Description:

In December 2000, Canada and the European Union signed an accord on cooperation on justice and home affairs. One aspect of this accord was a commitment to share best practices and research on migration and the social and economic integration of migrants through the Metropolis Project in which both Canada and the European Commission are active partners. This Canada-Europe Panel on Social Integration of Immigrants is being organized to follow through on this commitment.

Recent events in Europe, such as the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, have challenged the idea that the social integration of immigrants is a two-way process characterized by a gradual adjustment their communities, and their institutions on one hand and of the host society and its institutions on the other. An increasing number of commentators, including European political figures, are concerned that some migrants are attempting to go beyond this two way adjustment, preferring to impose the values of their homeland upon their society of destination. This, it is felt, will damage integration outcomes and might lead to serious social division.

This Canada-European Union panel will ask whether multiculturalism and integration as commonly understood in Canada and Europe needs to be re-thought and, if so, what ought to be the future directions of integration policy.

Panel:

Rinus Penninx, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Yngve Lithman, University of Bergen, Norway
Bobby S. Sayyid, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
Paul Bramadat, University of Winnipeg
Daniel Weinstock, University of Montréal
Other government representatives to be confirmed

Supported by:
The Metropolis Project
European Commission
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC)
UNESCO
Canadian Heritage
Library of Parliament