A10(b) - Public Discourse and Opinion About Immigration in Canada
Date: Jun 3 | Time: 10:30am to 12:00pm | Location:
Chair/Président/Présidente : Catherine Xhardez (Concordia University)
Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : François Rocher (University of Ottawa)
Session Abstract: Over the past decades, the politics of immigration, the presence of immigrants, and the accommodation of ethnocultural and religious minorities have generated lively discussions and heated debates among scholars, politicians, and the broader society in various liberal democracies. The Canadian case, despite symbols of inclusion and acceptance brought in by the ideal of multiculturalism, is no exception. Anti-diversity sentiments and anxieties over immigration and asylum seekers have recently surfaced in a more acute manner. Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada and its critique of ‘extreme multiculturalism,’ recent polls showing concerns over immigration, or the increased visibility of anti-immigration organisations across the country constitute examples of this phenomenon. How can we account for current public discourse and opinion about immigration and diversity? This panel aims to shed light on recent sociopolitical events in Canada. It welcomes proposals that allow for a better understanding of factors and processes that might influence the construction of anti-immigration discourse and opinion.
Immigration and the Imagined Community: Province-wide Norm or Local-level Realities in Quebec?: Antoine Bilodeau (Concordia University), Luc Turgeon (University of Ottawa), Laurence Lessard-Phillips (University of Birmingham)
Abstract: What does it take to be a true member of a nation? Research on the topic has generally portrayed variations across national communities (Kunovich, 2009) or how minority and majority nations of a single country differ (Bilodeau and Turgeon, 2019). To our knowledge, scholars have never examined local-level variations within a single nation.
The common view is that the attainable and ascriptive characteristics used to define national identity should be broadly uniformed across localities of a single nation. After all, nations are imagined communities built from national narratives and reproduced by national agents of social socialization that include government policies and discourses, schools, and media (Anderson, 1983). Yet, despite the structuring role of such national agents of socialization, realities of localities across a nation vary greatly. When it comes to ethnocultural diversity, local governments may enact unique policies (Goods, 2009) and local environments vary in demographic composition, which has an impact on how populations feel toward ethnocultural diversity (see Pottie-Sherman and Wilkes, 2017). Accordingly, we could expect the definition of true nationals to vary at the local level.
Using the case of Quebec, a minority nation within Canada, this paper examines whether Quebecers of different localities converge in their definition of national identity or whether local-level factors engineer differences in the definition of national identity. Using a stratified 2019 survey of almost 5500 Quebecers, it investigates whether, how, and why the definition of a true Quebecer varies across 55 localities and borrows of the province.
Pathways to Identity Politics: The Construction of Anti-Immigration Opinions in Quebec: Audrey Gagnon (Concordia University)
Abstract: In the past two decades, anti-immigration rhetoric and anti-immigrant sentiments have become more prominent in liberal democracies. Quebec is no exception to these dynamics. Recent polls showing concerns over immigration and accommodation of ethnocultural and religious minorities, and the increased visibility of (white) identity organisations constitute examples. While these observations highlight the rise of a new phenomenon, they do not allow us to understand it. As such, it seems crucial to meet and talk to individuals showing signs of the tendency to oppose immigration and reasonable accommodations in order to better understand their reasoning and rationalization, and to highlight the sources of their opinions. How can we explain the construction of anti-immigration opinions among some individuals in Quebec? Through the conduct of semi-structured interviews with both Quebecers (N=25) and members of identity organisations (N=15) living in various localities across the province, this research aims to deepen our understanding of the construction of negative opinions about immigration. Results highlight the role of critical events, storytelling, and media in generating fear, moral outrage, and feeling of injustice regarding immigration and integration in Quebec.
Who Discriminates Against Minority Candidates? : Randy Besco (University of Toronto ), Go Murakami (Ritsumei University)
Abstract: If there is electoral discrimination against ethnic minority candidates, who discriminates? Resent research using electoral results data found that Conservative minority candidates received less votes. However, this administrative data does not include information about the voters who are discriminating. To examine this, our study analyzes the relationship between candidates' ethnicity and vote choice by pooling five Canadian Election Studies between 2004 and 2015, and linking this to candidate and census data. Specifically, we test whether non-partisans, the more politically knowledgeable, and those with negative affects towards ethnic minorities are less likely to support ethnic minority candidates. We expect that discrimination will be most likely for respondents high in prejudice and political knowledge, since they will be both motivated to discriminate and aware of the candidates. Partisanship is less clear: theoretically we would expect partisans to stay loyal to their party, but research in other countries has shown the opposite.
The Paucity of Debate on Immigration in Canada: The Missing Partisan Connection: Aengus Bridgman (McGill University)
Abstract: Canada, unlike many other advanced democracies, has seen little national debate on immigration and cultural integration. The 2019 Canadian Federal Election was no exception to this, with little debate on volume of immigration, integration programs, refugees, or other immigration-related themes. Explanations for this phenomenon abound, however, there has been little research into differential attention paid to immigration by categories of political actors. Using a unique dataset of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram activities of candidates of the six major parties, journalists, and the mass public, I examine the source of inattentiveness on immigration-related issues. I argue that mainstream-party interest is a necessary condition for issue salience during a campaign and that, in circumstances where parties have strategic reasons to eschew an issue, that issue will not be salient despite broad public interest.