Knowing the Neighbours
“Constantly changing ethnic neighbourhoods have long contributed to the dynamism of Toronto.
But their growth raises questions about the city's future”, Nicholas Keung and Prithi Yelaja
write.
A decade ago, Markham deputy mayor Carole Bell sparked an uproar when she criticized the concentration
of Chinese settlement and malls in the town. The politician — insisting she was only voicing the concerns of
residents of the 200-year-old community — was troubled that "everything's going Chinese." Bell said the influx of
prosperous migrants from Hong Kong was creating a "racial monopoly" that might drive away the "backbone of
Markham."
Whether those statements were racist, as many protested, or
just a slip in the customary political correctness surrounding the issue,
Bell was treading into dangerous territory for politicians — concern
over the growing number of fiefs claimed by ethnic groups in bedroom
communities, beyond the traditional urban entry points.
Are the new ethnic enclaves a blessing or a curse to Canada?
Statistics Canada projects that visible minorities will make up
more than half of Toronto's population by 2017. Inevitably, that will
mean more neighbourhoods where people of similar heritage
concentrate. Some wonder whether we risk tipping the balance between
social unity and mere co-existence.
In the heart of one of Toronto’s best established
"I think we need to ask ourselves why people are bothered by
ethnic enclaves, three generations of an Italian
family gather at the Italian Monument at
ethnic enclaves. The right question to ask should be: Do ethnic
Woodbridge Community Centre. From eldest to
enclaves lead to exclusion of any group?" says Jean Lock-Kunz,
youngest: Giuseppa and Francesco Bocchicchio,
associate project director of Policy Research Initiative, an Ottawa
Angela Bocchicchio Valle-Garay and Pastor Vallethink-tank. "When you have such a high volume of newcomers in such
Garay, and sons Alejandro, Claudio, Antonio and
Gianfranco.
a short period of time, most from visible minority backgrounds, it's
hard not to notice them or avoid moving next to one of them."
Research by Ryerson University urban planning professors Mohammad Qadeer and Sandeep Kumar has
found that most members of ethnic communities do not live in enclaves. And it would be wrong, they say, to
pejoratively label Greater Toronto's enclaves as "ghettos."
"When you look at the Chinese enclave in Markham, the Italian enclave in Woodbridge and the South
Asian enclave in Brampton, it's not difficult to notice that they are not exclusive to one ethnicity," notes Qadeer.
"That means at least 20 to 40 per cent of the people in those enclaves are from other ethnicities. It just happens that
there's a concentration of one ethnic group in the area."
And "spatial integration" — measured by geographical distribution — may be the weakest indicator of
social participation and inclusion, Kumar says. "The traditional notion of `neighbourhood' does not exist any more.
With the advancement in technology, we pick up the phone to talk to our friends, get into our car to drive to see
them or log on the computer to chat with people on the Internet. We don't necessarily socialize with our next-door
neighbours. Even for those who happen to be of the same ethnic background, they simply are sharing the physical
space next to one another."
To accurately gauge the effects of enclave life on social cohesion, he says, researchers would have to ask
individuals how often they interact with people outside their ethnic community. Helen Poon has lived in an
apartment near Highway 7 and Leslie St., in the heart of Markham's Chinese commercial district, since she came to
Canada from Hong Kong a year ago. Up to 80 per cent of her neighbours are of Asian descent, but she says their
heritage has no bearing on her friendships.
"I don't really hang out with people in my building," says the 47-year-old single mother, who just quit her
administrative job at a community agency. "My close circle of friends are mostly Chinese, but I do have to interact
with people from all backgrounds through work, so it's not like I have zero contacts with the world outside of the
Chinese community."
York University sociology professor Paul Anisef says ethnic enclaves serve a vital function in settlement.
Newcomers rely heavily on their community's social network for housing, services and employment.
"There's nothing wrong with enclaves. A lot of people come here as new Canadians and they feel more
comfortable in sticking together, whether it is because of their shared language, traditions, cultures or religions," he
contends. But the increasing size of some ethnic communities also makes it easier to become segregated. Statistics
Canada researchers Feng Hou and Garnett Picot created an "isolation index": a measure of how likely members of
such enclaves are to meet people only of their ethnicity in the neighbourhood. The index for Chinese in Toronto rose
from 10 per cent in 1981 to 26 per cent in 2001. For South Asians in 2001, it was 20 per cent. Yet, if the severest
critics of ethnic enclaves were right, Canada as we know it wouldn't exist. From the earliest days of colonization,
ethnic groups — the English and the Irish, for example — first settled into their own distinct neighbourhoods.
"Some of these peoples were considered not possible to assimilate, with
their cultural and religious differences, but decades later, these Europeans now see
Ghetto or enclave?
more similarities among them when they look at themselves and the blacks and
others," explains Joseph Heath, a University of Toronto multiculturalism specialist.
