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MULTICULTURALISM AS A DISCOURSE OF DISGUISE: A POSSIBLE CANADIAN SOLUTION independent cultures in Canada?" By grouping them together (as members of one Indigenous culture) we assume that affirming that category will be sufficient cultural recognition. Ihat portrayal can disguise particular cultural differences and become a focal point for others to exploit. Darryl Leroux: Multiculturalism and the potential for exploitation Darryl] Leroux gives us an example of the decline of multicultural protections that Charles Taylor thought good will would ensure. Leroux, in Distorted Descent, White Claims to Indigenous Identity, documents the evolution of race shifting in various parts of Canada, meaning the movement of many white persons towards the adoption of Indigenous identity. The reasons include a desire to belong, to have something that separates them from others who, like themselves, are poor, not well- educated and who struggle to survive. Among some race shifters “kinship aspirations are at the forefront of a strategic self-making process”.5! Leroux documents over 100,000 persons in the Maritimes and surrounding areas of Quebec who have researched and paid others to help find roots so that they can claim Indigenous identity. Such individuals will enjoy benefits from the increasing support the Canadian government provides for Indigenous groups. Not only is there comfort to be found in having and knowing particular roots, race shifting also can disguise hidden agendas. “In three large regions of Quebec, the logic of lineal descent has emboldened individuals to claim an Indigenous identity as a strategy to oppose Indigenous land claims.”** Now the policy of multiculturalism, which encourages recognition of cultural differences and claims to overturn historical injustices, has enabled cultural identity to be a weapon in denying such agendas to others. If the Indigenous peoples are not united in their claims for recognition, they stand on weaker ground. Grouping them as Indigenous has weakened their claims to cultural identity that multiculturalism is supposed to ensure. Multiculturalism is a policy that disguises an arena of excuses for those seeking advantage. If cultures, even adopted ones, are only looking to further self-interest, and not looking to promote a greater good for all, then the original 50 A conference I attended in 2017 on Indigenous education revealed that there was striking differences across Canada as to what these early cultures expected from the educational systems. No single plan would reach the needs and expectations of all Indigenous peoples. Some groups in remote communities were asking for on-site language instruction. Others had already developed apps for students to access on i-phones to help learn their languages. The World’s Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education, Metro Convention Centre, Toronto, 24—28 July 2017. 51 Darryl Leroux, Distorted Descent, White Claims to Indigenous Identity, Winnipeg, University of Manitoba, 2019, 198. 52 Ibid., 215. + 29 +
