Canada isn’t likely to adopt policies Trump proposes

Multicultural Parliament signals general tolerance

From the Brexit vote to Donald Trump’s remarkable ascension to the presidency, one of the dominant themes of 2016 has been a global backlash against immigration. And the trend still may be gathering momentum. Cheering Trump’s victory as a sign of hope, Marine Le Pen is considered a front-runner in France’s presidential elections next year.

The obvious question is whether the movement will take hold in Canada, or whether some combination of luck and solid multicultural policy has made this country immune to such tensions and anxieties.

There is reason to be concerned. Some politicians, including at least one Conservative leadership candidate, are testing the appeal of immigration policies that hint at xenophobia.

But there is also much evidence that Canada is and will continue to be more welcoming and inclusive than many other countries, even our closest allies such as the United States and the United Kingdom.

One encouraging sign is the diversity of our elected officials. In many places, it can take a generation or two, if not longer, for immigrants to become sufficiently established that a member of the family can assume a community leadership role. In Canada, however, that timetable can be remarkably and admirably short. A new Canadian cannot only find hope and opportunity in this country, but soon can run for and even win elected office.

I haven’t looked at the data for every country, but I’d be surprised if there’s another place with so many foreign-born politicians. In the current federal Parliament, at least 41 of the 338 seats are held by people born abroad. That’s about 12 per cent.

There are many examples at other levels of government. In a matter of a few years, Yasir Naqvi went from seeing his father arrested in Pakistan — for fighting on behalf of democracy — to becoming an MPP and eventually an Ontario cabinet minister.

In the U.S., only 17 of the 535 seats in the House of Representatives and Senate are held by foreign-born politicians, barely three per cent. And the constitution requires the president to be a natural-born citizen, a clause that has provoked silly controversies.

Many countries, no matter how democratic they may be in principle, continue to be dominated by a familiar ruling class. Only about six per cent of the seats in the British House of Commons are held by visible minorities. A disproportionate number come from Britain’s upper crust, having descended from other politicians or members of society and having studied at élite universities such as Oxford.

Despite the election of an African-American senator as president eight years ago, much of American politics remains remarkably homogeneous. In the history of the country, there have been only nine African-American senators.

Diversity among elected officials is not only evidence of an inclusive society, but contributes to and reinforces it. When elected leaders share a common background, it doesn’t matter how open-minded they are, their decisions will reflect biases, unconscious or otherwise.

When you work with people who come from all over the world, it’s a lot less likely you will be prone to demonize immigrants or even flirt with ideas that are unfair to newcomers. Four of the 10 members of the House of Commons citizenship and immigration committee are themselves immigrants to Canada.

Of the 25 members of the U.S. Congress serving on either the Senate or House immigration committees, the only immigrant is Cruz, who moved from Canada to Texas when he was an infant.

Inside the bubble of Canadian politics are democratically elected representatives who were born in Africa, Southeast Asia, Eastern and Western Europe, the Caribbean and South America.

That suggests that for a large number of Canadians, the priority is to choose strong, qualified people, regardless of their ethnicity or country of origin.

It also makes xenophobic policies much less likely to be proposed or taken seriously.