The Role Of Immigrant Serving Organizations In The Canadian Welfare State: A Case Study

by
B. Saddeiqa Holder

CHAPTER THREE

IMMIGRANT SERVING ORGANIZATIONS

Chapter Two addressed predominant themes in discussions of the voluntary sector internationally and provided an overview of state/minority relations in Canada. With regard to the former, the prevalent theme in the theoretical literature is to challenge the traditional government/voluntary sector antinomy, underscoring instead the variability in this crucial relationship, depending upon the government department, field of service, and individual organization involved. In the latter part of Chapter Two an abbreviated review of state/minority community relations reveals that despite the adoption of multicultural policies and programs, discriminatory practices continue within the human services.

The literature surveyed in this chapter focuses upon the field of immigrant services, service delivery and other roles played by ISOs (or ethnic associations), and state/ISO relations. The first section presents findings from international writings on ISOs. The second section details the Canadian context by: a) surveying developments in immigration and settlement policy in the post war period; b) reviewing the policy-making process in recent years; and c) summarizing writings on Canadian ISOs.

International Perspectives

A useful entry point to the field of immigrant services is provided by Cox's (1985) attempt to formalize a model (Fig. 1) for planning welfare services for immigrants. The model begins with an understanding of migration as a process consisting of four stages: pre-movement, transition, resettlement, and integration. At each stage there is a series of (independent) variables affecting outcome: the socio-economic-cultural-political background of the group and the nature of its migration; the nature of previous contact with the host society and consequent pre-arrival attitudes, on both sides; the socio-economic-political context upon arrival; the prevailing host society attitudes; the nature of ethnic group development (i.e., informal or formal structures); and the economic status of the group.

These independent variables influence two dependent variables: the nature of social problems or needs that will be experienced by different immigrant populations; and the nature of welfare developments (that is, prevailing welfare philosophies and resources). Six levels of intervention are identified, the first two relating to pre-migration, and the remaining four to the integration stage: 1) immigration policies and practice; 2) reception/resettlement policies and practice; 3) community education; 4) equality of opportunity measures; 5) community development; and 6) provision of personal welfare services.

Cox's contribution lies in this delineation, from a planning perspective, of the major components of immigrant welfare. Country specific studies have investigated the phenomenon of immigrant and ethnic associations in countries with large institutionalized social welfare programs and professional social work bureaucracies. In a 1988, comparative study of five countries (Australia, Britain, Israel, the Netherlands, and the United States), researchers examined: a) whether benefits of the welfare state were available to immigrants, refugees, and temporary workers; b) if eligible, how were newcomers able to negotiate the system to obtain services; c) were ethnic associations, as "mutual support groups," likely to become a conduit for the delivery of social services to immigrants and refugees; and d) were there linkages that existed, or that could be forged between ethnic associations, and the formal voluntary and public social service system (Jenkins, 1988).

Ethnic associations were distinguished from ethnic agencies. The former are defined as organizations whose key elements are a self defined ethnic group, the voluntary nature of the association, and the goal of mutual benefit. On the basis of data gathered, Jenkins concluded that ethnic associations made important contributions in providing access to new immigrants and in helping point the way to "ethnic-sensitive" practice. How these organizations functioned depended upon: the nature of the new immigration, the ethnic characteristics of the group, the nature of ethnic associations, social welfare entitlements, and the social welfare system.

The ethnic agency was defined as an established social agency with a primary commitment to members of one or more ethnic groups, which operates service programs, employs professional staff, may or may not have a membership base, operates under a board of directors, may receive both public and voluntary funding and may be a single or multi-service agency. Ethnic agency operations were characterized by three variables: the incorporation of cultural components of the ethnic group; a consciousness of ethnic identity, and a policy of matching clients and service deliverers by ethnic group in all areas of operation.

A continuum of four different types of ethnic agencies, which I have graphically summarized below, was developed:

In general, patterns of service and referral differ because the needs of groups differ and because associations vary in the programs they offer. It was also possible to distinguish types of service offered. Direct help was proffered in relation to education and job needs, as well as in family problems due to cultural conflict. Where extensive public social service programs existed, associations were more likely to occupy facilitator and advocate roles.

The country specific studies offer some insights into the varied roles of "ethnic associations" and state/voluntary welfare sector arrangements. In England, Cheetham (1988) notes that the general policy has been to transfer responsibility for refugees as soon as possible to normal statutory agencies. In other communities, representatives of some ethnic associations worry about being isolated into ghetto-like services. Thus the legitimation of ethnicity in politics, manifested in the establishment of separate ethnic associations, converges with racist and anti-immigrant sentiments, leaving services to be delivered by underresourced agencies. As a result there is some consensus between state providers and ethnic associations that integrated services should be the goal.

In her research Cheetham found some ethnic associations to be preoccupied with the politics of their countries of origin, while others located their organizations within the context of race and class dynamics in Britain. Cheetham asks whether the aspirations and methods of ethnic associations are far removed from those of mainstream social work. She concludes that the centrality of language and culture, and the retention of culture to help people accommodate and settle are consistent with social work's commitment to start where people are and to help them use their own resources and strengths.

In Israel, the role played by the central government means that ethnic associations are immigrant associations supported by a mix of public, semi-public and voluntary support. According to Korazim (1988):

...in sociological terms such organizations can be described as special structures between formal public bureaucracies and primary social networks which help to absorb immigrants according to special socio-cultural characteristics.

An immigrant association is thus simultaneously bureaucratized and non-bureaucratized, using different combinations of hired personnel and volunteers, primarily of its own ethnic origins. (p. 155)

As in other countries, associations vary from those that are well organized, and offer a broad spectrum of professional services, to the less organized offering hardly any services. The factors differentiating the associations appear to be: a) the size of the particular community; b) the proportion of recent arrivals; c) the level of public interest in the community as expressed in the level of public funding; d) whether migration was voluntary or involuntary; e) the level of ethnic cohesion or rivalries; f) the level of independent wealth; and g) the closeness of socio cultural background of the immigrants to that of the host society.

Social services for immigrants were described as complex, uncoordinated and highly fragmented. As such, immigrant associations reported the need to coordinate services with other immigrant associations and other voluntary and public sector organizations.

Despite Israel's commitment to Jewish immigrants, gaps exist at three levels. At the macro level there has been little coordination between absorption policies and services delivered by major ministries. At the mezzo level, there are service dilemmas about equity, in that wealthier, better organized communities are able to provide more for their own ethnic group. And last, at the micro level, immigrants are frequently shunted from office to office according to special needs, with no agency playing a case management or integrative role.