The clustering of ethnic groups is
"The seamless integration of Europeans into one common identity seems easy, but
sometimes instinctively associated
we forget about all the challenges in the process. Integration takes time. You can't
with the classic American ghetto. But
really rush it or push it." Heath says most critics fail to acknowledge the dynamic
there's a huge difference, social
demographers point out.
nature of ethnic enclaves. Immigrants, especially in the second and third generations,
do move on and out of the enclave, to mix with the rest of society.
"Enclaves are not ghettos. The people you see in Little Italy and Chinatown
Ryerson University professor
Mohammad Qadeer says an enclave
are not the same group of people or families there 80 years ago," he points out.
emerges when a neighbourhood is
"What you really need to worry about is when enclaves persist beyond the first
self-sustaining, with full community
generation and reproduce themselves, with limited exit options for the people there."
and professional services that are
When Alberto DiGiovanni's family first came to Canada from Abruzzo in
culturally and linguistically sensitive
to the dominant ethnic group. Ethnic
the 1960s, they settled near Eglinton Ave. and Keele St. on the fringe of Little Italy.
restaurants, groceries, retail outlets,
The young man worked for a year before taking social science at the University of
medical offices and the like are the
Toronto, then a graduate degree in Italian studies. Meanwhile, his family, now more
landmarks of ethnic enclaves.
financially established, took that "exit option" and moved out of the old enclave,
north to Downsview.
In contrast, ghettos are marked
"As people become more affluent and do better economically, they want
by segregation based on race and
bigger houses and more space in their backyards for gardening," explained
associated with deep poverty,
unemployment, poor literacy skills
DiGiovanni, director of culture and education at Toronto's Columbus Italian cultural
and limited opportunity for social
centre. Now 63, he lives in a multicultural neighbourhood near Spadina and St. Clair
advancement, along with social
Aves. and has friends of all ethnic stripes. "A lot of Italian words are now part of
problems such as crime. "The bottom
English. You have all these — pasta, cannoli, you name it. We have come a long
line is, people in ghettos have no
choice (about where) to live,"
way," he explains. "Not every person takes the same time to integrate into the
explains University of Ottawa social
society. You can't really push it, but it will happen eventually." Cultural tensions are
geographer Brian Ray. "Ethnic
inevitable but will ease off when people learn to respect and appreciate different
enclaves are not necessarily an
values and perspectives, DiGiovanni believes.
impediment to social cohesion, but
poverty certainly is."
Qadeer and Kumar found that while some enclaves are expanding rapidly,
others, like the Caribbean and black enclaves that appeared in North York on a 1996
map similar to the 2003 version on this page, have already been diluted or dispersed.
Caroline Andrew, dean of social science at the University of Ottawa, suggests that concern over ethnic
enclaves stems from their greater visibility today. Andrew is more worried by the recent trend that has new
immigrants, often skilled professionals, doing much worse economically than their predecessors — experiencing the
kind of poverty that is associated with "ghettos" but not necessarily reflected in the suburban enclaves.
"We are seeing a growing number of our newcomers driving cabs, working as security guards or on
assembly lines. They have had a tough time integrating into our workforce," Andrew explains. "You see this
concentration of poverty and reduced rate of integration in certain city neighbourhoods. All these issues tend to
associate with visible minorities and new immigrants in the city. That's worrisome." Her Ottawa colleague, social
geographer Brian Ray, agrees.
"Enclaves have been used as a tool to target groups in the society. A bigger threat to our social cohesion is
underemployment and unemployment among those living there," he says. "As a society, we need to ensure there are
resources in place in those communities to help them integrate, so there's a way out."
SOURCE: The Toronto Star, June 25, 2005.
Knowing the Neighbours
Read the attached article entitled Knowing the Neighbours and answer the following questions
on the back of this sheet.
1. Define all of the words or phrases in bold font in the article. Some of the definitions
appear right in the article, others you will know on your own already, and some you
might have to look up in a dictionary.
2. List all of the different ethnic groups mentioned in the article. Is this list representative
of the cultures that are present in the Greater Toronto Area? Write down all of the ethnic
groups that you think exist in Peel Region.
3. What are some concerns that people have with ethnic enclaves? Are they valid concerns?
4. What is the “traditional form of neighbourhood”? Why is that type of neighbourhood not
in existence as much any more?
5. Why are ethnic enclaves important for new immigrants? What happens to those new
immigrants after a generation or two?
6. How did Canada become to be so multicultural over time? Because of that reputation,
how is Canada viewed in the rest of the world? How can we take advantage of this
situation?
7. Think about your friends and classmates. List all of the different ethnic groups that they
belong to, and then compare this list with your answer to question 2. Is Peel
representative of Canada’s multiculturalism?
8. Given your thoughts to the ethnic diversity in Peel, which of the following ethnic
groups do you suppose might have a community organization set-up in Peel?
French
Caribbean
Filipino
Polish
Greek
Hungarian
Italian
Ukranian
Spanish
Sikh
Hispanic
Scandinavian