Recent violence in Europe has shown that it has not integrated newcomers as well as we have in Canada and in the US. Yet, for all our successes, there are some troubling developments. The social cohesion that we’ve accepted as normal between different ethnic groups is breaking down. We see increasing friction, whether on university campuses, in talk show debates, or in wider Canadian society.

These are troubling trends because they have to do with how we view ourselves and each other; they are about identity. When a common Canadian identity is under threat, then so too is Canadian unity.

Too often we talk about that which makes us different from each other, and not about what we have in common. Canada is not simply the disjunction of different groups, different peoples, and different regions. To be a Canadian is also to share in common something with every other person in this vast land.

A couple of weeks ago, John Barber lamented in the Globe and Mail that few M.P.s of Chinese descent represented ridings where a large number of Chinese-Canadians live. I couldn’t disagree with his premise more. I represent the riding of Wellington-Halton Hills, a riding over 97% Caucasian, and it elected an M.P. with the last name of Chong. Markham-Unionville, a riding over 60% Asian, elected an M.P. with the last name of McCallum. That’s my idea of Canada.

My children are going to be of Chinese, Dutch, Scottish and English decent. To speak of these children in hyphenated terms is absurd. They will simply be Canadian.

We need to speak about a common Canadian identity and move beyond emphasising our differences. As Canada becomes increasingly racially mixed and diverse, we need to transcend the politics of ethnicity and start articulating our identity in pan-Canadian terms.