The Call for Critical Multiculturalism: Indigenous and Newcomer Relationships within the Canadian Context

Abstract

This review looks at the current literature within Indigenous and newcomer relationships under the contemporary Canadian multicultural framework. The ever-increasing prevalence of Indigenous social movements and instances of cross-continental migration position the topic at the forefront of social policy since the inception of multiculturalism as a governmental policy in the 1970s. Traditional multiculturalism positions newcomer populations in support of the ongoing formation of the Canadian settler state due to factors of misinformation and hierarchized measures of a newcomer group’s ability to successfully integrate. Considerable efforts are required to diminish the discursive gap between the historically oppressed social groups. The literature posits structural change within the theory of critical multiculturalism to support nuanced binationalism and increased instances of social interaction. These efforts are required to facilitate a potentially transformative relationship between each group in relation to the greater multicultural project.