By: Shawn Dalton
Who is an immigrant? According to Webster’s New World Thesaurus: “it is a newcomer, a naturalized citizen and adoptive citizen.” There are three myths that continue to confuse and deceive Canadians concerning identity, immigrants and immigration. The first is that Canada’s identity is based on immigration and multiculturalism. The second is that massive immigration compensates for anemic birthrates and to fill a labor shortage. The last is that massive amounts of immigration boost Canada’s economic success and security. These are myths perpetuated over and over again by lawyers, politicians and religious groups. The cold hard facts of reality will easily refute such chicanery. At the end of the day, Canadians and immigrants deserve an accountable, healthy and responsible immigration system that benefits Canada’s own economic self-interests.
Canada has a nearly eighty percent Christian population (refer to: Canada Year Book 2009). That’s why Christmas is celebrated with such enthusiasm. Canada is therefore a Christian nation. Canadian culture is English and French. It’s also hockey and beer. Foreign-born citizens comprise approximately seventeen per cent out of a total population of thirty four million people. Americans love guns, football, beer and are devout churchgoers every Sunday. The United States has a foreign born population of ten per cent or about thirty million people out of a total population of three hundred and seven million people. India is eighty percent Hindu and cricket is the national sport. The best kick boxers are from Thailand, a majority Buddhist peoples. The only place that might come close to the reality of an immigrant or multicultural state is the United Arab Emirates. The reality is shown through the investigations of Pepe Escobar of the Asian Times. He stated:
“At the base is the average construction worker, inevitably South Asian, either Pakistani or Indian. He’s invisible. But he and his fellow workers now comprise an astonishing 80% of the UAE’s population. Human rights Watch has repeatedly complained that this archetypal construction worker is never treated like a human being. But the UAE power structure couldn’t care less. He works a minimum of 12 hours a day in [temperatures of] up to 50 degrees, with a half-hour break, six days a week, and earns no more than $150 a month. He lives in a camp, four and sometimes as many as 12 to a 15 – square meter room lost in the dreary al – Quoz industrial suburb….He has no rights. Trade unions are banned. If he speaks up, he’s instantly deported.”
Since these workers aren’t even given citizenship rights, the UAE by definition, is also not an immigrant country. However, it does appear to be based solely on brutal repression and human slavery. Opinion polls reflected the reality that most people felt towards newcomers. Victor Malarek was an award winning senior reporter for the Globe and Mail Newspaper. In 1987, he released “HAVEN’S GATE: Canada’s Immigration Fiasco”.
Victor discovered that the wishes of Canadians were at complete odds with the political elite in charge of Canada’s immigration policies. How did ordinary Canadians truly feel about immigration, assimilation and other complex issues?
“ A study of attitudes done by Policy Concepts Inc. for Employment and Immigration Canada released in November 1985, uncovered a disturbing level of racism among Canadians – primarily in Montreal, Edmonton and Vancouver – based on fear that Canada’s predominantly Anglo – Saxon and European culture could be swallowed up by increased immigration from Third World countries. Over all, people surveyed believed that immigrants add to unemployment, compete with Canadians for educational and employment opportunities, and add to their tax burden if they are unable to find work.
The study also found that there was a general feeling among the respondents that new Canadians do not make sufficient efforts to assimilate. Visible groups such as Chinese, Indo – Pakistanis and black were singled out repeatedly. The respondents said they would like future immigrants to Canada to be “monied, well – trained, well – educated and ready to assimilate.” They saw present immigrants as poor, mostly from Third World countries, uneducated, untrained, reluctant to assimilate, prone to congregate in urban ghettos and a potential tax burden. “This immigrant is seen as posing a threat to our economy and our social fabric and a quality of life Canadians are reluctant to relinquish,” the study stated, adding that there was serious apprehension among respondents of Anglo – Saxon and northern European background” about becoming a minority group in one’s own country.” Most respondents also favored strict immigration controls. Some said they would like to see immigration stopped completely “until we get our house in order” and take care of those already here.
