The Bouchard-Taylor commission is wrapping up its four-month long public consultation on the reasonable accommodation of immigrants in Montreal this week.

After the scuffle over whether Muslim women could wear hidjabs during Montreal’s by-elections, the bickering over immigrants’ integration has sparked one of the most popular province-wide arguments.

Masked under Canada’s seemingly eternal grand narrative of a multicultural country (a melting-pot nation open to all ethnicities and religions), it seems some Canadians are exhausted by this established political correctness and have decided to speak out.

During the length of the open-mike sessions hosted by the Bouchard-Taylor commission a range of opinions were expressed. Some were disapproving of immigrants’ display of their cultures and religions, whereas other approved – and embraced – Canadian diversity.

So, let’s revisit the larger picture behind ‘Being Canadian’. How would an immigrant decide what it means to be Canadian and adapt to Canadian values (aside from following rules in law)?  How will they understand – and interpret – new policies and regulations that directly affect their established ways of life without interpreting these changes as hostile?

Canadians themselves are still struggling to find their identity. Although Quebec has a historically rich culture – which often makes its major cities some of the most popular to visit or live in – other provinces, like British Colombia, often feel culturally void.

Whatever the outcome of the Bouchard-Taylor commission, Canadians should keep one thing in mind: immigrant culture – from South American to Middle Eastern – qualifies Montreal with new cultural and religious nuances that we learn to appreciate and understand.

Furthermore, believing in the melting-pot attitude is important: accepted and welcomed cultures and religions means safe streets and safe communities. While ‘Canadians’ build character, we also learn to appreciate the diversity that comes from other continents. Diversity we wouldn’t have if we closed our doors to immigrants and became further isolated from the ‘rest of the world’.