"The best thing that happened... in Canada was the general secularisation of society after WWII which put religion in the background."

skyofblue: My father was a practicing Catholic throughout his life. When he was alive, he used to say exactly the same thing. For years, and long before the politicization of Muslim issues in Canada, he believed the only way a diverse society could function harmoniously was to secularize and relegate religion to the realm of entirely personal belief and private practice. Keenly aware of being a Catholic in the pre-war era, when the Orange Order was still strong in mainly Protestant Ontario, he said that properly religion belonged in the churches and not on the streets. I often think that newcomers simply aren't sufficiently aware of Canadian history to be able to understand that where religion is concerned we've been there, done that and gotten over it. It's not a response to their presence. But we won't and shouldn't go backwards on this.