Enough With the Immigrant-Bashing...
Lately, I've been noticing a few derogatory comments about immigrants popping up on blogs. Generally, they appear in the comments section, as most bloggers - at least those that I read - know better. I'd say 3 out of every 4 of these comments are anonymous.
Here are a few facts:
1) I live in Toronto, Ontario
2) Both of my parents were immigrants.
3) I am one of 6 children.
4) 4 of my siblings are also immigrants.
What kind of perception of me does that create in your mind?
Now, hypothetically - what if I told you I am white - does your perception change? Is that fair?
What if I instead, I told you that my family is from India? Do you view me differently?
I'm not actually going to mention my heritage in this post.
The fact remains, most immigrants are honest, hardworking people. Many of them are extremely entrepreneurial, and they have a great deal of pride.
I will grant that in some cases, immigrants from certain countries have statistically higher rates of crime. That's the exception, not the rule. It doesn't give you the right to generalize all immigrants as criminals or as economic parasites. Most immigrants have too much pride to be a drain on the system.
Please, treat people as individuals. If you must judge them, at least do it based on individual merit, not some generalization. Most importantly, don't push them away.
Here are a few facts:
1) I live in Toronto, Ontario
2) Both of my parents were immigrants.
3) I am one of 6 children.
4) 4 of my siblings are also immigrants.
What kind of perception of me does that create in your mind?
Now, hypothetically - what if I told you I am white - does your perception change? Is that fair?
What if I instead, I told you that my family is from India? Do you view me differently?
I'm not actually going to mention my heritage in this post.
The fact remains, most immigrants are honest, hardworking people. Many of them are extremely entrepreneurial, and they have a great deal of pride.
I will grant that in some cases, immigrants from certain countries have statistically higher rates of crime. That's the exception, not the rule. It doesn't give you the right to generalize all immigrants as criminals or as economic parasites. Most immigrants have too much pride to be a drain on the system.
Please, treat people as individuals. If you must judge them, at least do it based on individual merit, not some generalization. Most importantly, don't push them away.
posted by Toronto Tory at 12:39 PM
21 Comments:
The very odd thing about people hammering immigrants is that all of us, save the aboriginals, are descendants of immigrants.
It's amazing what people can forget in 500 years. :-)
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Mark, the thing that makes that odd thing less odd is the meaning of "immigrant" when used by immigrant-bashers.
Nobody ever objects to white, English-speaking immigrants from the US, Britain, and so on.
"Immigrant," when used by immigrant-bashers, refers to non-white immigrants, mostly from Asia and the Middle East. It's nothing but coded racism.
I don't say that to call people racists when they want to talk seriously about immigration policy. But I don't think we're talking about serious immigration policy talk here.
Aother common error is to mix immigrants with refugees. Most Canadians do not differentiate.
Aboriginals were immigrants too.
Actually, any person born in the country, or, I believe, born of parents who are Canadian citizens, are Canadian citizen and are not immigrants at all. Perhaps if people actually used words that mean what they want to say we would have clarity in the debate about immigrants.
I live in a small rural community where almost all people are born here and lioved here all thier lives. Immigration is not a huge issue here. It might be if peopel from, different cultures and raxes moved here. But, by and large, I expect that most people would be happy to have new people, witgh nerw energy and new vision move into our community.
I suspect that some might feel challenged by new people, new ideas and changes but the vast majority would be excited to see growth and development in the community. And many would, if the immigrant community became large enouigh, appreciate the new serv ices and prodcuts that imigrants would draw here.
Very well said.
Thank you for saying this.
Cheers,
Stephen Taylor
Personally, I would like to remove quotas on all immigration of economic class immigrants so long as every one of them are properly checked out (so people like Syrian Generals and other human rights abusers don't get in - see today's G&M story on the issue.) We need good, law-abiding, hard working people and economic class immigrants fit the bill perfectly regardless of race and country of origin. Bring 'em on.
Family class is something else entirely. We allow on average, 10k seniors into Canada every year. This just isn't fair to Canadian Taxpayers because as soon as these people get here, they are eligible for health care, OAS (but not CPP as you have to pay into that one,) and all the other benefits that seniors enjoy. But they get it without contributing through their taxes over their lifetime. I feel family class immigrants should be restricted to spouse and dependant children only. If you want 50 of your extended family members here, have them fill out the proper paperwork and let them qualify under the economic immigrant class or stay home.
I object that one person can come in and sponsor 50 deadbeats and then louse out on their obligations to support the people they sponsored. This is what is fundamentally wrong with immigration today and it gives all immigrants a bad name.
Worse yet is our overly lenient refugee system which is a travesty to all legitimate immigrants who have filled out their paperwork and are waiting to get into the country following the proper rules. The refugee system is abused so badly that we need to scrap it and start from scratch. How would you like to go through 5 years of waiting to get in and then see some asshole defraud the system and jump ahead of you. It isn't fair to Canadians Old or New.
To summarize (clarify?) I am pro-immigrant but thing our system needs a major overhaul. Criticizing our immigration system is not being racist although there are certainly racists who criticize the immigration system. Just be mindful of the difference so we don't end up being like the Liberals who declare entire subjects beyond debate.
I'll leave the morals of strip mining the third world of their best and brightest for another day...
