Left and right agree on immigration

The differences between the federal Liberals and the Conservatives over immigration are so great, it seems, that the issue is likely to become a centrepiece of the 2019 federal election. But is the gap really that deep?

Of late, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has loudly defended immigration, asserting that “intolerance towards immigrants has no place in Canada.” Nor will he tolerate any political party that practises “the politics of fear and division.”

Yet his target, the Conservatives, also back immigration. True, they have had a lot to say recently about the “crisis” of refugees arriving illegally, but then, there IS a lot to say about it. It’s not, in fact, a crisis; it’s a legitimate problem that people on both right and left want to resolve. Nevertheless, Conservative criticism on this topic is apparently enough to fuel Trudeau’s plan to brand the Tories as anti-immigration.

Despite the heat, there is no substantive policy difference between the two parties on immigration. Both support a substantial flow of immigrants — as has every federal government for decades. The reason is clear: low birth rates among our citizenry, an aging population. Human capital is precious for economic prosperity and Canada needs more of it.

If distinctions are to surface between the Liberals and Conservatives, it will be over annual immigration quotas. When they were last in power, the Conservatives admitted an average 260,000 immigrants a year. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has upped that number dramatically, aiming for 340,000 by 2020. But both parties want newcomers.

The prime minister’s plan to link the Conservatives to xenophobes and racists took a hit Thursday as MP Maxime Bernier, after a recent Twitter eruption about diversity, quit the Tories. That’s an opportunity for Scheer to credibly stress a moderate approach to immigration, without having to get into the numbers game at all.

No major Canadian political party will ever run an anti-immigrant campaign. Yet in an attempt to deflect attention from a thorny refugee problem, Trudeau wants to shift the agenda to immigration writ large, branding anyone who challenges him “racist.” His approach won’t encourage reasoned debate on a serious topic.

Instead, political negativity runs the risk of turning Canadians against the vital immigration our country requires. A new report from the Angus Reid Institute shows that 49 per cent of those polled in July say immigration numbers should decrease. That’s the highest percentage of any poll going back to 1975.

If both parties favour immigration, they shouldn’t play politics over it. Let’s turn down the heat.