Thoughts on culture, education, and having been a Canadian in the US
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Canadian immigration on the Daily Show

The Edmonton Oilers’ own Raffi Torres makes a hilarious cameo on The Daily Show in a feature about the growing numbers of Mexicans immigrating to Canada. Contrary to the opinions of the intolerant bigot they interview as part of this segment, Canada is very happy to welcome Mexicans and any other immigrants who would like to move there. Canada needs more immigrants, and most of us believe that immigration only makes our country better and stronger.
If only Raffi could have had a go at that guy… (I’m not going to mention his name or organization here). I loved how dumbfounded he was when asked to describe Canadian culture.



4 comments

1 Peter { 10.08.07 at 1:26 pm }

If by “Canada”, you mean the politicians, then yes. If by Canada you mean the citizens of Canada, not exactly.
Look here:
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:c6GiI3bV7R0J:canada.metropolis.net/events/Vancouver_2006/Presentation/WS-032406-1530-Jedwab.ppt+public+opinion+immigration+canada&hl=en
From that article:
” * In the January 2006 Ipsos survey, the question was put as follows:
* Currently Canada accepts about 225 000 immigrants each year, is the number
Too High (44%), Too Low (10%), About Right (34%) or Don’t Know (12%). ”
Do we disregard this 44% of Canadians who think immigration to Canada is too high?
The same poll said that “40% feel that immigrants are having a ‘bad influence’ … on the way things are going in Canada”.
And certainly it would be reasonable to assume that opposition to immigration is uneven in its distribution geographically. Many areas of Canada of opposed to immigration. The government of Quebec is trying to wrestle some control on immigration away from the federal government, because the majority of Quebec’s population thinks immigration has had a negative effect.

2 Paul Martin { 10.08.07 at 2:00 pm }

Thanks for posting this. That’s an interesting link to presentation by Jack Jedwab of the Association for Canadian Studies.
What immediately follows the passage you quoted are the results from another survey:
“* A Gallup International Poll in three countries conducted in late November and early December 2005, asked whether you would like to see the level of immigration in this country increased, decreased, or remain about the same? About as many Canadians, in fact, say that they would like immigration increased as say they would like to have it decreased. The majority of Canadians (58%) seem content to have immigration levels remain the same.
* The Gallup analyst concluded that Canadians remain much more positive about immigration than residents in the United States and in Great Britain who were far more likely to want to reduce the levels of immigration to their countries.”
You’re right, though, that I shouldn’t generalize and that people from different regions have different takes on these issues. As an Albertan (or Albertan in exile at the moment), I’d say that most people I know back in Alberta would argue that we need to maintain or even increase our current levels of immigration and that immigrants make a valuable contribution to Canada on every level. That may say more about the people I know there than about the attitudes of Albertans in general, but I have heard more grumbling about immigrants here in the US than I heard back in Canada. That’s all anecdotal, though, and, as Jedwab points out, polls can be very useful in measuring general attitudes across the country. The questions, too, also play a huge role in determining the response. The number 225 000, to anyone’s ears, sounds like a lot and may well have influenced the people answering the first question you cited to say “wow! Maybe we need to slow down.” In the context of the overall population of Canada, though, a quarter of a million people or so is not all that dramatic a number.
Overall, the statistics that Jedwab cites in the document you linked to suggest that Canadians overall have quite favourable attitudes to immigration and to multiculturalism.
All that said, I’d also be the first person to argue that as open to immigration as Canada might seem to be, we still have a long way to go in making immigrants feel welcome and truly a vital part of Canadian society.

3 Peter { 10.08.07 at 11:09 pm }

You’re quite right to note that the general view is that the current immigration situation is good. I was just say that there is significant dissent and ignoring this dissent can create problems, such as, for example, alienating Quebecois, as mentioned.
I wouldn’t say I’m a socialist, but another problem I see is that is puts more pressure on people in the competition for jobs. On the one hand, you have most of immigration to Canada being for filling job positions, and, on the other, you have unemployment among aboriginals at very high levels (~20%). I remember listening to Cross Country Checkup on Radio 1 a couple months ago and this being a complaint from one of the callers. I kind of agree with him. How can we justify giving jobs to people who aren’t from Canada when people who are from Canada don’t have jobs? Obviously there is some justification, but is it good enough? And this has to be articulated or you’ll have more opposition to immigration on this basis, and not just because of chauvinism or other reasons.

4 Duane { 12.30.07 at 8:58 pm }

Thanks for posting this. That’s an interesting link.
People from different regions have different takes on these issues. Immigrants make a valuable contribution.