclaves, one urban, the other suburban, in which Tamils have made
their mark on the landscape through residential concentration, the building of temples, and the