A Tribute to Multiculturalism

As I was searching the city for a monument to write about, I couldn't believe how many times I had passed it by without even knowing it. How fitting the location of it -- right in front of the city's major transportation hub, which serves more than 60 million people of different ethic backgrounds annually.

Next time you're walking by Union Station on Front Street, take a minute to look at the Monument To Multiculturalism.

It's beautiful. Not just because of the fine craftsmanship or intricate attention to detail from dimpled skin to feathered birds, but because of what it represents. On the plaque it says "This monument, a tribute to multiculturalism, was presented to the City of Toronto on the occasion of its sesquicentennial by the National Congress of Italian Canadians on behalf of the Italian Canadian Community."

Inveiled on Canada Day, 1984, Toronto celebrated Canada's 150th birthday with a great piece of art.

As the bone-chilling wind blows right through the heavy winter jackets walking by, the statue (ironically of a naked man) stands strong and tall, against all elements; against cold in the winter, the blazing sun in the summer, and pouring rains that thrash against its body. But I wonder if it stands against these elements in vain. Asking a few people walking by, they had no clue what the piece represented.

Have we, as Canadians, come to take multiculturalism for granted? There are places in the world where you will be shunned for being a foreigner. You are not treated with respect. You are just an outsider that will never get in.

I can imagine the big day of the unveiling. Cameras flashing, microphones squeaking, crowd buzzing. Three....Two....One.... and someone pulls the cloth down. The shiny new monument is finally revealed to the world. One could almost bask in the pride generated by such an event.

Everyone there must have been so proud to live in such a country. No matter who you are, you are welcome to Toronto, to Canada.

Fast forward 20 years. No one around even knows why that monument is there.

This monument is supposed to instill multicultural pride of Canada, yet the monument seems to be forgotten.

While this is sad (speaking for myself not knowing what the monument represented), I think that we don't need a monument to know Canada is multiculural. The statue will always be there, and those who know what it stands for can look at it with a glowing pride.

I'm sure that Canadians who walk by but don't know what it means still appreciate its graceful beauty. And I'm sure they are still proud to be in a country that loves life-- no matter what colour that life is. And that's exactly what the monument represents.