and multiculturalism policies and their ramifications, I had no idea of the extent of the damage we are doing to ourselves and to our country and no idea of the disaster that lies just ahead if we don’t swiftly change course.
It’s not as though there are no warnings. Events in the Netherlands, Britain, Denmark, France, and elsewhere in Europe stand like modern-day lighthouses signalling danger.
Do not come this way. Stay away from these rocks. Drop anchor. Steer clear. Just off your bow are uncharted shoals you may not successfully navigate.
Incredibly, many of those on watch can’t see the reef or don’t recognize it for the peril it presents. They cannot or will not hear the crashing sounds of furious waters dead ahead. “We’re headed for a new country,” they tell us. “A new Canada. Oh, happy day!”
New Canada
Since 1945, Canada has received about ten million immigrants of diverse origins. I believe this ongoing mass immigration is causing Canada to evolve into a diasporatic society. Canada is becoming a home away from home for a range of peoples whose identities are rooted not in Canada, but in countries and regions of origin. In other words, Canada is evolving into a global suburb.
Although Canada’s policy of mass immigration raises many important issues there is a strange absence of national political or public debate on the subject. Debate should normally be expected to arise on such issues as the number of immigrants allowed into Canada annually, their real impact on Canada’s society and economy, the identity and meaning of Canada in a situation of growing diversity and potentially lessening social cohesion. In fact, however, these questions have not been the subject of major public discussion and little effort has been made to consider what Canada will look like 20, 50 or 100 years in the future.
(Dr. Stephen Gallagher, The Effects of Mass Immigration on Canadian Living Standards and Society, published by the Fraser Institute, August 2009. Dr. Gallagher is Program Director of the Montreal Branch of the Canadian International Council and a lecturer in Political Science. He has taught at McGill University, Carleton University and the University of Manitoba.)
The problem is, of course, in order to arrive at “New Canada” we must scrap “Old Canada” and is that really what we want to do? Is it really what we should do? And if so, why?
Those who espouse this glorious “New Canada” have never clearly explained exactly why “Old Canada” should be scuttled. What national faults are so grave as to justify a cultural death sentence? Nor has anyone explained to us what kind of improvements we can expect to see with this glorious “New Canada.”
Will “New Canada” have nicer, more generous people? Will our politicians be more honest? Will our taxes be lower? Will our hockey players stop taking head shots at their opponents? Will childbirth be less painful? Will our drivers stop tailgating? Will there be less crime? Fewer fires? Will kids stop talking back to their parents? Will grandparents have fewer aches and pains? Will those ordered deported actually be compelled to leave? Please tell us, how much better off will we all be in “New Canada?” Will we all be happier? Safer? Richer? More content?
Because if we won’t be better off, if we won’t all be happier, then what’s the sense of destroying the old if we’re not going to replace it with a new, improved model?
And could someone please inform us exactly what kind of damage will be done to “Old Canada” during this marvellous transformation? Will we be left with anything our ancestors created for us? Will we be allowed to retain anything of our heritage? Can we at least keep hockey or will soccer take over entirely? And, oh yes, this question: What is all this going to cost us at a time when they’re closing down operating rooms in our hospitals for lack of funds? How will we pay for this glorious metamorphosis?
Of course, we’ve got to understand when the self-anointed “progressives” talk about “New Canada” they’re really talking about you and me. Not the landscape! Not the flora and fauna! We, the people, have got to smarten up, they tell us. We’ve got to get “progressive” like they are and understand that we really don’t have a culture in Canada worth saving. At least, not in English Canada.
“Old Canada’s” culture, they insist, doesn’t cut the mustard anymore. We’ve got to import a few dozen other cultures, all of which, they insist, must have equal status. Laws are passed to ensure that any attempt to create one dominant culture is illegal. We cannot have a common national culture in English Canada.
No distinct Canadian culture for us, but a really nice heaping basketful of other cultures, including some that most of us aren’t too crazy about.
Except for Quebec, of course. Quebec has a real culture, we’ve been told since Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s time. The only culture in the country worth protecting. And heaven only knows we’ve invested billions of dollars and tons of sweat and worry doing just that—protecting Quebec’s culture. And will continue so doing!
Please understand, to the casual observer “New Canada” will look pretty much the same as “Old Canada.” The Rockies will still be there. So, too, the Prairies, the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence. Oh, I suppose some of the store signs in places like Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Montreal will look a little different. They may change a few street names, but I’m pretty sure they won’t be moving the Parliament Buildings or the CN Tower. The Toronto Maple Leafs will still be—well, the Leafs—so at least that part of our culture won’t change. (Let’s hope!)
The Evolution
Thanks to Statistics Canada, we have a pretty good idea how “New Canada” is going to evolve.
First of all, we are told, over the next 20 years the foreign-born population of “New Canada” will grow four times faster than those who are born in this country.
When you examine the numbers I bring to light in this book, you will see that we don’t have to wait 20 years for this to occur. The foreign-born population of Canada is growing at least four times faster than those born here right now; indeed I suspect the rate is probably closer to five times faster. No speculation is involved in this fact; it comes directly from Statistics Canada, which tells us that by 2031 at least one in four people in the country will have been born elsewhere, and only about half of all working-age people will belong to families that have lived in Canada for at least three generations.
We know a few other things about “New Canada” as well, once again courtesy of Statistics Canada. For example, by 2031 one-third of all people living here will be so-called visible minorities—minorities, that is, until very quickly those with Western values become the minority “race,” something that will surely occur within the lifetime of many of you reading this.
Something else we know is that in “New Canada” more than 70 per cent of all immigrants flooding into the country will make a beeline for one of three cities: Toronto, Vancouver and, to a lesser extent, Montreal.
By that magic year 2031, fully 63 per cent of Toronto’s population will be visible minorities—in Vancouver the ratio will be 59 per cent, in Montreal 31 per cent. Ottawa’s visible minorities population will increase from the present 19 per cent to 36 per cent.
Visible
