Old Gods, New Gods, No Gods

By Suelan Toye

Religion and secularism have long co-existed in Canada but in a post 9/11 era, there have been increasing conflicts, especially in the global context of rising religious fundamentalism and Islamophobia.

How has Canada dealt with these hotbed issues? Or have we lost our Canadian civility and are threatening to become more populist like other countries?

That is at the heart of a new collection of essays that explore how Canadians are grappling with the intersection of religion and secularism in their lives, both in private and publicly.

Co-edited by guest editors Haroon Siddiqui, a distinguished visiting professor in the Faculty of Arts and editorial page editor emeritus at The Toronto Star, and Myer Siemiatycki, a professor of politics and public administration, the publication is called The Many Gods of Canada: Religion, Secularism and Public Policy.

Published by Canadian Diversity, a prestigious scholarly publication of the Association for Canadian Studies, the  (PDF file) 64-page journal (external link)  brings together some of Canada’s thinkers on current issues including Indigenous spirituality, religion and the public space, balancing freedom of religion, gender and LGBTQ2 rights, as well as free speech and freedom from hate.

The collection of essays is based on a two-day national conference organized and supported by the Faculty of Arts and the Office of the Provost held last fall, which featured distinguished speakers including leading Canadian author John Ralston Saul and leading academics from across the country. It also showcased two winning student essays written by English undergraduate and graduate students, Sara Ali and Caleb de Jong. Their essays were chosen from 40 entries submitted by Ryerson students across the university, from business and computer science to engineering.

“This timely conference and resulting publication is a reflection of our time and place right now,” says Siemiatycki, who is the past founding director of Ryerson’s MA program in immigration and settlement studies. “We have populations that are more diverse on the religion continuum than before. As an urban university that is committed to promoting an inclusive and diverse culture on our campus, this is an important conversation given the global unstable political climate.”

Siddiqui agrees and says that despite the increasing tensions in Canada, the country stands in sharp contrast to other countries that are “more prone to being more one dimensional”.

“Canada remains the only OECD country that nationally remains in favour of immigration. We are not problem-free, but we can be a strong example of a country that welcomes newcomers with open arms.”

In the future, Siemiatycki and Siddiqui hope to continue the dialogue at Ryerson by holding a seminar series and annual student essay competitions that delve into religion and secularism.

“This is an issue that is at the heart of Canada’s metropolises,” says Siddiqui. “Ryerson needs to be leading this conversation starting now. This edition of the prestigious journal helps us do so, and raises the profile of Ryerson nationally in liberal arts academic and public policy circles.”