Immigration bad for us
New book argues newcomer policy flawed, is changing Canada for the worse
By MINDELLE JACOBS
The Winnipeg Sun
Last Updated: 2nd October 2009, 4:48am
For years, Canadians have been led to believe that mass immigration is necessary to fill labour shortages, make up for our low fertility rates and finance expensive social programs.
In a shot across the bow of political correctness, a new book by the Fraser Institute argues that these beliefs are myths and calls for a serious debate on Canadian immigration policy.
“Many of the reasons with which Canada justifies its high immigration intake are simply not valid and the economic and social costs are not open to discussion,” writes James Bissett, a former executive director of the Canadian Immigration Service.
“We may not yet have reached the tipping point,” he warns in the book, The effects of mass immigration on Canadian living standards and society. “But if we continue to sleepwalk into the 21st century and ignore this issue, we may find out too late that Canada has been unalterably changed.”
Various contributors weigh in on what they see as the consequences of mass immigration — Canada's annual immigration rate is the highest in the world — and offer prescriptions for change.
Bissett calls for a temporary moratorium on new immigrants until the backlog has been eliminated.
He points out 80% of our immigrants are not in the skilled worker category but, rather, enter or are allowed to stay for humanitarian reasons or because they've been granted refugee status.
Canada needs to update its point system for selecting skilled workers so it better reflects the needs of the labour force, he adds.
In his essay, U.S. academic Vernon Briggs questions the quality of university education in certain immigrant-source countries. Very few Third World nations have elite universities, he writes, noting that only one institution from outside the industrialized world, the State University of Moscow, is on the list of the top 100 universities.
“The only way to ensure that the immigrants chosen will do better is to be more selective,” Briggs writes. “If Canadian universities chose foreign students the way (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) selected immigrants, half their classes would flunk out.”
FINDING JOBS
Herb Grubel, Fraser Institute senior fellow and co-editor of the book, examines the feasibility of financing social programs like pensions, welfare and health care and concludes that in order to meet such objectives immigration would have to skyrocket to 165 million by 2050. That year alone, we would have to take in seven million immigrants, he says.
That, he adds, creates the “impossibly large” problem of finding jobs for all those people.
The book also contends that high rates of immigration threaten to undermine our national identity and social fabric.
Canada has become nothing more than a “global suburb” for immigrants with Canadian passports living abroad, argues Stephen Gallagher, of the Canadian International Council, a foreign policy think-tank.
And Salim Mansur, who also writes a weekly column for Sun Media, warns that Canada's secular, liberal-democratic character and security are endangered by unrestrained immigration.
“Religious or cultural wars are won and lost on the grounds of how confidently and tenaciously antagonists hold to their respective … values,” Mansur writes.
Critics will no doubt view this book as an anti-immigrant diatribe. On the contrary, it's a plea for a smart, retooled immigration policy and a slap in the face to those who would stifle discussion on such a crucial issue.
MINDY.JACOBS@SUNMEDIA.CA
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14 Comments
doug smith Report Comment
October 3rd 2009, 9:47pm
While i agree with this article,i would like to point to the fact that most of our manufacturing industry has become outsourced to third world nations where wages are cheapest,they were good paying jobs which will never return,forcing people to accept lower paying work.
The combination of exporting jobs while importing record numbers of people,will if not stopped will lead to a lower standard of living in Canada and high unemployment,in fact it is already happening in many areas of the country outside of our large urban centers.
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Steve Report Comment
October 3rd 2009, 8:05am
Recent investigations and articles in Toronto Star, Globe and mail are exposed on fraudulent resumes references and diplomas in Canada.
Canadian employers are incompetent in assessing global expertise and do not hire the best staff. Immigrants with global experience are finding difficult to get get jobs as the hiring system is one of the worst on earth and a “Wild West”; “Who you know is better than what you know”. This system is discriminative too as known applicant is hired instead on merit.
It is a shame to the Canadian Human rights forum. Some professionals are moving out of Canada as they foresee bleak future in Canada. There are lot of wrongdoing is occurring but the employers are not serious about it. A WILD WEST attitude!
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Steve Report Comment
October 3rd 2009, 7:50am
Most people come to Canada for economic reasons or as refugees.
The govt must have firm policies on issues. A sponsored immigrant should not be eligible to receive state benefits for at least 15 years. The immigration status should be conditional and if the sponsor fails, the immigrant should be returned to their country.
Those who receive welfare are flocking to the family doctors as both doctor service and medicine are free for them. Hence, an actual patient who works and pays tax is unable to see the doctor. The Health Care system is flawed. Like in Norway, Doctors should charge the patient $30- per visit and the govt should subsidize the drugs. If doctors charge the patients only those who are really sick will visit the doctor.
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Jeff Report Comment
October 2nd 2009, 7:36pm
on governmnent welfare, while refusing to work hard in order to earn a living on their own, just like you're promoting laziness with rewards while punishing those hardworking individual through income tax that supports these drones and economic parasites disguise as refugees.