Korazim therefore identifies four key factors in developing a more rational model for social service delivery to immigrants: a) the level of commitment to the absorption of various groups of newcomers (as represented in the "melting pot," cultural pluralism, or ethnic identity models of assimilation); b) the levels of service delivery, whether national, regional, and neighbourhood/community based; c) the auspices of service delivery, that is, public, voluntary, non-profit, private for profit, or a mix; and d) the organizational culture continuum ranging from formal organizations originating in the bureaucratic model of standardized service, to the informal world of the nuclear and extended families, and friends and neighbours. Immigrant serving associations are situated in the middle of the continuum attempting to integrate service and "ethnic" [sic] goals (e.g., face to face contact, positive and deep affect, permanent relationships, etc.).

In the Netherlands, nongovernmental rather than public sector agencies are the primary service providers and are fully funded by government. In the case of immigrant services, mainstream agencies, ecclesiastical or religiously based agencies, as well as ethnic associations are funded by government. However, according to the authors, "the number of measures that can be said to have a bearing on a kind of collective emancipation [in contrast to individual betterment] of the group through their own institutions is limited" (de Graaf, Penninx, & Stoove, 1988, p. 218).

Casey (1988), writing of Australia, describes a situation very much like that of Canada. Extensive government involvement in services means that privatization has not occurred on the same scale as it has in the United States. At the same time a strong voluntary tradition exists such that a large nongovernmental sector plays a role in service delivery in key areas. Like Canada, the early assumption of easy assimilation and adequacy of universal services proved erroneous and gradually monies have been made available for ethnic associations. Casey argues that governments have been reluctant to admit that non-English speaking communities are divided along political, religious and ethnic lines and a casual examination reveals that organizations sharing governmental ideology are the ones that obtain funding. Organizations that are engaged in politics internal to their own community are less likely to receive support.

As in the English context, Casey cautions that there is a danger that ethnic agencies serve to perpetuate the marginalization of non-English speaking immigrants. He contends that the major justification for the existence of ethnic associations should be the degree to which these agencies can address unemployment, employment in low paying jobs, and access to goods and services for non-English speaking immigrants.

On the basis of data gathered in the five countries, Jenkins concluded that ethnic associations made important contributions in providing access for new immigrants and in helping point the way to "ethnic-sensitive" practice seen to consist of: the incorporation of cultural components of the ethnic group; a consciousness of ethnic identity, and a policy of matching clients and service deliverers by ethnic group in all areas of operation. (In contrast, Matsuoka and Sorenson (1991), analyzing services in Metropolitan Toronto to refugees from the former Ethiopia, caution that the call for ethnically sensitive services rests on the questionable presumption of a single coherent ethnic community that is identifiable and can be served.)

The five nation study concluded that how these organizations functioned depended upon: the nature of the new immigration (voluntary or involuntary migration), the ethnic characteristics of the group (similarity of country of origin to host country), the nature of ethnic associations (ranging from informal associations to professionalised bureaucracies), social welfare entitlements (with absorption policies determining the level of commitment to services by the host society), and the social welfare system (levels of service delivery, whether national, regional, and neighbourhood/community based and auspices of service delivery, whether public, voluntary, non-profit, private for profit, or a mix). In those countries where governments have initiated programs, Korazim, in the case of Israel, questions how independent associations really are; and Casey, in Australia, wonders whether links with the bureaucracy have not stultified ethnic development and marginalized services. Thus recognition of a role for ethnic associations in official policy may inhibit their advocacy functions.

In a recently published textbook, Social services and the ethnic community (Iglehart& Becerra, 1995) the authors, examining the American context, and perceiving a schism between pre-existing service systems and ethnic service systems, investigate why communities want to deliver their own services, whether it is necessary, and how the two systems interact. They address questions such as the needs of communities, who has responded to these needs, the nature of those responses, and changes in the present day.

They conclude that the growth of ethnic organizations arose out of the need to provide services to individuals who could not receive services elsewhere. While the ethnic agency gains its legitimacy from the ethnic community, today its economic inputs (i.e., funding) are located outside the community, which may allow for environmental constraints upon the agency's autonomy (p. 151). Despite significant differences among agencies, what all ethnic agencies appear to share is an emphasis on ethnicity as the basis for service provision, and nonprofessionalisation. According to Inglehart and Becerra, ethnic sensitive practice consists of: an ideology of empowerment derived from an identification with the client and belief in the group; the goal of improving the group through work with individuals; a technology of education, information, and participation; and a structure that buffers clients from the bureaucracy (p. 276). At some point, however, needs may surpass the community's ability to respond, as for example in the case of the needs of the elderly. At this point mainstream services are required to provide ethnically sensitive practice. However ethnic agencies will continue to have a role to play in identifying and responding to community needs. Citing Kramer, Igglehart and Becerra write, "as the government seems to approach its limits of capacity and legitimacy, the voluntary sector may be utilized more for the provision of services" (p. 278).

In discussing the continuing support for the ‘doctrine of ethnic group responsibility’, the authors attribute this to a ‘deficit model of service delivery,’ that is, that mainstream responses are deficient and so minority communities must provide for themselves. Hence there is little confidence in partnership models. The authors acknowledge the issue of institutional separatism versus integration cursorily; whilst ethnic segregation is disparaged, ethnic agencies are sometimes viewed as a panacea.

The authors enumerate a number of propositions about the ethnic agency and its practices: the agency is controlled, staffed by and provides services to a specific ethnic group; the agency appears to be a special type of voluntary, self-help, alternative, community-based service agency; the agency may fill a gap left by the mainstream social service delivery system, or may respond to cultural barriers that impede a group's use of mainstream services; the agency is shaped by the larger social system; ethnicity is an integral part of the ideology and technology of the agency; the agency operationalizes the concept of empowerment; there is a tension between ethnicity and professionalism in the agency; the agency seeks to simplify the organization for the client; the agency attempts to protect its ideology and technology from bureaucratic intrusion; the agency and its community share a symbiotic relationship; the agency may not be reform oriented; the agency may augment rather than compete with mainstream services; there may be limitations in the service delivery practices; a tension seems to exist between the agency and mainstream social work practice (p. 194).

ISOs are recognized as uniquely suited to serving immigrants who have specialized needs and are not likely to use mainstream services. The core of the agencies' practice consists of the incorporation of language and cultural elements thus reinforcing group identity. Agencies may also utilize education, information and participation strategies to enable their clients in their negotiations with the larger society. They also intervene on behalf of their clients in interactions with bureaucratic structures. Further ISOs perform more than a service provider role, representing as well access to goods, services, and power by minority communities. At the same time, the diversity and idiosyncrasies among these organizations result in uneven standards of service delivery and, it is argued, lead to social fragmentation instead of social cohesion through their emphases on narrow racial or cultural definitions of identity.

A Canadian Perspective

Before introducing the literature on the field of immigrant services in Canada, it is useful to provide an abbreviated survey of developments in Canadian immigration and settlement policy as a context. Since the 1970s the expansion of immigrant services and the growth of immigrant serving organizations has been fueled by federal government policy on immigration. The following is a synopsis of policy developments in the post war period culled from descriptions by Hawkins (1988), the Economic Council of Canada (ECC) (1991), and Whitaker (1991).

