Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T22:52:31.694Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Development of Dual Loyalties: Immigrants' Integration to Canadian Regional Dynamics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2010

Antoine Bilodeau*
Affiliation:
Concordia University
Stephen White*
Affiliation:
University of Regina
Neil Nevitte*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
*
Antoine Bilodeau, Department of Political Science, Concordia University, 1455 boul. de Maisonneuve Ouest, Montréal, Québec H3G 1M8,514.848.2424 #5067; antoine.bilodeau@concordia.ca.
Stephen White, Department of Political Science, University of Regina, Regina, SKCanadaS4S 0A2, 306-585-4156.
Neil Nevitte, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G3, n.nevitte@utoronto.ca.

Abstract

Abstract. The transformations in recent patterns of immigration have the potential to reshape the trajectory of Canada's regional political dynamics. Drawing on data from the 1993–2006 Canadian Election Studies, this analysis explores how immigrants adjust to the prevailing regional political norms in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. Do newcomers adopt the political orientations (feelings towards Canada and their province, confidence in provincial and federal governments, perceptions about how the province is treated by the federal government and support for the Liberal party) that resemble those of their native-born provincial counterparts? The results suggest that immigrants, especially newer waves from non-traditional source countries, tend to develop orientations that are more federally oriented than the local populations in their province. This tendency is most pronounced in Quebec where both groups of immigrants from traditional and non-traditional source countries internalize political grievances and norms less efficiently than their counterparts in other provinces.

