The political issues I followed was the magazine article printed in Maclean's titled "Too Asian". (Just as a reminder this article can no longer be found under this title but only via this link: http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2010/11/10/too-asian/ and is now titled "The Enrollment Controversy".)
The article was published in November 2010 but controversy and ongoing debate still make it a current piece of news which remains an important issue for many diaspora groups but especially the Asian diaspora. The article was basically about the issue of how some 'white' students perceive some top-ranking schools of the country to be "too Asian". This expression was used to express the feeling of how some universities have become too competitive and how the scholarly achievements are valued higher than the university experience putting too much pressure on the students.
As one could expect phrasing this within the framework of an article titled "Too Asian" caused protests among the Asian diaspora which it mainly targeted. The Asian communities were offended by the racist undertone and felt singled out and targeted by the national media. This article created many racists undertones to occur more frequently in the national media and fueled the arguments of the extremist right wing. The discourse on discrimination based on being part of a visible minority is not what the Asian community responded to, but the way this issue was framed, by singling out one diaspora, and doing so by sensationalist's media practices in order to attract readers was simply put wrong.
The political issue behind this racist attack on the Asian community is the question when a Canadian is a Canadian. The Asian community has been part of Canada and its history for many generations now, however, being part of a visible minority they are still considered as non-Canadian by some and the article supported this idea. Following the principle of Canada's multicultural policy states that regardless of country of origin, body color, creed or language each individual in the Canadian society must be granted equality of opportunity and freedom. This includes the ides that race or ethnicity should not be factors when calling someone a Canadian or not. Many students that were targeted by the Maclean's article were born in Canada and considered themselves Canadian, to then be considered as Asian, and only that, by fellow 'white' students was offensive and discriminating.
The article and the reactions only pointed at another problem though that needs to be dealt with in Canada. Many visible minorities are still discriminated against in their everyday life. This discrimination is based on them not looking 'Canadian'. The Maclean's article raised although in a racist and hurtful framework the question of when a Canadian is a Canadian and pointed out that for many, although not publicly announced since the official statement is that of a multicultural society - the Canadian cultural mosaic - a Canadian is sadly enough still connected to the idea of WASP - White Anglo-Saxon Protestant.
This is an interesting issue you point to and one that I encountered in my classes and observations in connection to another group, the African Canadians, who are discriminated against in spite of the fact that Canada calls itself a multicultural society. You are right, Canadian national identity is still dominated by the idea of the "founding nations," the British and the French (and sometimes the First Nations). Contributions of other groups, such as Africans (there is a whole history of Black people in Canada which is ignored by official history, for Canada was a slave holding society, with the corresponding ideas, though not to the same extent as the USA), and other groups of immigrants who came later but still made Canada what it is today and should receive the deserved recognition. This part of national identity is, if you ask me, more problematic than any overt racist expression. The contradiction between the national image of tolerance and multuculturality on the one hand, and discrimination on the other, and the stubborn insistence on the statement that there is no racism in Canada, make the problems of racism and discrimination latent, hidden, and not addressed. For if - officially - there is no racial discrimination, there is no need of affirmative action, not need to make sure there is no discrimination in employment, housing, wages, education. Canada continues to deny these problems and most people even don't realize that they exist. There is clearly the need to enlighten the average Canadian - and to adjust Canadian national identity to fit the reality of multiculturalism.
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