

Amplifying and Engaging the Voices of Youth...
MY Voice is a non-profit, youth-run organization that strives to empower youth by providing them with opportunities to exercise their creativity through a positive media platform
Canada is undeniably a diverse nation, but is the country exactly as accepting of its diversity as it has always been promoted to be? Should a stereotype of a country’s people, however positive, really be judged as accurate to reality?
As Muslims, we are growing up in a troubling era. In fact, people of any background are growing up in an era that is troubling. But through suspicion, fear, antagonism and other emotions which divide us, Canada seems to endure. Meanwhile, in my experience of Britain, we can comfortably live side by side for the most part, but there’s some unspoken disconnect I feel between different communities. Tolerance, yes, but harmony? We’re working on it.
In this hostile global political climate, people of many countries look at Canada with the hope that theirs will someday emulate the positive and accepting image portrayed by the Canadians. Asking a couple of my international contacts about their opinions of Canada, I get a positive response.
A relative living in New York City, says, “Based on what I know, I absolutely think it’s a country that accepts diversity. I haven’t been there in a long time, but I visited often as a kid, and I always thought everyone was so nice. As an adult, I’ve met many people in New York from Canada, and I’ve always found them to be the kindest, funniest, most unpretentious people.
She adds, “I’ve also found that Canadians are particularly active and love doing outdoorsy, adventurous things. I think that makes people happy, so they’re just generally friendlier.”
Meanwhile, a friend from New Zealand replied, “What I hear often is that Canada is a way more accepting and liberal place than America, and that the prime minister is ‘chill’.” She also commented that, “Canada seems to be a good place regarding accepting Muslims.” The existence of this magazine seems to me to prove Muslims have successfully fused their Canadian identity to their Islamic heritage.
However, as one might expect, Canada isn’t perfect either. Roughly a hundred active hate groups in the country have been identified, it’s been suggested that the Canadian public are generally less aware of right-wing extremism than terrorism from other sources. In the end, Canada is full of people with different ideologies, and this includes extremism and hatred. Canada is also a country built on borrowed land, and can you truthfully say the authorities have done right by the First Nations people? Fair treatment for the indigenous population seems lacking, after a quick Google. Undoubtedly, acts of violence, prejudice and hate as well as government inadequacy to address systemic disadvantages of certain groups thrive in every country, and unfortunately, no place in the world is immune to discrimination. It is important for us to remember no country is infallible, even if the grass is always greener on the other side of the Atlantic.
But if it’s truly possible for different groups to all live in complete understanding, empathy and love for one another, I have faith that it will happen, and that it will happen in your country. And if you, the new generation, always keep progressing even when the world seems to be slipping back to darker times, you can light the way forward for us. It’s the youth who carry the future on their shoulders, after all.
MY Voice is a non-profit, youth-run organization that strives to empower youth by providing them with opportunities to exercise their creativity through a positive media platform.
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