i've bounced around on this, and what makes the most sense.

i've often argued that immigrant religious groups are an unstable coalition for the bourgeois-left parties, that they will eventually grow tired of organizing with people they have little in common with and, in the end, bolt to the right. i don't want to make it an issue about their loyalty; they're just really on the wrong side of the spectrum. it just really doesn't make any sense...

but, if the bourgeois left holds to these groups for long enough, then they will become embedded within their identity and start changing it from the inside. so, you can imagine that, all of a sudden, the liberal nominating committee in whatever riding will start banning queer people from attending, because it's been taken over by muslims. in the end, that's how democracy works...

in a lot of ways, it may come down to whether or not the right can stop being racist. if the right can find a way to convince these groups that they're welcome in their spaces, they will eventually align with their own values. but, if they can't do that, or don't want to, you could see the opposite thing happening: an influx of more moderate voices into the right-wing parties could swing them into more acceptable positions on cultural issues. and, then the spectrum completes it's swap, with white liberals on one side and conservative, religious minorities on the other....