The Quest for an Inclusive City - Metropolis BC

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What we hear in this instance is an implicit multicultural ideal of an equality of sharing, of
mutual adapting, of genuine interest between host and newcomer cultures that goes beyond the
superficial ‘gourmet multiculturalism’ to a real interest in the history and culture of the Other. We
also hear an implicit spatial ideal, linked to a notion of full participation in Canadian society, a spatial
ideal that expresses an inclusive rather than exclusive city, where notions and experiences of ‘our’
space and ‘their’ space would no longer exist. This socio-spatial formulation of an/Other
multiculturalism does seem to parallel the normative ideal of multicultural citizenship as we
expressed it in section one. There we talked about dual meanings of the ‘right to the city’: the right to
occupy space, and the right to participate in decisions about the life of the city, including the
production of space. Clearly, from our participants’ perspective, the first right is significantly
circumscribed. What about the second, the right to participate
The focus group discussion of this issue began with the remark by one participant that even
though rights are granted to immigrants by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, ‘each and every one
has to assert their rights’ (FG Ind1). And then another jumps in, agitated. ‘But for a newcomer
community… you can’t expect a newcomer to automatically assert their rights’ (FG Ind8). And
another jumps in to explain the lack of participation.
‘Like why is it – that is a very key question. One, is definitely access to the system,
accessing the system in the sense that the system be open to the community
participation … I think in terms of resources, the community’s resources to
participate, that is another thing that definitely prevents them. I mean we can sit here
and talk about participation at different levels of government, but while the
community is struggling… I mean you can’t expect a person who is just trying to get
food and shelter and money for that to come and participate. … they have immediate
problems that they are trying to deal with, right In that sense, there need to be more
programs. They could upgrade their skills and that would help them eventually work
on those problems and at the same time connect to the system’ (FG Ind7).
But there are also other problems, he continues, on a roll.
‘How is it going to help me… my participation, how is it going to impact… If I
don’t believe in the system, if I don’t understand the whole system, then you know
you have problems. You won’t be able to engage them, you won’t be able to
empower them and thereby you won’t be able to make any changes… so we should
look at those factors. Why is it that they are not engaged It could be language, it
could be resources, it could be that the system’s indifferent to their participation, it
could be barriers of the system…’ (ibid)
This gets everyone excited, and a young woman interjects:
‘Is it the community’s responsibility, or is it the system Because I wonder why there
is a need for an organization like CTC, right Why some community members get
together to form an organization to work with their community without, without any