Race in the Election…in Canada!
by Special Correspondent Thea Lim
SURPRISE! Canada is having an election this year too!
However, wily characters that we are, our election was called as recently as September 7, and we’re still going to beat our American neighbours to the polls when we vote next week. However, that’s basically it for pluses when it comes to Canadian politics: advance polls are saying that we will most likely end up with a Conservative majority. *
On Tuesday my friend Leslie sent me this Globe and Mail article on “sophisticated new methods” that parties are turning to in order to figure out how to lure in those mysterious “ethnic” voters.
For the first time in a federal election, three of Canada’s five main political parties are using a sophisticated new micro-targeting voter-profile tool, which outlines people’s ethnicity, social values and income level, cross-referenced with their political support.
The tool, developed by Environics, allows political strategists to fine-tune their message for voters at the neighbourhood level, helping candidates win key battleground ridings in Ontario and British Columbia, many of which have large ethnic communities.
“This tool not only gives you the big picture, but goes to a riding level and tells you which percentage of voter groups live in the riding and whether ethnicity is an issue,” said Jan Kestle, president of Environics Analytics.
There is a sudden demand for multicultural research tools such as this one, as Canada’s ethnic communities grow in size and political importance. Now that immigrants no longer vote exclusively for the Liberals, all parties are reaching out to them.
Please note the equation of “ethnic communities” with “immigrants.” In case you are foggy on the Canadian history: similarly to the US, people of colour have been living in Canada for almost as long as white folks have. Sure many people of colour in Canada are recent immigrants, but many (especially in Western Canada) have been here for generations.
“It’s a numbers game. The election can turn on a dime. Ethnics play a key role in this and happen to be living in the ridings that are close,” said David Crapper, president of Genesis Public Opinion Research Inc., the Conservatives’ official pollster in the 2006 election.
Goodness, “Ethnics” playing a key role in an election? What is the world coming to??
For example, in Newton-North Delta, suburban upscale ethnic voters comprised 64 per cent of eligible voters in the 2006 election. However they were 68 per cent of the Liberal vote and only 54 per cent of the Conservative vote in the riding.Suburban upscale ethnics are described as recent immigrants from China, India, Pakistan and the Philippines, with white-collar and service-sector jobs. They tend to have children who play outdoor sports, own lots of computer electronics and enjoy rock concerts and amusement parks. They aren’t interested in ecology or status recognition, but are global in outlook, tend to be savers, and enjoy trying new products and services.
“This information helps candidates with messaging, how to talk to these people and what their core belief systems are,” said Ms. Kestle. For example, a candidate could emphasize crime, but not environmental issues, when talking to a suburban upscale ethnic audience.
The question on my mind is, why are these shadowy ethnic communities so enigmatic that political parties have to rely on fancy pants high-tech tools to understand what’s important to these communities?
Wouldn’t it be cheaper to include members from these communities in political parties and political decision-making? If these dadburned ethnic communities were more represented within the parties, parties wouldn’t have to go digging up data on whether or not Pakistani children like amusement parks. They wouldn’t have to go hunting for the interests of communities of colour, because they would actually share them.
I guess equity is just that much more expensive than micro-targeting voter-profile tools.
—
* Just in case you are wondering why a Conservative majority government is a bad thing, here are some of the things the incumbent minority Conservative government (led by Stephen Harper) has done in the past 3 years:
- Cut funding to the Status of Women office, so that women’s advocacy groups whose activities included “lobbying” could no longer receive funding. As well the word “equality” was removed from the Status of Women’s mandate.
- Passed changes to immigration laws so that now just one person (the minister) has the power to approve or reject immigration claims
- Tried and failed to pass Bill C-484, which would “allow separate homicide charges to be laid in the death of a fetus when a pregnant woman is attacked”, raising concerns from pro-choice activists that the bill was a step towards the re-criminalization of abortion
- Tried and failed to outlaw same-sex marriage
- Made official apologies both for the Chinese Head Tax and Residential Schools, but the lack of real commitment to racial equity makes both these apologies seem pretty hollow. In fact, they seem more like sleazy politics: an easy (and meaningless) way to make the Conservatives look progressive, without any actual work. Read Jessica Yee’s take on the topic here.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Cynthia wrote:
Thea, mass immigration only opened up around 40years ago, allowing more people of non-European descent to come in, so yes, I would say that most non-white Canadians haven’t lived in Canada for more than two generations. To this day, it’s still a shock for me to hear any Asian person over the age of 40 who speaks English without an accent. David Suzuki and Adrienne Clarkson are exceptions to the rule.
