DAR AL HARB - CANADA: TENSE RELATIONS BETWEEN CHRISTIANS & MOSLEMS ARE IN CANADA'S FUTURE

Muslim-Christian split becomes big new worry

On 140th birthday, fewer Canadians worry about English-French relations, survey finds
Randy Boswell, The Ottawa CitizenPublished: Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Canadians believe the country's traditional French-English tensions will be overshadowed by friction between Christians and Muslims when Canada celebrates its 150th anniversary a decade from now, according to a survey of attitudes by the Association for Canadian Studies.

Of the 1,500 people polled, 34 per cent said they were pessimistic about the future of Christian-Muslim relations and another 29 per cent expected tense interaction between aboriginal Canadians and non-aboriginals by 2017.

Respondents were much more optimistic that white Canadians and visible minorities, as well as Christians and Jews, would enjoy good relations in 10 years. Only 16 per cent and 14 per cent respectively were pessimistic about those relationships, similar to the 19 per cent who predicted troublesome French-English relations by the time Canada reaches its 150th birthday.

Twenty-three per cent said they were pessimistic about the relationship between religious and secular Canadians, and 22 per cent were pessimistic about immigrant-non-immigrant relations.
"For the most part, the results reflect a fair degree of optimism," says Jack Jedwab, executive director of the Montreal-based research association. "They do, however, suggest a shift in concerns away from language and inter-racial tensions to concerns over aboriginal-non-aboriginal and interfaith relations -- in particular relations between Christians and Muslims."

He noted that the Christian-Muslim relationship is a complex dynamic involving religious and cultural differences, highlighted by such flashpoint controversies as the debate over Shariah law and the expulsion of a female soccer player for wearing a hijab.

"Can you argue that this (tension) has displaced language concerns in Canada?" he asks. "I think you can, to some extent."

The poll, conducted in early June by Leger Marketing, is part of a series of public opinion surveys and studies commissioned by the ACS to mark Canada's 140th birthday on Sunday.

Mr. Jedwab said the survey on intercultural relations highlights a clear "paradigm shift" in Canadian anxieties from the traditional French-English divide to post-9/11 apprehensions about security on one hand and, on the other, racial profiling and similarly controversial practices that have stirred vocal opposition among Muslim Canadians.

Those tensions have been most pronounced in Quebec, the survey shows. It is the only province in which more respondents were pessimistic (49 per cent) than optimistic (47 per cent) about Christian-Muslim relations.

"Muslims are more of a focal point in Quebec," said Mr. Jedwab, citing the relatively high rate of Arab immigration to the province, the greater attention in Quebec given to the conflicts in France and other European countries with their Muslim communities, the broader rejection of religion in Quebec society compared with other provinces and the province's high-profile debate over "reasonable accommodation" of its religious minorities -- highlighted by controversies such as the town of Herouxville's "code of conduct" stereotyping of Islamic culture.

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1) Muslim-Christian split becomes big new worry