1947 · Mackenzie King's policy statement on the aims of immigration developed to respond to the influx of displaced persons from Europe after World War II: immigration for population growth; immigration for economic development; immigration must be selective; immigration must be related to absorptive capacity; immigration to Canada is a privilege (not a fundamental human right) extended by Canada in correspondence with domestic policies; immigration must not distort the character of the Canadian population, hence the continuation of restrictions on Asiatic immigration - only very close relatives of Canadian citizens eligible for admission (Hawkins, 1988, p. 92).

· Most preferred country status regardless of trade or skill level extended to France (1948) and other northern and western European countries - Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland (1950). Immigrants from other European countries with acceptable occupations could be sponsored by any legal resident of Canada.

1950 · Establishment of the federal Department of Citizenship and Immigration (with responsibility also for Indian affairs) to implement 1947 immigration policy.

· Assistance of interest-free loans for the cost of travel provided to immigrants if their skills were urgently required.

1952 · Immigration Act established as legal framework for managing immigration.

· Provision of services (with costs shared between the federal and seven provincial and one territorial government limited to meeting basic welfare and medical needs resulting from accident or illness for one year after arrival "lest these should give immigrants a preferred status over Canadians." (Hawkins, 1988, p. 110).

· Free textbooks for language training supplied by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.

1961 · Department of the Ontario Provincial Secretary and Citizenship created by merging the small office responsible for the provision of information, translation, group and community services for newcomers with a section of the Department of Education involved in English language training and citizenship instruction.

· Province active in recruitment of skilled immigrants in the United Kingdom and Europe as well as developing an extensive language training program.

1962 · Some racist regulations were relaxed as the need for highly skilled labour could not be met from traditional sources of immigrants (because of the economic recovery in Britain and other European countries). All immigrants could sponsor relatives except for Asian and African immigrants who were prohibited from sponsoring distant relatives.

1965 · Creation of the federal Department of Manpower and Immigration

1966/67 · Delineation of responsibilities for the Department of Manpower and Immigration primary concern for the individual worker - assisting with reception, family and employment counselling, costs of language training where necessary for employment, working with voluntary agencies that supplemented these services.

· Withdrawal of the federal Citizenship Branch from integration activities except for the provision of citizenship and citizenship language training classes in conjunction with the provinces and voluntary organizations; Department of the Secretary of State now concerned with social, political and cultural integration of immigrants.

1967 · The basis of the present immigration selection system was put into place in 1967 with the implementation of the point system of which the main principles were admission of people meeting the perceived needs of the Canadian labour market and economy (points allocated on the basis of education, skills and resources); and should be universally applicable, not discriminating on the basis of race, colour, or religion (ECC, 1991, p. 14). The immigration policy applied to three groups - close family members and refugees (not subject to the point system) and independent immigrants (subject to the point system). Despite this liberalization the deck may have been stacked against poor immigrants from the so-called Third World (Whitaker, 1991, p. 19).

· An Immigration Appeal Board established. Refugees and visitors allowed to apply inland. Those not automatically granted immigrant status could appeal.

1970 · Ontario Department of the Provincial Secretary and Citizenship announces funding for pilot citizenship development and information centres whose future would be subject to evaluation. Voluntary agencies had been urging the Department of the Provincial Secretary and Citizenship to provide services or subsidize the provision of services for immigrants. For example, in 1964 after a federally and provincially funded two year study, a recommendation was made to set up community information centres for immigrants using existing staff and buildings. The proposal was immediately rejected by a group of Ontario Ministers. Until the mid-sixties there was a prevailing notion that immigrants should fend for themselves as had their predecessors. When financial restrictions were loosened, funding remained limited to the development of language training programs and instructors (Hawkins, 1988, p. 209-210).

1972 · Citizenship Branch becomes part of the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services. Hawkins asks how this degree of development became possible given the Ontario Cabinet's reluctance in most of the post war period to involve itself in more than the recruitment of skilled immigrants and language training.

1973 · A large backlog of appeals by persons whose inland applications had been refused resulted in a decision to grant them landed immigrant status during a two month Adjustment of Status Program. The necessity of implementing this program and the oil crisis later on that year led to a reconsideration of immigration and population policy.

· Federal Department of Manpower and Immigration initiated a study of settlement needs to gather data for the eventual implementation of a settlement policy (Amin, 1987). Lanphier and Lukomskyj (1994) emphasize this ‘philosophical’ [emphasis in original] change in responsibility for service delivery as government became actively involved in the resettlement process. They read this involvement as an attempt on the part of government to extend its power and influence which at the same time resulted in, "the provision of services as a matter of right or entitlement: the status of ‘landed immigrant’ or ‘refugee’ is both necessary and sufficient to ensure eligibility for settlement services" (p. 342).

1974 · A federal Green Paper issued putting forward considerations on population size, growth, distribution and composition and review of principles governing admission and integration of immigrants from abroad.

1978 · A year of notable changes to the Immigration Act with the following policy and administration goals: to promote government established demographic goals, to enrich the cultural and social fabric of the country taking into account its federal and bilingual nature, facilitate family reunification, foster intergovernmental co-operation to assist the adaptation of immigrants to their new home, facilitate visits to Canada by foreigners, ensure non-discrimination among immigrants on grounds of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, and sex; fulfil international obligations to refugees; foster a viable economy and regional prosperity; maintain and the promote the health, safety and good order of Canadian society; and promote international order and justice by denying access to Canada by persons likely to engage in criminal activity. Whitaker notes that the act aimed for wider consultation with the provinces and the public. For example government was required to consult on desired immigration levels and to announce these in advance of implementation. Whitaker also notes the growing role of larger provinces - responsible for social services such as education, health and welfare - intrinsic to the absorption of immigrants. Ontario created a Ministry of Citizenship including a multicultural branch with a budget to promote settlement and integration of immigrants.

· Establishment of a refugee category which had existed in practice but not in legislation; previously refugees were admitted under Minister's permits; provisions allowed for regulations that went beyond Canada's international obligations to the United Nations convention on refugees.

· Cullen Couture agreement signed between Ottawa and Quebec recognizing the concurrent jurisdiction of federal and provincial legislatures in immigration matters and attempts to harmonize the priorities of the Quebec and Canadian governments.

1979 · Implementation of the federal Immigrant Settlement and Adaptation Program (ISAP) of the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission (formerly Dept. of Manpower and Immigration), allowing for purchase of service agreements with community agencies to provide settlement services.

1980 · Under Conservative government of Joe Clark, the resettlement of the "Boat People" used private sector voluntary associations as central actors in the process: "...the entire movement was privatized and decentralized, with government playing a supportive role" (Whitaker, 1991, p. 22). Whitaker notes that while this Canadian action broke with traditional prejudice against Orientals, these people were fleeing communism. Latin Americans (Chileans in the 1970s; Salvadoreans and Nicaraguans in the 1980s) fleeing right wing governments allied with American government had not received the same treatment as had Hungarians and Czechs fleeing Communist regimes.