Résumé. Les transformations récentes des tendances migratoires pourraient avoir un impact sur l'évolution des dynamiques politiques régionales au Canada. Cette enquête s'appuie sur les données de sondage de l'Étude électorale canadienne de 1993 à 2006 et vise à déterminer si les immigrants adoptent les attitudes et les comportements politiques dominants de leur province de résidence (Québec, Ontario, Alberta et Colombie-Britannique). Les immigrants adoptent-ils des attitudes et des comportements politiques (attachement au Canada et à la province de résidence, confiance envers les gouvernements fédéral et provincial, perception du traitement réservé par le gouvernement fédéral à la province de résidence et appui au Parti libéral du Canada) qui ressemblent à ceux des populations locales de leur province? Les résultats de l'enquête suggèrent que les immigrants, surtout ceux d'origines dites non traditionnelles, ont tendance à développer des comportements et des attitudes politiques plus orientés vers le gouvernement fédéral que ceux affichés dans leur province. Cette tendance est particulièrement marquée au Québec où les immigrants, tant d'origines traditionnelles que non traditionnelles, semblent assimiler moins efficacement que les immigrants des autres provinces les griefs et les normes politiques de la population provinciale.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beck, P.A., Dalton, R.J., Greene, S. and Huckfeldt, R.. 2002. “The Social Calculus of Voting: Interpersonal, Media, and Organizational Influences on Presidential Choice.” American Political Science Review 96: 5773.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, J.W. 1997. Applied Psychology: An International Review 46 (1): 568.Google Scholar
Berry, J.W. 2001. “A Psychology of Immigration.” Journal of Social Issues 57 (3): 615–31.Google Scholar
Berry, J.W., Kim, U., Minde, T. and Mok, D.. 1987. “Comparative Studies of Acculturative Stress.” International Migration Review 21: 491511.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bilodeau, Antoine. 2008. “Immigrants' Voice through Protest Politics in Canada and Australia: Assessing the Impact of Pre-Migration Political Repression.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 34 (6): 9751002.Google Scholar
Bilodeau, Antoine, and Kanji, M.. 2010. “The New Immigrant Voter, 1965–2004: The Emergence of a New Liberal Partisan? In Perspectives on the Canadian Voter: Puzzles of Influence and Choice, eds. Stephenson, Laura and Anderson, Cameron, Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Black, J.H. 1987. “The Practice of Politics in Two Settings: Political Transferability among Recent Immigrants to Canada.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 20 (4): 731–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, J. H., Niemi, R. G., and Powell, G. B. Jr. 1987. “Age, Resistance, and Political Learning in a New Environment: The Case of Canadian Immigrants.” Comparative Politics 20 (1): 7384.Google Scholar
Blais, André. 2005. “Accounting for the Electoral Success of the Liberal Party in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 38 (4): 821–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blais, A., Gidengil, E., Nadeau, R., and Nevitte, N.. 2002. Anatomy of a Liberal Victory: Making Sense of the Vote in the 2000 Canadian Election. Peterborough ON: Broadview.Google Scholar
Blake, D. E. 1972. “The Measurement of Regionalism in Canadian Voting Patterns.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 5 (1): 5581.Google Scholar
Brodie, J. 1990. The Political Economy of Canadian Regionalism. Toronto: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.Google Scholar
Brown, T. A. 1981. “On Contextual Change and Partisan Attributes.” British Journal of Political Science 11: 427–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brym, R.J., ed. 1986. Regionalism in Canada. Toronto: Irwin.Google Scholar
Chui, T., Tran, K. and Maheux, H.. 2007. Immigration in Canada: A Portrait of the Foreign-born Population, 2006 Census. Ottawa: Statistics Canada. Catalogue no. 97–557-XIE.Google Scholar
Clarke, H., Jenson, J., LeDuc, L. and Pammett, J.. 1980. Political Choice in Canada, abr. ed.Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson.Google Scholar
Easton, David and Dennis, Jack. 1969. Children in the Political System: Origins of Political Legitimacy. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Elkins, D.J. 1980. “The Horizontal Mosaic: Immigrants and Migrants in the Provincial Political Cultures.” In Small Worlds: Provinces and Parties in Canadian Political Life, ed. Elkins, D.J. and Simeon, R. Toronto: Methuen.Google Scholar
Elkins, D.J. and Simeon, R.. 1980. Small Worlds: Provinces and Parties in Canadian Political Life. Toronto: Methuen.Google Scholar
Fennema, M., and Tillie, J.. 1999. “Political Participation and Political Trust in Amsterdam: Civic Communities and Ethnic Networks.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 25 (4): 703–26.Google Scholar
Finifter, A. and Finifter, B.. 1989. “Party Identification and Political Adaptation of American Migrants in Australia.” The Journal of Politics 51 (3): 599630.Google Scholar
Gagnon, A.G. and Iacovino, R.. 2004. “Interculturalism: Expanding the Boundaries of Citizenship.” In Quebec: State and Society, ed. Gagnon, Alain-G., 3rd ed.Peterborough ON: Broadview Press.Google Scholar
Gibbins, R. 1982. Regionalism: Territorial Politics in Canada and the United States. Toronto: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Gidengil, E., Blais, A., Nevitte, N. and Nadeau, R.. 1999. “Making Sense of Regional Voting in the 1997 Federal Election: Liberal and Reform Support Outside Quebec.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 32: 247–72.Google Scholar
Glaser, J. M., and Gilens, M.. 1997. “Interregional Migration and Political Socialization: A Study of Racial Attitudes under Pressures.” Public Opinion Quarterly 61: 7286.Google Scholar
Greenstein, Fred I. 1965. Children and Politics. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Henderson, Ailsa. 2004. “Regional Political Cultures in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 37 (3): 595615.Google Scholar
Henry, S. 2002. “Revisiting Western Alienation: Towards a Better Understanding of Political Alienation and Political Behaviour in Western Canada.” In Regionalism and Party Politics in Canada, ed. Young, L. and Archer, K.. Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hess, R., and Torney, J.. 1967. The Development of Political Attitudes in Children. Chicago: AldineGoogle Scholar
Huckfeldt, R., Beck, P.A., Dalton, R.J. and Levine, J.. 1995. “Political Environments, Cohesive Social Groups, and the Communication of Public Opinion.” American Journal of Political Science 39 (4): 1025–54.Google Scholar
Huckfeldt, R., Beck, P.A., Dalton, R.J., Levine, J. and Morgan, W.. 1998. “Ambiguity, Distorted Messages, and Nested Environmental Effects on Political Communication.” Journal of Politics 60 (4): 9961030.Google Scholar
Huckfeldt, R. and Sprague, J.. 1987. “Networks in Context: The Social Flow of Information.” American Political Science Review 81: 11971216.Google Scholar
Kymlicka, W. 1995. Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights. Don Mills ON: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kymlicka, W. 1998. Finding Our Way. Don Mills ON: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
LaSelva, Samuel V. 1996. The Moral Foundations of Canadian Federalism. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lavoie, N. and Serré, P.. 2002. “Du vote bloc au vote social: le cas des citoyens issus de l'immigration de Montréal, 1995–1996.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 35 (1): 4974.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipset, S.M. 1990. Continental Divide: The Values and Institutions of the United States and Canada. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
MacDermid, R.H. 1990. “Regionalism in Ontario.” In Canadian Politics: An Introduction to the Discipline, ed. Gagnon, Alain and Bickerton, James. Peterborough ON: Broadview Press.Google Scholar
MacKuen, M. B. and Brown, C.. 1987. “Political Context and Attitude Change.” American Political Science Review 81 (2): 471–90.Google Scholar
Markus, G. B. 1979. “The Political Environment and the Dynamics of Public Attitudes: A Panel Study.” American Journal of Political Science 23 (2): 338–59.Google Scholar
McAllister, I. and Makkai, T.. 1991. “The Formation and Developments of Party Loyalties: Patterns among Australian Immigrants.” Australian and New-Zealand Journal of Sociology 27 (2): 195217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McAllister, I. and Makkai, T.. 1992. “Resource and Social Learning Theories of Political Participation: Ethnic Patterns in Australia.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 25 (2): 269–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McBurnett, M. 1991. “The Instability of Partisanship Due to Context.” Political Geography 10 (1): 132–48.Google Scholar
McClung, S. 2003. “Social Networks and Political Participation: The Role of Social Interaction in Explaining Political Participation.” Political Research Quarterly 56 (4): 449–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nevitte, N., Blais, A., Gidengil, E. and Nadeau, R.. 2000. Unsteady State: The 1997 Canadian Federal Election. Don Mills ON: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Schwartz, M.A. 1974. Politics and Territory: The Sociology of Regional Persistence in Canada. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.Google Scholar
Simeon, R. and Elkins, D.J.. 1974. “Regional Political Cultures in CanadaCanadian Journal of Political Science 7 (3): 397437.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Statistics Canada. 2009. Census of Population. http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/demo03-eng.htm (June 30, 2009).Google Scholar
White, S., Nevitte, N., Blais, A., Gidengil, E. and Fournier, P.. 2008. “The Political Resocialization of Immigrants: Resistance or Lifelong Learning?Political Research Quarterly 61 (2): 268–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, J.M. 1974. “The Canadian Political Cultures: Towards a Redefinition of the Nature of the Canadian Political Systems.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 7 (3): 438–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiseman, N. 1996. “Provincial Political Cultures.” In Provinces: Canadian Provincial Politics, ed. Dunn, C.. Peterborough ON: Broadview Press.Google Scholar
Wiseman, N. 2007. In Search of Canadian Political Culture. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.Google Scholar