Synthesis of Findings

Security, terrorism, freedom, equality and citizenship: these have been the five central concepts informing our study.  What we do in this section is analyze each concept, bringing together all parts of the study, from the literature review to the research findings, with gender as the cross-cutting theme. What we find is that, with the passage of anti-terrorism legislation and changes to Canada’s immigration laws, the government has created a climate of fear in immigrant and ethnic communities, leading them to question their equal rights and freedoms, and thus undermining their sense of belonging in this country that they have chosen. In the post-9/11 environment, we have, in effect, different classes of citizens in Canada because it matters where individuals were born, what colour their skin is, and what faith they practice.  And within this context, women have been made invisible and gender considerations have simply been left aside. For more information see document.