1985 · A special report to Parliament noted the drop in country's birth rate and linked immigration to compensation for declining domestic fertility rates as well as occupational skills required in the Canadian labour force. Hence immigration planning levels were increased.

1994 · "Into the 21st century: A strategy for immigration and citizenship" emphasizes selection of immigrants according to their ability to contribute to economic and social development, thereby reducing the demand for integration services. The federal Department of Citizenship and Immigration is created, linking immigration and the acquisition of citizenship, demonstrating an obvious concern about shared values and national identity.

1995 · The federal government announces that Citizenship and Immigration Canada will withdraw from the direct administration and delivery of federal settlement programs. Instead the Department will work with public and private sector partners to create new models for the delivery or settlement services.

The Making of Immigration Policy

Policy-making is a complex process whose determinants include such variables as changes in the global economy, public values, the ideological views of the governing political party, pressures exerted by the bureaucracy and other state institutions, and the degree of influence exerted by interest groups (Hess, 1993). The following section reviews recent academic writings relevant to policy-making in the areas of immigration, multiculturalism, and settlement policy. Hawkins stresses intergovermental (federal and provincial) relations as key. Both Parkin et al. (1992), and Pal (1993) identify a tension between a nation building dynamic and pluralistic tendencies. Dirks (1995) accedes the importance of government concerns with the economy but emphasizes the bureaucratic dominance thesis as a significant factor in the development of immigration policy during the 1980s.

Hawkins’(1988) seminal work on Canadian immigration policy making depicts the evolution of government policy and institutions. Hawkins’ work is a detailed account of the evolution of governmental policies and structures from the post war period to 1972 when her book was first published. In 1988 a second edition was published with single chapter covering the period 1972 to 1986. Hawkins writes from the perspective of managing immigration, detailing actors - senior civil servants and ministers - and policy and program changes, and including the role played by voluntary organizations. Her central thesis is that the narrow concept of immigration as a manpower policy was inadequate.

She situated immigration policy (and settlement service delivery) within Canadian federalism. With respect to immigration, Section 95 of the British North America Act (BNA Act) of 1867 specified immigration (along with agriculture) to be a joint responsibility of the federal and provincial governments. Consequently bargaining and negotiating has been necessary to decide who pays for immigrant education and training, citizenship programs, medical services and welfare (Hawkins, 1972). Hawkins claims that the character of federal provincial negotiating relationships has prevented creative joint planning.

Other aspects of the BNA Act impinge on immigration policy and settlement service delivery. For example, education is a provincial responsibility and encompasses a wide scope of programs with ESL implications: education in schools, occupational training and re-training, citizenship education. With increased immigration levels, costs of English language training increased dramatically.

With regard to social security and welfare, federal, provincial and municipal governments share responsibility through a series of agreements first developed in the 1960s during the expansion of the welfare state. The key programs include the Canada Assistance Program (CAP) governing federal transfer payments to the provinces for social security, the Family Benefits Allowance Act and the General Welfare Act.

Hawkins is critical of the predominance of the federal government and absence of provincial involvement in this jurisdiction. Thus there was no joint collaboration or planning between the Department of the Secretary of State and the Department of Manpower and Immigration in crucial areas such as provincial involvement, language training, research, funding and role of the voluntary sector, resulting in a twilight zone in the planning and development of services.

The almost exclusive federal management of immigration led to weak or non-existent services for immigrants since many of the basic services required such as reception, information and referral counselling, welfare, community services, and language training, all fall within the purview of the provinces who played little role in immigration. Instead, voluntary organizations (religious, ethnic, and secular) provided such services as best they could (Hawkins, 1988, p.185). Hawkins points out that "weak services must also be seen in the context of the cautious development of Canadian social services and system of social security during this period" (Hawkins, 1988, p. 194) and identified a need for a national policy and joint planning to put into place the requisite service infrastructure.

In paper prepared for a 1992 Conference on Immigration and Refugee Policy in Australia and Canada, Lanphier and Lukomskyj address settlement policy in both countries. They contend that, "political forces in the evolution of contemporary multicultural policy shape settlement services according to a [bureaucratic] construction of desired image of immigrant [cohort] profile" (emphasis in original) and secondly, that service deliverers, particularly non-governmental organizations, occupy intermediary positions of influence. The consequence of the first hypothesis is the lack of attention paid to the specific needs of client groups. The second hypothesis implies that the resettlement arena is one that is contested by service deliverers and to a lesser extent by clients. In a more recent account Lanphier and Lukomskyj (1994) summarize the broad principles underlying settlement policy, within a multicultural framework, thus: universal eligibility for services prior to and immediately after arrival in Canada; front-end loading with services primarily available in the first months and year(s) after arrival; respect for ethnocultural background while ensuring access to English/French language acquisition; economic adaptation predominant; and federal services to be complemented by the provincial, municipal, and voluntary sectors (p. 355).

In a paper comparing the making of immigration and refugee policy in Australia and Canada (1992), the authors conclude that for both countries a dynamic tension exists between ‘nation building’ statism and a pluralistic social and political structure. Nation building statism is characterized by strong policy management by government elites according to an agenda which legitimizes state action and promotes national goals (such as strengthening the economy and infrastructure, and enhancing international status).

The pluralist social and political structure allows for competition between interest groups bringing societal pressures to bear upon the policy-making process. They argue that the statist dynamic has been most prominent in Canada although ‘pluralist intrusions’ have occurred in recent decades. Whitaker makes a similar point identifying the role of immigration in Canadian nation-building, concluding however that these attempts have had consistently indifferent results (Whitaker, 1991, p. 25). Before reaching this conclusion Parkin et al. examined five other hypotheses (none of the five hypotheses being mutually exclusive):

1) The responsible government thesis views the political process as one where political parties compete and are elected on the basis of electoral platforms (including an immigration policy) which are subsequently implemented by the winning party.

2) The bureaucratic dominance thesis posits that civil servants exercise undue influence upon the policy making process shaping policy according to particular value orientations. (They cite Abella's argument that bureaucrats were key in maintaining racially discriminatory policies in the past, and Whitaker's account of senior officials influencing refugee policy in 1970s and 1980s.)

3) The cosmopolitan elitism thesis suggests that post industrial societies are characterized by the hegemonic dominance of a new class whose cultural capital consists of values such as internationalism, universalism and liberalism. These values predominate amongst academics, teachers, journalists, human service professionals, and public servants who shape education and mass communication.

4) According to the business dominance thesis, in capitalist societies, the maintenance of private capital accumulation is preeminent with immigration policies facilitating the interests of business through the provision of cheap labour and undermining of trade union power.

5) The populism thesis proposes that immigration and refugee policy is shaped by public opinion largely in the form of positions that have populist appeal, such as exclusionary regulations at times of high unemployment.

