The tensions between the drive to celebrate diversity and the need for social cohesion comes under the spotlight next week at an international conference on Canadian society being held at the Jordanstown campus this week.

Entitled Diversity, Multiculturalism & Immigration: Lessons from Canada?, the conference takes place on Monday 4 December.

Keynote speaker at the conference is James Wright, Canada’s High Commissioner to the UK, who visits Northern Ireland for the first time since his appointment to the post earlier this year.

The High Commissioner takes as his theme “The Changing Face of Canada: Challenges for Public Policy and International Engagement, and will address the challenges and opportunities posed by multiculturalism in the age of international terror.

“Is there still wide agreement – if there ever was – on what is meant by multiculturalism? There is a new threat environment facing all countries. The phenomenon of home-grown terrorism is the subject of intense introspection in several societies, including in the UK and Canada. Can Canadians still declare their country a multicultural model for the world?” Mr Wright asks in his speech.

Joining the discussion are leading academics from Canada and the UK, who will focus on key themes including:

• The integration of new immigrants into society
• Social cohesion and ethnic diversity
• Canadian Lessons for Iraq and other hot-spots
• Canadian Multiculturalism and Québec Interculturalism

The conference is chaired by UU’s Professor Bob Osborne, who said: "Canada has played an important role in the peace process in Northern Ireland through involvement in decommissioning, helping oversee the policing changes and the Bloody Sunday inquiry.

"Over fifteen years ago, Northern Ireland drew heavily on Canada’s employment equity policy in reformulating fair employment legislation. Now we have an opportunity to learn how Canada is responding to increasing ethnic and racial diversity arising from substantial immigration especially in its big cities: Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

"These developments are taking place alongside the traditional anglophone/francophone divisions which continue to set the agenda for much of Canadian politics.

"Understanding how Canada is responding in policy terms may assist us in Northern Ireland as we develop better relations in terms of our religious divide and also seek to accommodate many new people settling in Northern Ireland from different countries."

This conference is the first major event in a programme of Canadian Studies at the University of Ulster during 2006 and 2007.

Click to Listen: news.ulster.ac.uk/podcasts/Wright.mp3 

For further information, please contact:

David Young
Telephone: 028 90366074
Email: David Young