ABSTRACT
This chapter will examine the experience of the Greater Toronto Area Lao refugees in establishing their Buddhist temple, Wat Lao Veluwanaram in Caledon, a small rural town outside of Toronto. The previous chapter presents a theoretical model for understanding the dynamics of Buddhist communities in Toronto through the politics of recognition and representation. Similarly, this chapter utilizes Charles Taylor’s notions concerning the ‘politics of recognition’; however, rather than presenting a theoretical model, this chapter offers a case study of one community’s engagement with the ‘politics of recognition’ in order to examine the validity of Taylor’s position. In his article ‘The Politics of Recognition’, Charles Taylor examines the liberal democratic culture in North America and questions the current political and legal structure’s ability to offer the realization of cultural harmony. Taylor is primarily concerned with ‘the rigidities of procedural liberalism’ fostering an environment which is ‘inhospitable to difference’ because of the universal axiom of equality and the conflicting desire for the ‘survival’ of a culture which is distinct from that of the hegemony (Taylor 1994: 61). This case study will dilate on the ideal of cultural harmony, as it applies to the Lao Buddhist in Toronto, within the context of such key features as group identity, cultural expression, multiculturalism, and power. First, a brief account of the Lao’s arrival in Canada will be set down in order to show the connection between group identity and their refugee experience, and to demonstrate the relevance of a temple in their community.
