So diverse, it's almost monochromatic

When I first arrived in Toronto in 1975, the city was still widely known (and derided) as Toronto the Good.  The Lord's Day was strictly observed, bars and restaurants closed early, and ethnic food was still a novelty -- the city's first pizzeria opened as recently as 1957.  The city was dominated by its Anglo-Saxon establishment, and those immigrants that had turned up in numbers -- Italians, Ukrainians and a few others -- fitted in quietly.

Waves of immigration in the succeeding decades have changed all that.  The city is now fantastically diverse -- it even has a small Maltese district, surely the only one outside the Maltese islands -- and is very much the better for it.  The city has loosened its stays, not least to make room for all the wonderful food that these newcomers have brought with them.  Culturally, economically and in just about every other way, the city and its surrounding communities ("The GTA", or Greater Toronto Area, in the local argot) have benefited hugely from all these arrivals.

Still, a report in the Toronto Star this week, citing data from the most recent national census, makes me wonder just what the term "diversity" means any more. Supposedly the City of Markham, just north and east of Toronto proper, now rates as Canada's most diverse municipality.  Oh, really?  It seems that 72% of Markham residents are of Asian origin, and more than 50% are Chinese.  That certainly makes it non-Anglo Saxon, but is it really diverse?  If it gets to a point where every last inhabitant is Asian, will that really mean it's achieved maximum diversity?

I can understand why immigrants, especially those coming from very different cultures, might want to live near others from the same part of the world.  However, it would be a shame if the GTA evolves into a group of ethnic enclaves,  which seems to be what's happening,  rather than a truly multiracial and multicultural city where everyone gets to enjoy everything that their neighbours have brought to the party.

Not to worry, though.  A follow-up story in the Toronto Star just today informs us that Markham's Asians are becoming big hockey fans, even to the point of planning a new arena in hopes of landing a big league team*.  I'm not sure if there are any Chinese Canadians playing the sport professionally yet, but the NHL has certainly become a lot more diverse.  There are growing numbers of black players,  and the names on the backs of the shirts suggest that kids of Middle Eastern origin are also getting involved.  That's good.  It sometimes seems that there's not a lot that Canadians have in common, but hockey is the great national unifier.  

*You gotta love the picture atop the story -- a Chinese-Canadian barman, wearing a Maple Leafs jersey, waving a pint of Guinness.  Now that's Canadian!