| The census allows for an individual to make multiple responses, which explains why there is no category for 'mixed' (eg a single individual could respond as Canadian, Scottish, and French, and it would count towards the totals for all three). But an explanation can't hurt, and I'll add one.
I don't see what you mean by "national or provincial ethnic designations." Québécois, Newfoundland, and Acadian are all sufficiently different from their European antecedents that to call them French or Irish would be an error. I can tell you that Newfoundland culture (language, music, food, etc), for example, is distinct from both its European antecedents and its North American neighbours. What else could I be but a Newfoundlander? Why should that be less legitimate than any other response? |