Immigrant Associations in Canada: Included, Accommodated, or Excluded?

Abstract

Concurring with the view that political opportunity structures and citizenship regimes affect participatory patterns of immigrants through shaping associational activity and mobilization of immigrant groups, this essay examines the evidence from the case of Turkish immigrant associations in Canada to delineate and analyze variables other than institutional context and citizenship regimes that constrain collective participation. It focuses on the impact of history of immigration by Turks to Canada (Montreal and Toronto), trajectory and scope of associational activity, group size and heterogeneity, and political participation. It concludes that collective mobilization and participation by immigrant groups are constrained by intra‐group characteristics alongside the institutional context of the receiving country.

Notes

1. See Yasemin Nuhoglu Soysal, Limits of Citizenship: Migrants and Postnational Membership in Europe (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994); Patrick Ireland, The Policy Challenge of Ethnic Diversity: Immigrant Politics in France and Switzerland (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994); Gǫkce Yurdakul, “State, Political Parties and Immigrant Elites,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol. 32, No. 3 (2006), pp. 435–53; and Saime Ozcurumez, “Immigrants and Participation beyond the Nation‐state,” in Oliver Schmidtke and Saime Ozcurumez (eds.), Of States, Rights and Social Closure: Governing Migration and Citizenship (New York: Palgrave, 2008), pp. 257–78.

2. Saime Ozcurumez, “Immigrants and Participation beyond the Nation‐state.”

3. See Sirma Bilge, “Présence turque au Canada: parcours migratoires et elements d’un diagnostic sociologique,” [“Turkish Presence in Canada: Migratory Trajectories and Elements of a Sociological Analysis,”] in Altay Manço (ed.) Turquie: vers de nouveaux horizons migratoires [Turkey: Towards New Migratory Horizons?] (Paris: l’Harmattan, 2004), pp.179–208, as a rare exception focusing on their activities.

4. See for a comprehensive list http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/welcome/wel-20e.asp#qc.

5. See http://ciip.accc.ca/Default.aspx?DN=784,783,32,Documents.

6. See http://canada.metropolis.net/.

7. Among others for Toronto, see Myer Siemiatycki and Engin Isin, “Immigration, Diversity and Urban Citizenship in Toronto,” Canadian Journal of Regional Science, Vol. 20, Nos. 1–2 (1998), pp. 73–102; and Myer Siemiatycki and Anver Saloojee, “Ethnoracial Political Representation in Toronto: Patterns and Problems,” Journal of International Migration and Integration, Vol. 3, No. 2, (2002), pp. 241–73; for Montreal see Carolle Simard, “Ethnic Minority Political Representation in Montreal,” Working Paper No. 8 (Concordia‐UQAM Chair in Ethnic Studies, 1999).

8. Carolle Simard, “Ethnic Minority Political Representation in Montreal”; and Livianna Tossutti and Tom Pierre Najem, “Minorities and Elections in Canada’s Fourth Party System: Macro and Micro Constraints and Opportunities,” Canadian Ethnic Studies, Vol. 34, No. 1 (2002), pp. 84–111.

9. See also Sirma Bilge, “Présence turque au Canada.”

10. The debate over what transpired during World War I between Turks and Armenians of the Ottoman Empire remains as a cleavage between the two contemporary communities who live in Canada, and as a theme around which political mobilization by both communities takes place.

11. Reported in Bizim Anadolu, March 2008.

12. See http://www.canturkfed.net/tr/home_tr.html.

13. See Article 2 of By‐Law of the FCTA describing its purpose. FCTA’s by‐law is online at http://www.canturkfed.net/en/home_en.html.

14. The Cyprus issue constitutes of the debate on decades‐long conflict over the island’s status after the partitioning of the island in 1974 and how the conflict should be resolved.

15. See ‘Surveys’ section of Canada Turk’s website at http://www.canadaturk.ca/anketler.asp. Retrieved on 10 April 2008.

16. In fact, Massimo Pacetti, a member of the federal parliament for the Liberal Party, repeatedly acknowledges the contributions of the Turkish community in his speeches and meetings (Bizim Anadolu, November 2007).