Politics

As one of the larger ethnic groups in Canada, the Dutch could be expected to have a noticeable impact on the Canadian political process. Such has not been the case. Dutch-Canadian politicians can be found at all levels of government, but none are regarded as representatives of their ethnic community; rather, they serve the interests of all groups within their respective constituencies. The lack of impact by the Dutch community in politics has various origins. The fact that the majority of immigrants came in the post–War World II era has meant that the first generation was until recently preoccupied with achieving economic independence. The struggle for financial security has kept most of its members from active participation in public affairs. Language difficulties have also made involvement nearly impossible for a number of years.

Accustomed to proportional representation and politics based on ideology, new Dutch Canadians found the winner-take-all philosophy of the Canadian system hard to accept. For many, no real difference existed between the Liberal and Conservative parties. Both seemed motivated solely by the acquisition of power for its own sake. The Neo-Calvinists, who had passionately supported anti-revolutionary forces in the Netherlands, found liberalism of any kind unpalatable. The socialist philosophy of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (later the New Democratic Party) seemed even worse, since it was regarded as humanistic and irreligious. Such a view led many of this group to support the Social Credit Party both provincially and federally because it gave nominal recognition to fundamental Christian beliefs.

The essentially conservative nature of many Dutch-Canadian farmers and even urbanites manifested itself in a rejection of any party that favoured big government or statism. Many felt that they had not left the highly bureaucratized Netherlands simply to institute in Canada a government replete with forms, officials, and the suppression of individual initiative. The immigrants, predominantly of lower- or lower-middle-class origin, were dedicated to a comfortable bourgeois existence, and that meant the least government involvement possible in their daily lives and the least interference in their struggle for economic security. In the main, the children and grandchildren of immigrants have held to these individualistic values.

Since Dutch Canadians are not geographically concentrated, no one federal or provincial constituency has had a sufficient number to affect the outcome of an election. It is doubtful, given the various divisions in the community resulting from religious and ideological differences, whether any Dutch-Canadian candidate would receive the unanimous support of his or her own ethnic group. The lack of issues that affect the community as a whole has meant that there has been no reason for political solidarity. Because of the success of postwar reconstruction in the Netherlands and its continuation as a Western democratic country, free from communist oppression, nationalistic movements, such as have been seen among other ethnic groups in Canada, have not developed among the Dutch.

Members of the community today generally still place a high value on self-sufficiency, personal responsibility, and the work ethic, but they can hardly be considered different from their fellow Canadians. They do not vote in any ethnically predictable way, nor do their opinions bring them into conflict with other groups or with society in general. They consider themselves good citizens who contribute actively to the development of the country. Some first- and second-generation Dutch Canadians may even believe themselves to be more patriotic and appreciative of the country’s opportunities than native-born Canadians, but such a feeling is to be expected among those who have achieved success in a new land.