Parkin et al. argue that the responsible government and populism theses have the least explanatory power in that, in the case of the former, there has been more consensus than disagreement between political parties on the subject of immigration. (The article was written prior to the last federal election and the rise of the Reform Party.) In the case of the latter there is generally a weak relationship between public opinion and public policy.

For the authors the cosmopolitan elitism argument appears to be plausible in that government policies are more liberal than public opinion and business elites would espouse. Whether this is a decisive explanatory factor is uncertain. They conclude that there is not much evidence for the business dominance thesis in that business has tended to be less vocal than other sectors (e.g., labour) on this issue. As well the interests of the state include to a great degree not offending the interests of business.

The bureaucratic dominance perspective is discounted because of the strong influences on policy of prime ministers, ministers, the judiciary as well as external actors. This conclusion is contrary to Dirks' (1995) finding for the making of immigration policy during the 1980s. Parkin et al. note that the policy process of late has been vulnerable to mobilised interests; however in the case of Canada these are being mediated in a calculated fashion that strengthens the state's legitimacy and preempts oppositional challenges.

In a study of Canadian immigration policy during the 1980s, Dirks (1995) argues that while economic factors have been a major determinant of immigration policy, social and political factors, as well as structural, organizational and bureaucratic considerations have had a considerable impact on the content and implementation of policy. Family reunification and humanitarian concerns with the plight of refugees are reflected in the high percentages and numbers of these classes in both forecasted levels and admissions to Canada. As well, whether the prime minister or minister responsible favours immigration can affect the setting of levels by the bureaucracy (p. 32).

Dirks finds that the elaborate consultation process with business and voluntary agencies that was put into place by government was utilized not to solicit input, but to disseminate information and legitimize programs and regulations. A lack of consensus among voluntary organizations and other constituencies has allowed government representatives to be selective about which suggestions and advice are taken (p. 42). His third major premise is that of a constant struggle between the "gatekeepers or controllers" factions (who emphasize restrictions on admissions) and the "facilitators" factions (who emphasize humanitarian interests) found in both elected officials and civil servants. He concludes on the basis of anecdotal evidence, that the views of the former are more pronounced in the field (p. 144).

On the subject of settlement services Dirks provides a cursory review of the development of government funded settlement services, noting that voluntary organizations have expressed confusion as to the jurisdictional responsibilities of the Department of the Secretary of State and the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission (CEIC). He relates that immigration officials believe the voluntary sector can provide settlement services more effectively and at less cost than CEIC could itself (p. 102), and notes changes in priorities for settlement services corresponding with the intention to accept 250,000 immigrants and refugees. (These levels were not realized.)

Noting that social tranquillity in an ethnically diverse society is more likely when adjustment programs exist, he adds that these services have received very little attention in the media. However as Dirks himself has concluded, civil servants have played a greater part in influencing immigration policy than has public opinion. Therefore the views of government representatives are likely to be more influential in determining the scope of settlement programs.

My own experience in provincial government suggests that while government representatives (politicians, political staff, and civil servants) are unwilling to operate too far outside the norm of what is publicly popular, they exercise influence by framing the presentation of information and public policy options and through the selection of spokespersons and stakeholder groups to represent particular points of view. In general, civil servants are liberal with regard to spending programs since their prestige and influence is correlated with larger program expenditures.

Federal policy-making and advocacy groups

In a recently published historical study of the federal Department of the Secretary of State, Pal (1993) investigates the relationship between the state and NGOs in three areas funded by the Department: official languages policy, multiculturalism, and the women's program. In particular Pal investigated the effects of governmental funding for these advocacy organizations. He concludes that, from the mid-1960s, government support for these organizations was couched in terms of national unity, and consequently, citizenship, identity and participation, encouraging in turn a political discourse of collective rights and equality.

Pal acknowledges that the policy process is complex and is very rarely singly determined. Nonetheless, he concludes that, as a result of state funding, effective constituencies of interest developed who argued for an expansion of programs in their area, and became contributors to the ongoing and fragmenting debates about Canadian identity. In regard to immigration, Whitaker similarly concludes:

The government tried to use non-governmental groups as a means of privatizing and legitimating its policies, but it learned that this could be a double-edged sword. By the late 1980s a permanent and highly respectable non-governmental pro-immigration lobby was well established. (Whitaker, 1991, p. 23)

In sum, these debates have been amplified as a result of state intervention. At the same time these particularistic politics have resulted in certain "nationalizing" tendencies: for example, the promulgation of national policies, the formation of national organizations within these constituencies, coalition building amongst NGOs with similar policy interests. Other impacts include the framing of Canadian political discourse in terms articulated by such constituencies: for example, the historical dimension of the French contribution to Canada emphasized by official language minority groups; and the equality seeking claims made by women and multicultural groups (Pal, 1993).

Summary

The foregoing analyses have reiterated the continued prominence of Canadian federalism and its unity and nation building concerns. At the same time, the funding of nongovernmental organizations in the 1970s resulted in the creation of significant policy communities that have attempted to exert policy influence with varying degrees of success. Not surprisingly, NGOs’ ability to influence policy would appear to be greatest when there is greater ideological affinity with preeminent sectors in the civil service.

A perspective on service delivery in the context of welfare state provision is found in Campfens (1990). Utilizing Kramer’s (1981) framework, he addresses the role of voluntary organizations in the welfare state. The influence of the British tradition upon anglophone Canada is cited; that is, NGOs perform a supplementary function to state delivered or state funded services, as well as providing an outlet for private philanthropy at the interpersonal level, and social reform at the socio-political level. According to Campfens, institutional and professional practice cannot respond readily to the needs of a changing population; therefore immigrant NGOs are in a better position, in the interim, to provide for unmet needs. Campfens elaborates upon the networking role required of these NGOs to facilitate the integration of newcomers and emphasizes the mutual accommodation that ensues. He stresses the importance of supporting group and organizational formations because they have significance for people as forms of social life, as well as being a means of securing access to the larger society. At the same time he acknowledges Breton’s (1981) findings that groups vary in their reliance upon community structures.

He sees the special contribution of NGOs as their flexibility in responding to a variety of issues, for example, the crisis resettlement of refugees, etc. Moreover, voluntary associations proffer a means for providing services in an informal setting, for humanizing the welfare state through the contact between NGOs and state agencies, and for reestablishing a sense of community (p. 166). This feature of immigrant organizations has been reiterated in a recent empirical study of Ghanaian refugees. Opoku-Dapaah (1993) finds that while refugees have attained some degree of economic adaptation, that is, the ability to participate in order to become self sufficient, their social adaptation has fared less well. Social adaptation denotes the degree to which respondents have extended their social relationships to the wider society. He contends that their high level of dissatisfaction with life in Canada (in terms of economic aspirations) has resulted in Ghanaian refugees restricting their social ties to the Canadian Ghanaian community. Therefore, he recommends that migrant associations be recognized as effective partners in the resettlement of refugees because their informality and the personal involvement of refugees makes such organizations appropriate mechanisms for dealing with the social-cultural factors pertinent to the adaptation process (factors subsumed by the emphasis on economic adaptation by federal settlement polices). Additionally they are less expensive than mainstream community and federal agencies.

