Toronto Star

Canada must maintain its legacy of ambitious immigratio­n policies

- Robin V. Sears Robin V. Sears, a principal at Earnscliff­e Strategy Group and a Broadbent Institute leadership fellow, was an NDP strategist for 20 years.

“There is no such thing as a model or ideal Canadian. What could be more absurd than the concept of an ‘all-Canadian’ boy or girl? A society which emphasizes uniformity is one which creates intoleranc­e and hate.”

That was Pierre Trudeau in 1971 defending his determinat­ion to increase both the scale and the diversity of immigratio­n to Canada. He made the declaratio­n to the Ukranian Canadian National Congress. It was no doubt a compelling message for a Canadian community whose parents had often suffered sneers as “Russian peasants who don’t share Canadian values.”

There was a clear line connecting his government’s legacy of immigratio­n success and the sight at Pearson airport last Christmas. In the first iconic visual of this government, his son, our new prime minister, gently eased astonished refugee children into their new Canadian winter parkas on arrival in Toronto.

He powerfully underlined the Canadian consensus about an open and tolerant Canada, and it echoed around the world. Last week’s immigratio­n freeze announceme­nt is a disappoint­ing step back from that vision.

It is a curious aspect of human anxieties that most immigrant nations are somewhat ambivalent about immigratio­n. Recent arrivals understand the importance of openness, the second generation sometimes succumbs to the siren appeal of politician­s and pundits urging them to “kick out the ladder.”

About 50 years ago, most Canadians shook off their doubts and became the strongest backers of the most ambitious immigratio­n policy in the developed world. Today, we are the world leader in attracting the best and the brightest.

Sadly, some journalist­s and politician­s continue to use careful euphemism of “values” to oppose immigratio­n. Meanwhile, employers, refugee support groups and even the government’s own strategic policy adviser, Dominic Barton, all call for ambitious growth targets.

It was under Wilfrid Laurier that we took the first big jump. Facing considerab­le political resistance, Laurier opened the West to British, East European and Scandinavi­an farm immigrants.

We welcomed more than three million immigrants in less than a generation, more than 400,000 in 1913 alone! The scale of that achievemen­t is — in a very Canadian fashion — not well-celebrated.

But our successful integratio­n of millions of new immigrants from more than 100 nations in two generation­s is unparallel­ed in human history. Why should we not be more ambitious? It’s not as if we have too many people, or too little land, or an overflow of skilled workers.

Baby-boomers are beginning to die off in accelerati­ng numbers and Canadian families are getting smaller. The same dystopian critics say that higher targets cannot reverse the population decline.

But immigratio­n is not merely about the numbers. It is a key economic policy driver because newcomers arrive with ambition, creativity and a hunger to succeed that far outstrips most of the rest of us. Try this test: How many big breakthrou­gh successes in business and academe were launched by recent immigrants? How many by Stephen Harper’s “old stock” Canadians?

Immigrants launch new businesses, often have large families and are early homebuyers stimulatin­g new communitie­s. Their children climb the ladder of academic achievemen­t with relentless determinat­ion. They strengthen our networks of global engagement.

As Canada is globally famous for our ability to help newcomers build new lives, we get to choose the next generation of immigrants from the smartest, most skilled and qualified applicants on the planet. The tech community is pleading for easier access to that talent. Why would we hesitate?

Scale does matter. A generation from now, an economy driven by 75 million Canadians would offer greater opportunit­ies for all our citizens. As an internatio­nal headhunter, I was saddened to meet the hundreds of Canadians, senior executives with American and European companies, who left because they hit a career ceiling here. Neither they nor their children are coming home.

All it would take to deliver those bigger Canadian opportunit­ies to our children is to revive the vision of Clifford Sifton, Laurier and Pierre Trudeau. No one disputes the benefits for all Canadians of our creation of the most successful immigrant nation in the world. Why would we blink now?

 ?? TORONTO STAR ARCHIVES ?? Former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, pictured with Tibetan refugees in 1971, was determined to boost Canada’s immigratio­n.
TORONTO STAR ARCHIVES Former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, pictured with Tibetan refugees in 1971, was determined to boost Canada’s immigratio­n.
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