I was a little shocked, as I attended the festivities myself, to see your front page pictorial entitled “The many faces of Canada Day” (Tribune, July 3). My wife and I noticed and spoke of, this weekend, the growing diversity that this little town of Guelph depicts in its celebrations. This has, in the past, seemed to be a point of pride.
The “many faces,” however, that you selected to represent the celebration were all white, predominantly blonde, and in no way a cross-section of the crowds that supported this event.
Furthermore, all of your pictures of ‘random people’ included in your Around Town questionnaire were all part of this narrow demographic. The question “What makes you most proud to be Canadian?” could have had greater scope, especially as part of the Canada Day celebrations included the swearing in of new Canadians.
The question asked of some of our new citizens would have surely given you some poignant responses.
I understand the focus of your front page was to be on those decked out in Canada Day garb, but there were many more than just blonde-haired, blue-eyed Caucasians who chose to don the red and white.
I am not suggesting that the Guelph Tribune has any agenda that seeks to portray our city by only its most Aryan, but I am surprised that there isn’t a greater effort to demonstrate our cultural and racial diversity in the publication that seeks to be our “voice.”
Daood Bacchus
Guelph
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I was disappointed when I read Mr Bacchus’ comments. .To me Canada Day is a celebration of unity, not diversity. We get together to celebrate the fact that we are Canadians; from whatever diverse backgrounds we come, we share a common privilege in living in Canada. Mr Bacchus knows nothing of the people in the photos other than that they are white and blond. Perhaps they are immigrants themselves. There was no indication that the photos were supposed to be a representative sample of the population of Guelph. What was the proportion of women to men? Old vs young? My background is Italiand and Scottish – were those groups represented? I don’t know and I don’t care, because everyone at the celebration was there to celebrate one thing: being proud Canadians. I noticed the photos, and it looked like people were having a good time. I certainly was.
By the way, the choice of the word “Aryan” is a poor one. Historically it has negative connotations and I’d suggest it’s inflammatory.
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