If anybody wants enlightenment on the subject of immigration and its effects on the first world then do some research. But just repeating the old tried and true is not LEARNING ACTIVITY.
Real conservatism would not be supportive of immigration in general, if in doubt consider Victorian England.
Also, remember that Holland and France recently voted against increased ties to the EC due to immigration issues. People here that call themselves conservatives did not seem to learn anything from that.
While I am at it... what comments where? Let us know which ones that you are offended by.
Since you are a child of immigrants then it is natural inclination to defend immigration at any cost. But what does that have to do with the views of people (who still hopefully outnumber you in this country), that have been here a long time? Did you care about what they think? Apparently not, and you don't have to either based upon the support that many posters here provided you without much thinking on their part.
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
One last comment:
people that freely support immigration as this policy is practised in most western countries over several recent decades are doing the following:
Doing the work of liberals and giving their talking points. Liberalism has led to immigration that is not in the interests of the average citizen of each of the first world countries. If you espouse this view because you have been programmed to believe this after 20+ years of liberal programming in the education system and via the MSM then open your eyes and begin to question it.
Sorry, but Canada's immigration policy is broken. Since 1996, more than half of those who arrived here are living in poverty. The reasons are manifold but essentially boil down to more than half are family class, more than half speak neither English or French, and the trend today is to take immigrants from countries from which skills are not easily transferred.
It's not bigotry to point this out. For the record, my wife is an Asian PR and one of my two kids doesn't hold a Canadian passport.
Immigration can be an amazingly beneficial influence. In its present state, it is increasingly not.
To the Calgary Observer,
When you use rhetoric such as you used (comparing people to Nazis), you undermine your own credibility.
It's just uncalled for. Please try to express your views in a more productive way.
Frankly one of my favorite blogs is Japnaam Singh's blog. There are TONS of Sikhs in Surrey (where I live) and even having a rudimentary understanding of their religion and touring their Gurdwara once does not give me any understanding of who they are as a people. I wish he would talk more about his faith, family and culture so I could understand more.
Brian, at it's present rate Canada's birth rate is NOT sufficient to maintain the population level. Given the impending "crunch" that is coming as a result of the aging baby-boom generation, what are the risks of NOT allowing immigration?
The reasons are manifold but essentially boil down to more than half are family class, more than half speak neither English or French, and the trend today is to take immigrants from countries from which skills are not easily transferred.
The language barrier is a fairly legitimate one, but I question the value of the other two. Family class? Simply allowing richer people into the country solves nothing as the queue for people with $500,000 wanting to emigrate is much shorter. As far as unemployment is concerned, I think we have to take a long hard look at ourselves instead of blaming immigrants or the government. My dad runs a roofing company and one of his foremen is a Jamaican immigrant; a Jamaican who nobody else would hire despite plenty of experience. Somehow I doubt his inability had anything to do with his personal assets or government restrictions.
I believe your questions are addressed to me, not Brian.
Nowhere do I say not to allow immigration. Immigration is important. My point is that Canada's current immigration policy is not working. Most new arrivals are plunging straight into poverty.
And the definition of a non-family class immigrant isn't a wealthy one, it's a skilled immigrant. Family class immigrants have no skills. Furthermore, because the majority of immigrants to Canada are family class, the average age of immigrants is actually higher than the age of average Canadians.
This means today that immigration is actually worsening the demographic crunch in this country. It's amazing but true.
So, to recap, of the 220,000 immigrants that arrive every year more than half speak neither of our official languages, most are older than resident Canadians, most arrive without skills and most live in poverty.
The economic argument for immigration is rapidly disappearing. IT doesn't have to be that way, but the issue is so fraught with accusations of racism that it'll be eons before anything is done about it.
The following comment is serious:
I was with a co-worker (who's parents are immigrants from Poland) in the food court today. We noted that virtually every employee in the food court was an immigrant (not judging by appearance - they all have accents).
The fact is native-born Canadians, for the most part, don't want those jobs. In many cases, immigrants take the crappy jobs that native-born Canadians aren't willing to do.
I think Warwick takes a good approach. He is able to criticize specif problems with the immigration system - and he raises points that are hard to dispute - without sounding like he hates immigrants. That's the difference.
I admire you, Toronto Tory. Your perseverance in trying to provide a voice of reason amongst a chorus of ignorance is quite impressive. Unfortunately, you're being drowned out. If Tories like you weren't so outnumbered by the mouth-breathing redneck contingent, I might still be a card-carrying member of the party.
I definitely don't have all the answers Toronto Tory, but I know that as long as people keep sharing ideas like this, the truth will eventually reveal itself and hopefully make the world a better place to live in. I've been looking for investor immigration to canada info and news - yeah I know I should probably get a life, but there's just something about investor immigration to canada that gets me thinking of better times.
Your post about this post was a good read compared to a lot of the other stuff that's out there! Keep up the good work, I will definitely swing by again soon.
I definitely don't have all the answers Toronto Tory, but I know that as long as people keep sharing ideas like this, the truth will eventually reveal itself and hopefully make the world a better place to live in. I've been looking for independent immigration to canada info and news - yeah I know I should probably get a life, but there's just something about independent immigration to canada that gets me thinking of better times.
Your post about this post was a good read compared to a lot of the other stuff that's out there! Keep up the good work, I will definitely swing by again soon.
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