This is a lifestyle reality rather than a political footnote within immigrant communities.

I don’t always agree with Progressive Intercultural Community Services (PICS) CEO Charan Gill, and over the years, some of his political and policy related utterances have really riled me up.

Gill’s latest commentary on the mega house debate (#5), however, isn’t one of those instances.

Coming from a mixed heritage background, half of which is South Asian, and having married into a Punjabi family, my support for multi-generational households is based on my upbringing and personal experience.

So when I read a comment by City Caucus’ Mike Klassen like this:

“In spite of family size decreasing since WW2, home sizes have increased,”

I cannot help but ascertain that it was written without consideration for what Gill refers to as “a lifestyle that newcomers from agrarian societies live…” where a “…joint family system is practiced.”

In Klassen’s entire piece, there is barely a reference made to the cultural aspects of the debate with the exception of comments like this about Dianne Watts’ political considerations:

“Watts can ill-afford to alienate a strong base built within ethnic communities…”

This is more than politics, Mike.  This is about respect and consideration for other ways of living.

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