For Campfens, the competencies of ISOs are not unquestioned and, writing seven years ago, he perceived the future of NGOs in service delivery to be in question. Campfens himself advocates the partnership model whereby community development oriented services and more individualized services complement each other. The partnership model is preferred since it strengthens "mutual aid patterns and participation among consumers and constituencies of NGOs" (p. 169).

Summary

From the foregoing writings, it may be concluded that the major functions of ISOs are seen to be those of: provision of services to individuals and communities in need (e.g., Iglehart & Becerra, 1995); advocacy and networking on behalf of marginalized groups (e.g., Beyenne, et al., n.d.); maintenance of ethnic identity through culturally and linguistically appropriate services (e.g., Jenkins, 1988); maintenance of forms of social life based on kinship, friendship and community (Opoku-Dapaah, 1993); and democratization and decentralization of the welfare state (Campfens, 1990).

In terms of the service delivery system, the following themes are evident: ISOs vary in resources, degree of bureaucraticization, and service delivery capacity (e.g., Korazim, 1988); there are questions as to the respective roles of mainstream and ISOs and models of service delivery (e.g., Campfens, 1990); and there is the issue of whether ISOs foster ghettoization instead of service equity, institutional pluralism instead of integrated services, and reinforcement of ethnic boundaries instead of intergroup contact (e.g., Casey in Jenkins, 1988).

The State and Immigrant Serving Organizations: Resistance and/or Cooptation?

In their work on ethnic agencies in the United States, Iglehart and Becerra (1995) advance the proposition that an ethnic service agency be considered an Alternative Service Organization (ASO). For Powell (1986) ASOs are characterized as human service organizations, founded by local initiative as an alternative to established services found to be inadequate. ASOs offer alternatives to traditional programs, utilize different methods and provide services to different populations. Powell sees ASOs as an important element in the overall human service delivery system in that they fill service gaps, employ innovative service strategies and are advocates for social change.

Shragge (1990), writing in the context of Quebec, considers the growth of this sector from its origins in radical social movements to a stage where many have become an extension of state programs providing social and health service or support systems for private economic development (p. 137). His underlying assumption is that ASOs serve clients who are oppressed by the structures of patriarchal capitalism, while the state and the private sector are interested in maintaining the existing social order (p. 168). While immigrant serving organizations are not the focus of Shragge's study, the cases are instructive.

In a situation where the welfare state is being redefined, and where state services are being shifted to the community through the use of volunteers, community organizations and the family, Shragge concludes that ASOs are able to maintain their autonomy to act in opposition to state policy, and engage in community development strategies aimed at empowerment (p. 138).

Shragge’s characterization of ASOs is overtly political. He contrasts the activities of ASOs with those agencies funded by government or private federations such as the United Way. The latter, he asserts, focus on service delivery on an individual basis whereas ASOs concentrate on programs that foster collective political action. A second feature of ASOs consists of their organizational forms as nonhierarchical and democratic as possible, allowing for staff and community participation in more than nominal ways. Thirdly, ASOs, especially in their inception, emphasize the hiring of community members rather than trained professionals. From the literature, Shragge summarizes the phases of development of ASOs from an initial period when the organization is engaged in social change activities, to a transitional period when more attention is paid to organizational accountability. In the later state, traditional accountability procedures have been put into place, and more professional staff have been hired. An individual approach may replace more collective strategies such as public education, community development and group work. However, the organization retains its commitment to its original client group. This bureaucratization results from the power of funders to shape agency activities. (In the case of immigrant organizations, Korazim (1988), on the basis of Israeli data, suggests that these organizations are simultaneously bureaucratized and non-bureaucratized.)

The development of these ASOs was affected by Quebec government policy to develop community clinics with the result that many such clinics were later coopted or disappeared as a result of declining social movements which left them with little support. Following this period, cutbacks in state spending entailed a thrust towards the use of community based services as an alternative to more expensive state programs. Now agencies have been pulled into partnership with government, and thus legitimized, while continuing to operate in a situation of underfunding and lack of long term fiscal stability. There are many parallels with the situation of immigrant service organizations in Ontario.

He argues that government and other funding sources operate to "destabilize" (p. 150) agencies by: providing funding on a short term basis, thus hindering long term planning; influencing programs through the provision of funding for social problems that are "in"; and appropriating large amounts of agency time for the administrative paper work required to procure short term project grants. As well, accountability procedures demand time be allocated for increased record keeping. Finally, groups may be required to change their structure to conform with the legal requirements of funders.

Despite ruptures to the monopoly of mainstream groups in procuring public funding, Anthias and Yuval-Davis (1992) identify another effect of state funding:

A grouping would have to emphasize its members’ deprivation and marginality in order to claim funding. This then leads to ghettoization of ‘needs groups.’ It is in this way that minorities indirectly become defined and constructed by the state and their ‘empowerment’ can be of a very limited and specific nature. (Anthias & Yuval-Davis, 1992, p. 182)

The construction of minority communities is not entirely unidirectional as Anthias and Yuval-Davis claim, since communities chose a particular ethnic self-articulation as a result of internal as well as external dynamics. The provision of services to immigrants through ISOs also signifies a particular construction of immigrants as bearers of particular ethnic, linguistic or national characteristics in contradistinction to other social roles such as unemployed worker, etc.

Shragge concludes from his investigation of five agencies that the ability of these organizations to maintain an oppositional stance is impressive. Maintaining agency autonomy depended upon the ASOs’ capacity to enlist support based upon its program successes, community support, or alliances with other service providers. Diversified funding was also helpful, as was the agency’s commitment to preserving its alternative view point despite staff and board turnover.

At the same time the agencies examined by Shragge were described as in the transitional phase. Whether they will inevitably become more bureaucratized and professionalised depends on how their program approaches, and democratic processes differ from those of state agencies (p. 147). Despite a strong individual service orientation dictated by funding, the agencies utilize a client advocacy approach in an informal setting. A strong commitment to collective decision making was exhibited in the participative structures and democratic policies of the ASOs in question.

Ng (1988) offers an examination of an immigrant women’s employment agency providing job counselling and placement services for non-English speaking and Black women. She documents how the agency reproduced a labour market stratified by gender and ethnicity (p.13). By matching immigrant women to job openings based on their marketable skills, experience and the requirements of the employers, the agency was involved in the production of immigrant women as commodities. (At the same it may be argued that a job was a desired outcome for those women.) Accountability requirements (paperwork) led to a fragmentation of the work process among staff members and between the staff and board. (In a recent research study of a wide range of organizations providing services to immigrants, reactions to reporting requirements were described as mixed: reasonable for some, hectic for others and not problematic at all for some.) Individual counselling replaced group counselling sessions (the latter are seen to be an opportunity for reducing isolation and building political awareness among the women) as placement rates became the driving concern for the agency. Hence the initial advocacy impetus for the agency was blunted.

