The Demographic Shift in the Diocese of Toronto
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Canadian Tribes
Michael Adams, in his ground-breaking book "Sex in the Snow - Canadian Social Values at the End of the Millennium", identifies twelve "Tribes" in the Canadian population and their characteristics. There are three broad categories according to most analysts: The Elders, The Boomers and the Generation X - ers. These are defined by the different characteristics of the people in each group.
Canadian Values
The Boomers are extremely influential because of the very large numbers (about 10 million people) in this group. Television commercials are aimed at the Boomers and the size of the educational system was determined by them. These three groupings are broken out into twelve Tribal Groups. As I reflected on the characteristics of each tribe, I could not help but think about various friends and acquaintances who fit the model of each Tribe. I believe the author has correctly identified these twelve Tribes in the Canadian population.
Elders, Boomers and X-ers
There are three tribes of Elders, four tribes of Baby Boomers and five tribes of Generation X-ers. These tribal groups prove that we are not as individualistic as we would like to think we are. Of the three "Elder" tribes presently over fifty-three years of age, two are described as "religious" and "supportive of the institution of the church." These are currently the leaders, power holders and financial supports of the Anglican Church in the Diocese of Toronto. The third tribe, called "Cosmopolitan Modernists" do not have the characteristic of "religiosity." Not a single one of the nine other tribes has religious characteristics or supports the religious institution.
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