During the next two years, thousands of bogus queue jumpers from Portugal, Turkey and a few hundred from Brazil forced the government to place Visa restrictions on these countries. However, no further action was taken. The immigrant vote was not to be disturbed; it was to be fought over. It was to be used as an ethnic vote bank, to be nurtured and encouraged no matter what the economic circumstances. Even if there weren’t enough jobs, mass immigration was to be relentlessly continued. Two years later, not much had changed. Canadians knew something was seriously wrong.
“ It comes as no surprise that a public opinion poll carried out by Environics Research Group Ltd. for the Globe and Mail in early March 1987, found that 65 per cent of Canadians questioned felt there was too much immigration into Canada. Much of the negative sentiment by Canadians toward immigrants can be directly traced to their lack of trust in the government’s ability to handle immigration.”
“ In a public opinion poll published in the Toronto Star on June 3, 1987, 83 per cent of Canadians questioned said they supported a bill introduced in the House of Commons a month earlier that would make it far more difficult for people claiming refugee status to enter the country.”
As Canadians are being forced to share the public space with new Canadians, it became apparent that the most important thing to bring along wasn’t a book, but an I Pod or walk man. Canadians found it a major headache to have to listen to Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Tagalong, Mandarin, German, Russian and Spanish. On September 11, 1998, the Vancouver Sun ran a report on a poll that Angus Reid Associates had done earlier in the year for Madame Robillard’s department. The results were stunning but fair, accurate yet revealing.
“The poll…indicates an overwhelming number of Canadians (76 per cent) want newcomers to be able to speak either French or English when they arrive and want immigration officials to institute tough measures to ensure that immigrants are healthy and have no criminal record.”
It’s possible that Prime Minister Stephen Harper might be seen as a red neck Canadian dictator. However, at least he listened to our American neighbors south of the border. The Liberals never even tried to meet the Yanks half way. They shunned their noses up at them. Part of being a strong leader is the ability to listen to critics and adjust accordingly. On the eve of the Tory majority, Harper finally got together with Barack Obama and signed that border agreement. There was sufficient evidence that Canadians would have given their blessings much sooner.
“An Ipsos – Reid poll released in October 2001 found that more than 80 percent in favour of a joint North American security perimeter and a harmonized immigration and refugee system.”
After September 11th, most Canadians understood that we are in a clash of civilizations. The assault on western civilization had started. The Americans considered themselves to be in a state of war and Canada should be as supportive as possible. Canadians and Americans share common bonds and values. The people arriving on our shores must be here to add to our cultural and economic prosperity and not to wage holy jihad against infidels. There are limits to how welcoming Canadians can be. This brings us to the second myth; that massive immigration compensates for anemic birthrates and a labor shortage.
The government is always talking about falling birthrates and a looming labor shortage. This rhetoric is constantly reinforced by government agencies.
“Canada’s post recession economy demands a high level of legal immigration to keep our work force strong,” stated Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.
“Instead of continuing the destructive trend of bringing in 178,487 temporary workers to Canada each year, the Conservatives should allow for even more families to join their loved ones in Canada,” said NDP immigration critic Olivia Chow.
“I think we can look at getting over the 250,000 mark and up to approaching 1% of our population if not going beyond that,” stated Liberal immigration critic Justin Trudeau.
“With their strong work ethic and entrepreneurship, they create wealth and increase demand for housing and services, which creates jobs. They trigger a virtuous economic cycle,” wrote Haroon Siddiqui in The Toronto Star.
“We need more immigration, we need better family reunification. The [Tory] government has gone completely wrong on family reunification. We need to increase family reunification visas. The best way to do immigration is family reunification,” stated Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff while attending the annual Khalsa Day parade.
”We’re becoming ever more dependent on immigration in order to grow this economy. Regardless of your political stripe, we need to ensure that we are seen to be attractive place for immigrants and very efficient in providing services [to newcomers so that they become contributing members of the society and our economy,” stated Ontario Premier Dalton Mc Guinty in an interview at Queen’s Park with The Generation Next Newspaper.
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