Uncontrolled immigration undermining Canadian tolerance

Despite the rising unemployment in both America and Canada, threats of a possible war in Iraq, conflicts in the Middle East, layoffs, sagging economy, local economists and retail analysts expect Canadians to open their wallets this Christmas and produce better than usual sales for retailers. This is good news but we’re not sure if this optimism will really prevail during the shopping season.

The Retail Council of Canada is also confident and expects a five to seven percent increase in retail sales over-all this year compared to 2001. Media propaganda? We will find out soon enough.

The publisher of The Report magazine, Link Byfield, had potent messages in his recent editorial which addressed the issue of what’s missing from the Canadian social and political landscape which are necessary for the country’s progress and advancement. And they are information and inspiration while the second is legal and legislative strategy.

Byfield wrote that Canadians are on the whole good people, but remarkably ignorant and pampered. That it does not delude itself that the resulting human deficit will be solved by millions of illiterate Third World immigrants, however much Canadians may pity them. We now see countless immigrants who have created an economic and social underclass of newcomers who are lacking in the language, social and job skills needed to adjust to life in Canada. For instance, family-class immigration allows one skilled immigrant to bring dozens of unskilled, extended family members to Canada. This eventually leads to chronic unemployment and a drain on social and medical programs.

Uncontrolled immigration can really undermine the country’s ability to remain a tolerant multi-cultural society. In retrospect, I have met many new Filipino and Chinese immigrants who don’t, can’t and will not assimilate their new Canadian environment. After several years, they made no efforts to improve their communication skill in English and they only made friends with fellow Filipino or Chinese, as if living in a barrio.

In 2001, non-economic immigrants totaled to 172,762, family class immigrants 66,641 (parents constitute 21,261). Economic immigrants are only 77,542, skilled workers 61,608 and entrepreneurs 14,580. And what languages do they speak? English is only 45.9 percent, French 4.5 percent and 44.4 percent speaks neither English nor French. Politicians, activists and full-time do-gooders talk of racial discrimination when the issue of communication skill was never considered as a major cause of any social tension or unrest.

Politicians with hidden agendas will naturally say that lax immigration enriches the cultural and social fabric of the country. But in a new book written by demographer Daniel Stoffman called Who Gets In: What’s wrong with Canada’s Immigration Program-And How To Fix It? he argued that Canada does not need increased immigration for economic health or to offset its aging population. He believes that Canada admits too many people and current immigration levels should be cut in half.

According to the book, only 23 percent of Canadian immigrants are selected for their skills and that immigrants arriving since 1978 have fallen 40 percent below the income levels of both earlier immigrants and Canadian-born citizens. The call for immigration reform is currently a "hot topic" here. And there’s another book on the subject, side by side with Stoffman’s now controversial book. The second book is by columnist Diane Francis entitled Immigration: The Economic Case.

We are very happy to hear that a Filipino who immigrated to Canada in 1994 and worked as a graveyard janitor in Vancouver won $5 million in the last Lotto Super 7 Draw. He’s a 43-year-old father of two girls and happily recounted that he told his wife jokingly that he will win the lottery when they come to Canada. He shared his $10 million prize with another ticket holder in Quebec. We’re hoping that he will invest his money properly and not give away his money to friends and relatives.

British Columbia is known to be a favorite retirement place for seniors. But where do they live? According to Statistics Canada, the highest proportion or people aged 65 and over are in I) Okanagan, Similkameen, 2) Nanaimo 3) Sunshine Coast 4) Koote nay-Boundary 5) Central Okanagan.