Exploring the dynamics of racism in Canada is a tricky proposition, for discrimination in this self-professed tolerant society is often expressed in a more subtle, multilayered manner than in America. Author and professor Cecil Foster ventures into that minefield with Where Race Does Not Matter, the latest in a growing body of North American literature that raises the possibility that the human race is moving toward a raceless, colour-blind society.

Foster’s approach – a conversation, he calls it – reads at times like a transcript of kitchen table rambling: sometimes interesting, often repetitive and contradictory, occasionally requiring a furious Internet search to document grand but baseless claims. The book’s central theory, that Canada’s official policy of multiculturalism has tremendous potential to lead the world toward a place where one’s colour will not matter, is an intriguing concept but one whose analysis is often only skin-deep.

Foster is strongest when dealing with the historical roots of racism in Canada, exploring how this nation’s aboriginal policies inspired South Africa’s apartheid laws. His analysis of racial theorists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries provides a worthwhile look at a part of Canadian history that is often neglected in favour of the deeds of white prime ministers and generals.

But apart from acknowledging that there are some dirty deeds in Canada’s past, it is unclear how Foster wishes to connect this history to his disturbingly flowery and poorly argued claim that humanity seems on the verge of an “ecstatic, serendipitous” turning of the page on racial prejudice. His argument, for example, that the Trudeau years signalled a cultural sea change is based on a smattering of prime ministerial proclamations that read today like embarrassingly faded press releases. At times, Foster mistakes racial tokenism for change, embracing symbols that provide window dressing to a social structure that remains essentially unaltered.

The book is ultimately a frustrating work, given its unfulfilled potential to contribute to the dialogue on racism in Canada. Foster’s obsession with the concept of Canada as a shining multicultural beacon blinds him to the sad reality of those who continue to drive the taxis, clean the toilets, staff the convenience store counters, and fill a disproportionate number of jail cells in Canada.