Harder Citizenship Test Just Means Keep Doing More of the Same

Jason Kenney, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, has recently unveiled a new citizenship test guideline that he says will make acquiring citizenship more difficult. Kenney says that the document is to show new citizens that they "are inheriting a set of responsibilities, of obligations. "

In a recent interview at TVO with journalist Steve Paiken, Kenney says that he is not looking for assimilation of newcomers as much as their integration into Canadian society. He believes that multiculturalism and diversity are an asset to Canadian society, but that this new set of guidelines is necessary to help forge a more cohesive society in this multicultural "mosaic."

Kenney felt compelled to tighten the citizenship test in order to counter the effects of runaway Canadian multiculturalism. Yet, his government recently announced that it will not reduce the high levels of new immigrants accepted into the country. The numbers remain at 250,000/year.

So, while trying to tighten the citizenship requirements mostly as a reaction to multiculturalism’s ghettoizing effect on Canadian society, Kenney opts for more of this multiculturalism via immigration.