The state's role was one of attempting "to regulate and rationalize labour market demands through contracting out some of its functions to community groups with closer ties to the grassroots" (p. 19). Further through its incorporation and accountability requirements, agency staff were enmeshed in the administrative processes of the state, i.e., the activities of ruling (p. 89). Ng is clearly critical of the systemization, routinization, and standardization that is characteristic of bureaucratic functioning, which, from the point of view of government, enhances manageability of funds and programs. She cautions that community struggles not be limited to the provision of state funded community services but must be extended to include explicitly political and collective activities such as mass protests and building alliances.

In a recent publication examining African, Asian, and Caribbean community-based women’s organizations and women’s movements in Canada, Agnew (1996) finds support in Canada’s multicultural policy for the provision of culturally sensitive services in languages other than English and French. In addition to this policy commitment and prohibitions against discrimination in the Charter of Rights, state agencies have allocated state resources for the funding of social services and advocacy work. At the same time, however, state funding has blunted the abilities of these organizations to be critical of state policies resulting in a "pragmatic, uncritical approach" (p. 171) that couches issues, not in terms of racial and gender discrimination, but in terms of equal opportunity and equal access.

As Agnew finds, the women in these organizations are diverse in terms of their consciousness of feminism, and no doubt in their analysis of racism. It is not surprising then that their critiques are voiced in terms of the everyday realities of funding applications and client needs. It may be more accurate to locate this emphasis on equal opportunities as the legacy of the liberal/social democratic political strategies which dominated the new social movements such as the feminist and Afro-American political movements during the 1960s and 1970s (hooks, 1984; Gilroy, 1992). Alternatively as has been suggested by Joppke (1996), it may be that there is a tension between intellectuals’ critical interpretation of the immigrant experience and immigrants’ own interpretation:

The immigrant perspective contradicts the anticolonial perspective advocated by multiculturalism: immigration is voluntary, individual and in its factual attraction to the host society a powerful reaffirmation of the latter; anticolonialism, by contrast depicts the incorporation of new members as forced and collective, and it calls for a fundamental transformation of the host society’s structure and principles. To put it drastically, immigrants say "we are actors," whereas the anticolonial perspective tells them "you are victims." (Joppke, 1996, p. 454)

These two studies of immigrant women’s organizations suggest that, despite agency aims of working in the interests of immigrant women, there are limits to what may be accomplished through state funded community services.

Indra’s (1987) account of Southeast Asian (Vietnamese, Vietnamese Chinese, Lao and Khmer) refugee organizations illustrates Helly's (1993) point about creating new elites. She argues that, as a consequence of the "demand" for community organizations and middlemen, certain elements within these ethnic communities possessing political resources (such as high socio-economic status) acquired prominence.

Given the various and multifaceted needs of refugees, certain questions needed to be answered: who would define and priorize, for policy and program purposes, what were important refugee needs; what would be the responsibility of government and voluntary settlement workers; and how would refugees' access to settlement services be determined?

Her overarching premise is that the answers to these questions about refugee needs and government and voluntary sector responsibilities involved a political struggle amongst refugees, government workers and voluntary agency settlement staff. As we might expect, the balance of power amongst these competing groups was highly skewed with refugees themselves possessing the least power to define their needs, given language barriers and unfamiliarity with Canadian bureaucratic processes.

Indra claims that in a sociological sense it was the classic case of the difficulties faced by a centralized, well-established bureaucracy required to adapt pre-existing programs to situations they were not initially designed for. (This does not explain why the same difficulties persist.)

Indra stresses that, through its need for bilingual workers and translators, CEIC affected the growth of Indochinese middlemen who were to become cultural brokers mediating governmental expectations and refugees’ needs. The Department of the Secretary of State through its Multiculturalism Grants Program also provided funding for the formation of Indochinese associations as part of its operating philosophy to support ethnoracial organizations as part of the cultural pluralism promulgated in the Multiculturalism Act. Provincially funded voluntary settlement agencies also encouraged the formation of Indochinese organizations seeing them as a means of alleviating refugee alienation and culture shock and as a potential base of community based social services. Thus the understanding of "community" comes into question. Community may refer to a geographically defined locality, to professional activists representing marginalized groups, or to the voluntary sector organizations which represent and service them. Inherent in all of these conceptions is an "intimate, close and rooted image of the community", "the organic wholeness" of a "natural social unit", which ignores the variables of class, gender (Anthias & Yuval-Davis, 1992) and ethnicity (Matsuoka & Sorenson, 1991).

Despite ISO's greater understanding of and responsiveness to refugees (in contrast to the brokered and ethnocentric understandings of "mainstream government workers") in Indra’s view:

...a primary ideological role of the immigrant settlement agency was to further legitimate particular government perspectives...the understanding gulf between government and non-government settlement workers was frequently so great that the latter's input had to be framed largely in terms of the former’s worldview to be understood at all. Moreover...immigrant settlement agencies were almost entirely dependent on government financial support...which came with demands for accountability framed in governmental bureaucratic terms. (Indra, 1987, p.157)

Demands for increased funding legitimated government programs by reducing questions of programs’ inadequacy to questions of money instead of program objectives.

Indra's secondary thesis focuses on the rise of middlemen, usually former immigrants, well-educated, bicultural and bilingual individuals who fill the roles of translators, interpreters and field workers. Indra describes the lack of Lao and Khmer individuals who could function as middlemen, in comparison with the Vietnamese community which had some immigration to Canada in the early seventies.

As a result Lao and Khmer refugee experience was subsumed under the Vietnamese refugee experience as framed by Vietnamese middlemen. Similarly, the Vietnamese Chinese experience was presented as synonymous with that of the Vietnamese. Vietnamese middlemen could undercommunicate certain problems because of lack of training about personal and familial issues, or to preserve the good name of the community, or may not have been privy to the personal problems of the Vietnamese Chinese, Khmer or Laotians.

Indra notes that, due to external influences, the creation of Vietnamese organizations took on the particular characteristics of a Canadian non-profit organization rather than a structure more akin to Vietnamese cultural traditions. Dorais, Foster and Stockley (1994) also note that Canadian multiculturalism is sometimes criticized for blocking authentic forms of ‘ethnic’ agency, thereby encouraging, to some extent, the political marginalisation of immigrant organizations and individuals. The dominance in the organization of a Vietnamese middle class who interact well with governmental power brokers meant that demands presented were never confrontational and never threatened governmental definitions.