I also want to know what is wrong with microtargeting. Maybe they should go as far as targeting someone like me: An upper-middle-class Canadian born Chinese female, late 20s, from Toronto and is more culturally Anglo-Canadian than Sino-Canadian. As for joining political parties, not everyone has the time to help out or feel comfortable inputing their views. It’s like trying to increase the number of women in “hard sciences.” You can’t just tell high school girls that more women need to be in these subjects if they’re not interested. It’s preaching to a choir.
There are also a lot of non-whites in politics within certain regions. But that depends on their cultural background. For example, from the sample of candidates I’ve seen in the GTA, South Asians are more likely to run than East Asians. It’s also interesting to note that most Asian MPs and members of provincial legislatures, at least in Ontario and BC were NOT born in Canada.
Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 9:08 am ¶
CVT wrote:
I don’t even know how to respond to the reference to “ethnics.” What the Hell is that really supposed to mean, anyway? Do black people count as “ethnic”? Or is it just “foreigners” like we Asian folks?
Being mixed, I’ve gotten so many references to my “ethnic” or “exotic” background, and it always pisses me off. Which is why I like to flip it with something along the lines of “oh yeah, it’s hard to get used to all these weird customs of my white side, but thank goodness for my ‘normal’ Chinese side – because without that, I’d never be able to be a positive member of society.”
Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 9:12 am ¶
Cynthia wrote:
CVT,
I would think that “ethnic” means anyone who isn’t of British, French or native descent. So black people would be “ethnic” along Italians, Russians, Spanish, Portuguese, etc. Not sure where Irish Canadians fit though.
Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 9:28 am ¶
talulah_m wrote:
“Suburban upscale ethnics”
*snorts* As opposed to those trashy, low-class ethnics you’ll find loitering at the Walmart!
“They aren’t interested in ecology or status recognition, but are global in outlook, tend to be savers, and enjoy trying new products and services.”
…are they seriously basing their campaign strategy on information that sounds like it could have been ripped from “Stuff White People Like” or its spinoffs? I mean, really? REALLY?
Oh, Canada. I thought of you as a cold and frosty haven in the event that McCain/Palin wins and I have to run screaming from my homeland, but I guess not.
Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 9:34 am ¶
Thea Lim wrote:
@ Cynthia
Actually I think it was in 1947 that the immigration acts were changed to allow immigration, so that is about 60 years ago.
However prior to the immigration acts of the early 1900s, (the Chinese Head Tax, Chinese Exclusion Act and the Continuous Journey Act for eg) many people of colour came to live in Canada – obviously, you are right, there were less POCs than white immigrants, but still they came in large numbers. Primarily to labour, build railroads, etc. Esp in the Japanese and Chinese communities. I am not so good on the history of black communities in Canada, if anyone else has info, please jump in.
You are right people didn’t start to come in large numbers until the latter part of last century. They did however still come, and they did contribute in a major way to Canadian history and culture.
I’m not sure if you live in Eastern or Western Canada – I live in Ontario and it’s harder for us to connect to this history since many of the POCs I know my age are second generation Canadians. That’s part of racism – communities of colour are fractured. In Western Canada you meet a lot more 3rd and 4th gen people.
I disagree with you that there aren’t a lot of POCs over 40 who speak English with a Canadian accent. I think that is a bit of a stereotype – I know many POC adults who have authentic Canadian accents. Like my dad for example, who came here in his 20s.
It’s important for us to know our histories, for us to know that we were here almost from the beginning of colonisation – not that that’s necessarily anything to be proud of, but it does change the way it feels when a white person tells you to go back to where you came from. Uh, no, YOU go back to where you came from.
I think the suggestion that it is lack of interest or time that keeps POCs out of government really ignores a lot of systemic and structural issues that keeps people out.
My issue with the microtargeting thing was that it just seemed so absurd – parties will gather info on voters and that’s run of the mill. But in this case, the way that the article described it, it just seemed ridiculous how unknown “ethnic communities” are to political parties. It speaks very loudly to the fact that there is a major disconnect between parties and communities of colour, and it exists because of race.
Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 9:35 am ¶
Sobia wrote:
Conservative majority??!!! NOOOOOOO!!!!! They would destroy this country.
But you know, the latest that I’ve been hearing is that Liberals are gaining numbers. The latest polls seem to say that Conservative support is going down and Liberal support up. I honestly don’t believe that the Conservatives will get a majority. But maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part.
Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 9:56 am ¶
Thea Lim wrote:
@talulah_m
I really like living in Canada, and in many ways feel very lucky to live here.
But I do always feel obliged to inform Americans that it is not some sort of socialist wonderland, but that we have a LOT of social problems too. Not just around systemic racism, but a lot of poverty, a lot of unemployment, an obscene amount of homelessness and issues with housing rights, lots of issues with access to reproductive rights and healthcare in general, police brutality, environmental racism, a welfare system that is unfair and discriminatory…
Though there are still lots of good things about Canada!
Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 10:02 am ¶
Cynthia wrote:
Thea,
I was mostly focusing on Asian Canadians. Your father is truly an exception to the rule if he came in his 20s and is completely accentless – my parents and most of their friends came to Canada for university and definitely do not sound anything close to the way their Canadian born children speak. Most people who came after the age of 12 or 13 would sound more like Olivia Chow (she was 13 or 14, I believe). You will find more accentless Asian Canadians over 40 out west, since many more are third/fourth gen.
Re immigration: 1947 was when Asian Canadians were finally granted the vote and you’re probably right that immigration opened up. But it was further opened in the late 60s when Trudeau was in power.
By the way, we’re probably looking at another Conservative minority considering that they’ve dipped quite a bit since the debates.
Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 10:07 am ¶
Renee wrote:
The “ethnics” thing comes as a bit of surprise only because Canadians tend to practice quiet racism. It is in the opportunities not offered and the things not said versus the kind of overt racism that exists in the states. This is slowly changing however as more and more people are visibly showing their discontent. I believe a lot of it has to do with the fact that people are struggling economically. The first thing the ruling bourgeoisie does when tough economic times come along is to throw up the race card so that poor people will fight amongst each other rather than targeting their rage at where it truly belongs. The perfect example of that is the recent commentary by Conservative Lee Richardson regarding immigration and crime. Of course the issue is the darkies because real Canadians (read:white) are good law abiding citizens. I believe as things become more and more difficult we are going to see more of this kind of thing occurring.
Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 10:58 am ¶
Thea Lim wrote:
@ Cynthia
Happy to hear that we might not get a conservative majority after all…when will Harper give up though? Seriously, 3 elections in 5 years? That’s redonculous!
1947 was the year Chinese Canadians got the vote and also the year the exclusion act was repealed. Big year! Though it wasn’t until 1960 that Aboriginals were given the right to vote (that kinda blows my mind because that really was very recent). Not sure when other ethnic groups got right to vote. Tried Googling “african canadians right to vote” but no luck.
I do still stand by my belief it’s a stereotype that most Asian Canadians over the age of 40 have non-Canadian accents!
I was thinking, as someone who doesn’t fit the profile of a Chinese person in Canada – ie b/c you say you feel more Anglo-Canadian – doesn’t this microtargeting data irritate you? It just makes so many sweeping generalisations about communities of colour, many of which don’t take your particular experience into account.
Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 11:01 am ¶
Thea Lim wrote:
Hrm, ok I think maybe everyone except Aboriginal people got the right to vote in 1947. I always get a bit annoyed when Canadian feminists unanimously celebrate the anniversary of women getting the vote (first province to grant women the vote: 1916 in Manitoba) without recognising that it was really only white women who got the vote.
Ok enough Canadian history!
Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 11:12 am ¶
jln wrote:
Thea wrote: I’m not sure if you live in Eastern or Western Canada – I live in Ontario and it’s harder for us to connect to this history since many of the POCs I know my age are second generation Canadians. That’s part of racism – communities of colour are fractured. In Western Canada you meet a lot more 3rd and 4th gen people.
This fracturing is interesting to me – I’m from Toronto (well, Scarborough anyway – one of those Agincourt CBCs – so even the white people I grew up with were first or second gen), and have had a number of friends move out to Alberta over the past three years. I don’t know how representative this is, but every one of them has talked about how many of those 3rd/4th gen people aren’t POCs – as in, they have a Japanese or Chinese last name, but are three quarters (or more) Scottish or Ukranian or just generically white.