I put my blame on NDP and Liberal Party in promoting this bad immigration policy, they should streamline this program and selects only those who are qualified and hardworking immigrants that could contribute to the progress of this great country of Canada economically,socially and politically.
Truly this wonderful country of Canada is a land of great opportunity and success, specially for those who are God fearing,hardworking and law abiding people. God Bless.
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Jeff Report Comment
October 2nd 2009, 7:04pm
Which means hardworking Canadians taxpayers like us would have to shoulder the burden of accepting this unproductive economic refugees under the guise of compassion and humanitarian reasons.
I agree with Ms.Jacob and Mr. Mansur views regarding the current mass(open) immigration policy of Canada would undermine our standard of living in near future and need to be reviewed urgently in order to avoid the catastrophic fate of Western European countries including Great Britain in the future.
In fact i'm an immigrant (myself) from the Philippines I came here to work and contribute to the betterment of my beloved adopted country of Canada and not ask to be subsidized in form of welfare unlike those unproductive refugees who relied heavily
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Jeff Report Comment
October 2nd 2009, 6:35pm
kana – While it's true that Canada is the nation of immigrants specially the British and European settlers who founded and made this nation great of what it is today, and lately some immigrants from all over the face of the earth with different ethnic background came and settled here.
However it doesn't mean that you would tolerate mass (open immigration) at the detriment of Canadians in the future, look great majority of immigrants nowadays unfortunately are refugees whom our government spends a great deal of money and effort in order to accomodate them such as free airfare,apartment,school and job training while receiving monthly welfare including their children from the government at the expense of peoples money
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kana Report Comment
October 2nd 2009, 3:06pm
My points:
1) Canada is belong to the Native people. Rest of them are immigrants from all over world. Only Native people have the right to speak about the immigrants. You might have come first as an immigrant but that's doesn't mean you are the Natives.
2).Canada is built by immigrants. It always welcomes new immigrants, said former PM Mulrony.
3) Canada has unlimited resources and it is booming in development and technology. So it needs man power. Canada is lucky because it imports highly educated foreign qualified individuals free of charges.
4) Canada is the 2nd largest country in the world but its population is only 32million. If Canada wants number one in the world, it needs more man power.
So I suppose Canada can afford more imm
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Terry Report Comment
October 2nd 2009, 1:58pm
Canada needs to look after those already here before they bring in more Immigrants . You then get a person like Ruby Dahalla who wants new immigrants to only have to live here for three years to be able to collect a pension . Then they say the baby boomers are going to retire in a few more years , and there will be nothing left of the pension plan for them to collect … Duh I wonder why .
Then they recieve all the health care these people will require when they get here .. another drain on the system and they can't figure out why Canadians are getting mad .
My sister inlaw worked for 27 years before her health failed and is now on a disability . She only gets a little over $ 500.00 a month to cover everything .. wheres this fair
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Terry Report Comment
October 2nd 2009, 1:57pm
Canada needs to look after those already here before they bring in more Immigrants . You then get a person like Ruby Dahalla who wants new immigrants to only have to live here for three years to be able to collect a pension . Then they say the baby boomers are going to retire in a few more years , and there will be nothing left of the pension plan for them to collect … Duh I wonder why .
Then they recieve all the health care these people will require when they get here .. another drain on the system and they can't figure out why Canadians are getting mad .
My sister inlaw worked for 27 years before her health failed and is now on a disability . She only gets a little over $ 500.00 a month to cover everything .. wheres this fair
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Dionysus Report Comment
October 2nd 2009, 12:02pm
Well said Mindelle. I totally agree with your commentary. Far too many immigrants wind up being ghettoized largely because of lack of qualifications. We always have unemployment in this country and it is time to upgrade our own rather than import more unemployable people. Immigration is too often driven by politicians looking to import potential voters. Radically changing a nation's demographics by massive immigration can have dangerous repercussions. We are already beginning to see some of that.
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Clive Report Comment
October 2nd 2009, 11:55am
Except the education part,I completely agree with this article.I went to an American Univ and worked with Major Corps to proove that I could contribute to Canada before I moved here.If 80pc of the people moving to Canada are on a freebie,it is not fair.Why not stop the refugee program and allow only people who can contribute to Canada.Why spend unecessary $$ on them.The recent visa imposition on Mexicans and Czechs are a proof of this.
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Happyman Report Comment
October 2nd 2009, 11:44am
No facts and figures. Just a bunch of statements doesnt make it reality.
Education is some so called third world countries (like India, china, and other Asian tigers where majority of immigrants come from) are inferior!! What a joke. It may be true for some but not all counties. Most companies are outsourcing their operations are moving the operations there because of many well educated engineers with university degrees. They are going there because of for most jobs you need reasonable basic university education and they can get plenty of young people with that.
Some of the worlds best engineering and management schools (IIT's and IIM's of India and the many top chinese universities for example) are located in these parts of the world
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Angela Report Comment
October 2nd 2009, 10:27am
I completely agree. I will also thank you for the column, as I personally know many people who would definitely agree with this.
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coldasice Report Comment
October 2nd 2009, 8:11am
Thanks for the column Mindelle. This book should be required reading for all politicians.
