THE IMMIGRANTS ARE COMING! THE IMMIGRANTS ARE COMING!

By SHAGORIKA EASWAR

The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming  is an old movie. One I haven’t seen because I am not into the genre described as “war comedy”, but  I have heard the name often over the years, used as it is to parody anyone trying to evoke fear of being taken over by something or someone.

I was reminded of this when I read a recent article in the Toronto Star on the number of immigrants that have come to Canada in recent years.

The headline? Immigrants nearly a quarter of population.

Excerpts from the article by Nicholas Keung, below:

More than 1.3 million new permanent residents settled in Canada over the last five years, pushing the percentage of immigrants to almost a quarter of the country’s overall population according to the latest census... In 2021, more than 8.3 million people or 23 per cent of the population, were, or had been, a landed immigrant or permanent resident in Canada.

For me, the key words here are “were or had been”. For how long does one have to be in Canada before being recognized as Canadian?

Statistics Canada defines an immigrant as a person “who is, or who has ever been, a landed immigrant or permanent resident. Such a person has been granted the right to live in Canada permanently by immigration authorities. Immigrants who have obtained Canadian citizenship by naturalization are included in this group.”

I get that this categorization can’t be subjective – “I feel Canadian and so I am no longer an immigrant” can’t be the deciding factor. There has to be an objective starting point.

Thus, in the existing system, someone who came here decades ago and is fully immersed in Canadian ways is still counted as “immigrant”.

And so, for the sake of argument, someone who came here as a one-year-old baby with their parents would forever be an immigrant while a sibling born a couple of years later in Canada, would not.

Paradoxical as that may be, my guess is that most of us can deal with how StatCan views us as it doesn’t really impact our day-to-day lives in Canada. However, what does matter is how our neighbours and co-workers see us.

And that’s where headlines like Immigrants nearly a quarter of population  might set off alarm bells in the minds of those who see “their” Canada being overtaken by others. Because it calls attention to a huge number, without putting in perspective the fact that this has been a gradual process, the numbers have added up over years and a significant number of those classified as immigrants see themselves as proud Canadians.

A press release from IRCC states that “Canada’s 2023-2025 Immigration Levels Plan embraces immigration as a strategy to help businesses find workers and to attract the skills required in key sectors – including health care, skilled trades, manufacturing and technology – to manage the social and economic challenges Canada will face in the decades ahead.

“Last year Canada welcomed over 405,000 newcomers – the most ever in a single year. Targets in the new levels plan have been set at 465,000 permanent residents in 2023, 485,000 in 2024 and 500,000 in 2025...

“Regional economic immigration programs, like the Provincial Nominee Program, are increasingly important to the sustainable growth of our country. That’s why this year’s plan outlines year-over-year growth so that we can continue to support provinces and territories in attracting the skilled newcomers they need to address the labour shortage and demographic challenges in their regions.”

So these are people we want and need. Specially since Canada’s ageing population means that the worker-to-retiree ratio is expected to shift from 7 to 1 fifty years ago to 2 to 1 by 2035.

In our early years in Canada,  we were invited to listen to kids read at our son’s school. The little ones were all excited, showing off their newly-learned skills to admiring family members. As we sat in a circle, listening to one bright-eyed child after another step up to read, an elderly lady inched closer to me and said something in a language I don’t follow. When I apologized for failing to understand what she wanted, she looked confused. She pointed to me and asked, “Portuguese?”

She needed help translating what her grandchild was reading and had approached the one person who looked like an immigrant in that room.

I am willing to bet a very similar scene could play out again were I in a classroom with other parents and grandparents today, nearly 30 years later. Harmless in many contexts, being seen as an immigrant takes on a different significance in others.

US President Joe Biden recently referred to the newly-elected British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as Rashid Sanook.

Sunak was born in Southampton to parents of Indian descent who migrated to Britain from East Africa in the 1960s. He is as British as they get. And yet, he appears to be an immigrant. He is different, with an exotic sounding name. Not really, no. Rishi/Richie (as in Richie Rich!) and Sunak/Sumac. How difficult it that?

And yet, President Biden tripped over his name. When Donald Trump had mispronounced Vivekananda’s name as Vivekamunda while on a visit to India, people laughed. How many questioned why President Biden couldn’t get the name of someone who has consistently been in the news for months right?

According to the Star article, “With job vacancies in late 2021 hitting 80 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels, and the working population ageing, immigration is even more critical to the labour market that ever before,” said the census report.

The government is bringing in people to fill these vacancies, but what is it doing to allay fears of those who read about an influx of immigrants? If Canada is inviting these people – in these numbers – then, as the host, perhaps it needs to do a better job of explaining the above reality to fellow Canadians already here.

To underscore the fact that a quarter of Canada’s population didn’t arrive overnight. Many have been here all their lives.

We also need to ensure that we have the resources to support the numbers we want, providing meaningful employment and adequate and affordable housing being prime among them.

Something needs to be done, and fast, if we don’t want to give the likes of Maxime Bernier more to gripe about.

If we don’t want convoys rolling down our streets yelling, “The immigrants are coming! The immigrants are coming!”