A rchive Date
[ 22-06-2019 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
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[https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/furey-the-liberals-need-to-do-some-soul-searching-on-immigration
The Liberals need to do some soul-searching on immigration
Anthony Furey
Published: June 17, 2019
Once again, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen is tsk-tsking his fellow Canadians for their views on the portfolio he manages.
A recent poll by Leger revealed that two-thirds of respondents agreed that the feds ought to “prioritize limiting the number of immigrants we welcome to Canada each year as we may be reaching our limit to integrate them in our communities.”
Hussen finds this “concerning.” Although his concern doesn’t seem to be a genuine desire to understand what the people he’s tasked with serving are getting at here, but rather a concern about how to best browbeat what seems to be a majority consensus into getting in line with his views.
“We used to have a political consensus on immigration, but what worries me is looking at the other side and seeing the leader of the official Opposition taking a stance that is rooted in misinformation and conspiracy theories… basically spreading myths about immigration,” Hussen is quoted as saying in a Canadian Press story.
It’s clear by now that the Liberals get giddy at any poll that questions immigration numbers, eager to use it as an excuse to label Conservative leader Andrew Scheer nasty things.
After seeing Hussen’s hyper-partisan response to these poll findings, I sought out an essay I’d read from last year that the immigration minister would be wise to read and reflect on.
“The real debate should instead be about the best strategies for assimilating immigrants into a country’s creedal national identity,” the piece notes. “Well-assimilated immigrants bring a healthy diversity to any society; poorly assimilated immigrants are a drag on the state and in some cases constitute security threats.”
Uh oh, what am I quoting from? It sounds like the sort of stuff that might by banned by Trudeau’s Digital Charter.
But the piece continues: “Assimilation into a dominant culture becomes much harder as the numbers of immigrants rise relative to the native population. As immigrant communities reach a certain scale, they tend to become self-sufficient and no longer need connections to groups outside themselves.”
I better stop quoting from this incendiary piece, right? This column may soon get disappeared a la Michael Cooper’s comments.
One more though, bear with me: “Democratic societies are fracturing into segments based on ever-narrower identities, threatening the possibility of deliberation and collective action by society as a whole. This is a road that leads only to state breakdown and, ultimately, failure.”
Who’s the angry white guy behind these dreadful remarks? And please tell me he’s now been deplatformed and fired.
Time out. These are actually excerpts from an essay by Francis Fukuyama in Foreign Affairs magazine - one of the world’s most celebrated political science professors (and, as the name should tell you, not a white supremacist) writing in one of the world’s most prominent foreign policy publications.
Fukuyama’s essay “Against Identity Politics: The New Tribalism and the Crisis of Democracy” isn’t entirely about integration and it’s certainly no safe space for right-wing views either, with it’s very critical takes on President Trump’s policies.
But its balanced and sober discussion of integration matters is a refreshing reminder that they are legitimate fodder for mainstream conversation, something Hussen seems to deny.
The Liberals should study this essay and then do some soul-searching as to why their knee jerk reaction is to vilify Canadians - the majority, it now seems - who share the sorts of concerns raised by the likes of Fukuyama.
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