Again, I don’t know, but I get the impression that those people are even on the radar for “ethnic” political marketing – not that they’re being avoided, just that they register as “mainstream” in a way that the communities in Toronto or Vancouver do not.
Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 12:05 pm ¶
Cynthia wrote:
Thea,
I’d actually LOVE to be micro-targeted, but I’m not (at least not specifically) because people don’t think I exist, or think that I either fall into the Anglo market or the Chinese market. I *DO* think it makes some things easier when it comes to language and signage in certain areas of Toronto or Vancouver. Many, especially those who are older, do not speak English well enough to get around.
Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 12:50 pm ¶
jvansteppes wrote:
The problem with being microtargeted is that usually people get it wrong. At least that’s my experience as a queer lady who gets offered a rainbow Mastercard every June. Who says ’suburban ethnic’ [as if white people don't have ethnicity] people don’t care about the environment?
I don’t find Canadian racism particularly subtle; in Alberta, where I was born, and in Quebec, where I live now, racism is pretty hard to ignore. I remember when I first moved to Quebec I was so happy to see francophone black people treated better than me by white people at the bank because even though I’m white my french is a disaster. Then the ‘reasonable accommodation’ bullshit arrived and I couldn’t go anywhere without hearing white people talking about dangerous Muslims.
Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 4:18 pm ¶
jln wrote:
jvansteppes: The problem with being microtargeted is that usually people get it wrong.
Do they usually get it wrong though?
Even when (Toronto City Councillor) Raymond Cho ran for MPP as an independent and was accused of playing down his Korean-ness in an attempt to pass for Chinese, that was less “wrong” in the misunderstanding the community sense (if you believe it happened, which I don’t really think it did), than it’s wrong in the sense of just being generally sleazy.
Even when Mario Silva (a Liberal MP from downtown Toronto) gets accused of pandering to the Portuguese community, the community itself actually seems to love him (or at least he keeps getting elected in his mostly-Portuguese riding). So that audience at least doesn’t think he’s gotten it wrong.
Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 4:48 pm ¶
Restructure! wrote:
I would want to be microtargetted, but they are doing it all wrong by making generalizations based on ethnicity, such as lumping together foreign-born and Canadian-born “ethnics” (since they are assuming that all “ethnics” are immigrants).
For example, I am “an upper-middle-class Canadian born Chinese female, late 20s, from Toronto and is more culturally Anglo-Canadian than Sino-Canadian”, but I am a polar opposite of Cynthia. Cynthia is actually upper class and is conservative, while I am real upper middle class, and am radical left.
Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 5:13 pm ¶
Asha wrote:
Ah Canadian politics. So frustrating. I want to back up Thea Lim’s point about recentness and accentedness. Consider, for example, the 6th generation canadian black folks on the east coast. Also, I don’t know that it’s really fair for Cynthia to extrapolate on accentedness based just on her acquaintances since is my experience, “accent” having and not having is based on numerous factors, not just how long you’ve been in the country. some people *gasp* actively keep their non-Canadian accents, others can shift from one accent to another depending on who they are talking to. this goes for people of all sorts of backgrounds and relates to class (rich people tend to be more bent on assimilation than poorer people if only because it’s more possible for them to sort of succeed) and political stances (as in, are you assimilationist or cultural nationalist or something inbetween).
as for microtargeting, lots of the theories that they have about “ethnics” are totally off or about very specific sections of a community. plus, all of the parties have people of colour MPs (some more than others obviously, since by and large people of colour are still more for the liberals than the conservatives; also, the ndp has the highest number of poc as well as women candidates if i remember correctly) so why they can’t just actually listen to the POCs in their ranks is beyond me.
Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 11:42 pm ¶
Asmaa wrote:
It’s quite telling that the government is only interested in “ethnics” for their voting potential.
Rather than being genuinely invested in improving people’s quality of life, the government simply wants more information on how to take advantage of minority populations. That is essentially what they’ll be doing here; researching minorities, promising them “ethnics” the things they want and need, then failing to live up to those promises.
Typical.
Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 6:07 pm ¶
jln wrote:
Well, given that this election was called for no reason, I think it’s probably fair to say that the government is only interested in *anyone* for their voting potential!
Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 10:42 pm ¶
Asmaa wrote:
Agreed.
Posted 16 Oct 2008 at 10:42 am ¶