The question of funding community organizations and the creation of a group of people whom Indra has termed "middlemen" is addressed in a very interesting fashion by the British scholar, Paul Gilroy. Gilroy (1992) identifies in Britain the existence of a group of black people, a proto-middle class, dedicated to an antiracist project but whose remuneration originates from state institutions. In this group there are three tendencies in proposing antiracist solutions. One strand, rooted in social democratic interventions, is committed to questions of policy notably around equal opportunity, rather than questions of politics. A second group is emphatically culturalist, emphasizing ethnic particularity and arguing for cultural relativism. The third tendency has been to collapse race and class and seek solutions in class politics. According to Gilroy,

these diverse yet inter-dependent groupings share a statist conception of antiracism. In making the local state the main vehicle for advancing antiracist politics they have actively confused and confounded the black community's capacity for autonomous self-organization. Here, we must make an assessment of the politics of funding community organizations and the dependency which that creates. (Gilroy, 1992, p. 60).

With regard to ISOs then, it must be asked whether ISOs have other aspirations which have been abandoned, and whether they have become merely managers of government services.

Anthias and Yuval-Davis (1992), in their work on Britain, have found that community representatives on the boards of voluntary organizations tend to be part of a network of activists, already employed in similar organizations because there are practical problems in finding community representatives (for example, how to establish who would be representative and by what means could they be elected). In the Canadian context, Agnew (1996) writes, "agencies and organizations represent working-class women, but middle class women assume the organizational and administrative roles. They are the members of the boards, the spokeswomen, and the community workers and counsellors" (p. 110). Anthias and Yuval-Davis caution that perhaps it is best to speak of community advocates, or community-based service deliverers rather than representatives. In terms of the political process, Dei (1996c) adds that mere representation is insufficient; a voice of difference is necessary.

The studies examined above imply that state funding has made it possible to secure advantages for disenfranchised groups but not without costs. Conclusions about state/ISO relations vary: state policy has created an effective policy constituency and has legitimated lobby groups (e.g., Whitaker, 1991); state policies assume cohesion but not divisions within communities (e.g., Matsuoka & Sorenson, 1991); state policies have influenced class formation by creating new political elites (e.g., Indra, 1987); and state funding policies structure ISO service activities in unanticipated ways (e.g., Ng, 1988).There is the risk that the role of the voluntary board shifts from representing the populations the organization was established to serve to that of liaising with relevant bodies and multiple funders. In the process grant application, fundraising, and financial management skills become more highly valued than representativeness, notwithstanding the problem of determining who is representative. Further, the funding process may have narrowed agencies into service provision or specific kinds of service provision.

Most significantly perhaps, through the coalescence of broader social movements and state policies (e.g., multiculturalism), race and ethnicity have been reified as social markers of disenfranchisement--the status that permits access to public resources. As Sivanandan (1991) has argued, larger political struggles such as economic change have slipped into the background.

Conclusion

As demonstrated in Chapter Two, recent writings on voluntary organizations and the state question the supposition of antagonistic relations between the two sectors. Investigations into the sphere of state/minority relations in Canada suggests that ISOs are in part a policy community created and maintained by the state and occupying intermediary positions of influence. Hence the organizations must be understood as both actors and policy beneficiaries. In the resultant discourse of immigrant needs, little attention has been paid to resettlement and culturally specific social services as a form of community governance, and a structural component of a plural society. As Kanneh describes, "‘Cultural pluralism’ promotes a notion of separate but already equal co-existence - equal, that is, in terms of civil, legal and economic rights, but distinct in terms of familial, religious and social life" (Kanneh, 1995, p. 70). Thus diversity is tolerated in the ‘private sphere’ primarily. Where there is acceptance for publicly supported separate institutions, for example, ISOs and cultural associations, this support is premised upon the notion of sustaining minority cultures as places of socialization and retreat from a harsh, individualistic and competitive society. ISOs and ethnic associations are not regarded as places of equal opportunity or community self governance made necessary by relations of power and institutional racism.

Desai (1996) observes, "There is yet no vocal lobby in Canada espousing separatism as a solution to racism. The lobby is overwhelmingly for access and accommodation" (Desai, p. 250). There is the danger that the emphasis by ISOs on their ability to provide culturally appropriate services may have resulted in technical and professional solutions to problems (e.g., cross cultural competencies, multicultural specialists) rather than political solutions which address the structural position of ethnoracial communities (Stubbs, 1993). Thus, in some respects the troublesome question of creating social policy on the basis of arbitrary definitions of community and culture is averted. Such policies and programs assume a commonality of interests among members that is likely nonexistent.

There has been an overwhelming emphasis on short term reception services with merely ad hoc programs in the ‘integration’ stage and economic integration interpreted as rapid entry into the labour force predominates. Although much attention is paid to the need for culturally appropriate services, the absence of broader policy discussions suggests the implicit assumption that immigrants will adapt to the dominant social norms and utilize "mainstream" services; or that the issue will be taken up at local levels (e.g., the United Way of Greater Toronto now requires that every member agency develop and implement antiracism policies).

Clearly there are legitimate questions regarding the degree to which a government funded system can support professionally delivered services for each community, and whether such arrangements facilitate social integration or social segregation. Further the pressures caused by migration are not experienced to the same degree in all regions, raising questions about implementation where there are no ‘economies of scale.’ (This is especially true of Canada where larger urban centres receive the bulk of migration.) However, even limited initiatives such as those that ensure the availability of trained interpreters are discretionary. (For example, in Australia a multilingual telephone translation line has been established.)

What are we to make of the fact that the empirical support of research findings is furnished for each of the positions (e.g., social control by the state versus the relative autonomy of NGOs) taken by the various authors? Is this the condition of post modern society characterized by paradox, uncertainty, suspense and difference as Leonard asks (1990)? Or are some arguments and analyses more convincing than others?

There are certainly differences in approach and emphases in the various bodies of literature that have been reviewed. Comparative analyses of the voluntary sector accentuate the role of social movements, social classes, and other extra parliamentary groups (such as voluntary organizations) in accounting for variations in social welfare provision between countries. Proponents of the social control thesis view things otherwise. In Ng’s (1988) depiction capitalist development produces immigrant women by drawing them to centres of industrial development away from their native livelihood. Further, classifying them as dependents has had specific consequences for their lives, for example, lack of access to language and job training which results in their participation in marginal and low paying jobs. In her account state and labour market processes are methodologically central (see p. 14), while Agnew’s account is much more of what has been characterised as a "history-from-below" approach (Benhabib, 1992).

In response to Leonard’s question above, yes, we live in complex times where monocausal explanations are inadequate. Social control and social reproduction theses tend to flatten out the contradictory nature of social phenomenon, projecting too total a vision of domination and oppression (Weiler, 1988). They may also undermine the pursuit of social change since the outcome is predetermined.

The case study presented herein reopens these issues by detailing the programs and services offered by an immigrant women’s organization, the values inherent in the programs, the constituencies affected by the programs, who the key decision-makers are and what the decision-making processes are, whether the social problems to which programs are addressed changed over time, and finally, what the implications are for community organizations?

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Virtual Library		Updated February 09, 2004