More help needed to settle immigrants
I expect the Canadian press to discuss relevant issues from more than one perspective. Having lived in the Toronto region for 49 years, I have witnessed this city’s evolution. We can be proud of many achievements, but we have also failed to take steps that could have alleviated some current problems.
It is very challenging for people to enter a new country where the language, culture, laws and means to provide a living are very different than their home country. Instead of investing in programs to accelerate integration and produce economically independent Canadians, we simply hand out money and expect them to find their own way. We look to non-profit and voluntary organizations to fill the gap. We do not provide sufficient language programs.
We Canadians are generous people. Last year we spent $23.3 billion on the child benefit program, which provides the majority of financial support to new Canadian families. We have opened our doors to 50,000-plus Syrian refugees. Some of our communities have been very successful in helping new Canadians to integrate because the numbers are small.
In an area like ours, where many immigrants and refugees to Canada have come over the last decade, we are struggling to cope. Support ser- vices like education, health care, social housing and police are struggling to cope. One recent report said that the children in a school speak 40 different languages.
What does it take for that school to communicate with the parents of these children? How can police service the community with so many different languages? What happens to our doctors and hospitals when patients and their relatives don’t speak English? How many more staff are needed by these community services because we haven’t spent the time and money on integration?
Multiculturalism is great, but segregation is not. When we don’t help people integrate, the result is segregation and isolation. When people don’t have opportunity, they lose hope and become angry and more dependent. I suspect this is happening in the GTA.
It is time for the press to raise these issues and challenge our politicians. Our PM proudly displays his pleasure in welcoming so many new Canadians. He expects local communities to help with settlement, but has never spoken of the impact on local communities. The demand on the GTA is beyond our capacity. Yet, local press is silent. Stephen Handler, Mississauga