According to the 2001 census, the number of Muslims in Canada rose over the previous decade by 129%, Buddhists by 84%, Sikhs by 89% and Hindus by 89%. Moreover, we are just beginning to understand the distinctive religious sensibilities of roughly one million Chinese Canadians. Clearly, new waves of immigration have changed the Canadian religious landscape. The events of September 11th, 2001 have reminded us of the continued importance of religion in the lives of Canadians and others around the world. In this lecture, we will explore the extraordinary power of both religion and ethnicity in Canadian minority religious communities and international events.
Paul Bramadat, Ph.D.
Author of The Church on the World's Turf: An Evangelical Christian Group at a Secular University (2000), Paul Bramadat has written extensively on religion, multiculturalism, and public policy. He is co-editor of Religion and Ethnicity in Canada (2004). Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Winnipeg, he teaches and publishes mainly in the area of contemporary religion, ethnicity and public policy in Canada, but his interests also include fundamentalism, terrorism, and popular culture.