On harmonization of the values of immigrants and the host society: Quebec interculturalism and reasonable accommodation’ controversies (mid - second half of the 2000s)

The article deals with the debates on reasonable accommodation which took place in the Canadian Province of Quebec in the mid - second half of the 2000s. This stipulates adjustments made by the recipient community to accommodate and thus better integrate immigrants as carriers of other cultural / religious values. It shows the specificity of the Quebec model of interculturalism, which has gained international fame. The author emphasizes that the attitude of the French speaking Québécois community to immigrants was influenced by its dual position: the majority in the province of Quebec (by many indicators comparable to a middle Western European nation-state), but the minority in Canada. This explains its susceptibility to assimilation fears and its desire to use immigration as a source for replenishment for the Québécois nation, which, in turn, may lead to conflicts and/or mutual misunderstanding due to differences in the approaches / requirements / expectations of the majority and minority. The article provides examples of controversies related to the requests of representatives of minorities (mainly from the recent immigrants from the Third World countries) and the reaction of the French speaking Québécois majority, which, on the one hand, emphasizes its secularism and openness, but on the other - is not value-neutral, while maintaining a significant substrate of the French Canadian Catholic Heritage. It also analyses the policy of the provincial government on those conflicts. Attention is given to the activity and recommendations of Consultation Commission on Accommodation Practices Related to Cultural Differences (Bouchard-Taylor Commission) created by the Quebec Government in 2007. The author stresses the most important observations and recommendations contained in its final report.