Canada’s Corporate Welfare Class

Douglas Todd: Confidential government polling showed support for lower migration targets. But actual numbers are slippery for both permanent and temporary residents.

The federal Liberals have been getting some good news from public opinion polls by emphasizing, for the first time in five decades, cutting migration targets.

The government’s public relations effort was revealed in confidential emails obtained through a freedom of information request from Ottawa’s Privy Council Office, the powerful arm that advises the prime minister.

The emails state the findings of a series of telephone surveys conducted by the Privy Council Office late last year are “not publicly available — do not share outside government.”

Immigration. That very word can spark a heated debate in Canada, and it frequently does. While it’s clear that Canada as a nation was built on immigration following early colonization, it has always remained a point of controversy. How many people should we allow in? Where should they come from? What is the criteria for allowing an immigrant to Canada and where will they live?

(Incognito)

When University of Waterloo economist Mikal Skuterud ponders the triangular relationship between immigration, technology and productivity, he finds himself thinking about Norway, where his family is from. It’s a place that doesn’t import low-skilled workers to do jobs Norwegians don’t want to do. That kind of work is mainly done by technology. The country’s fish processing industry is famously and thoroughly automated, as are places like supermarkets. “Low-wage jobs like you see in Canada literally don’t exist,” he says. “Even cashiers. The grocery store is completely self-checkout. It’s almost like there’s no employees in a lot of the stores.”

At a time when Canada is defending itself in a trade war with the U.S., a new report casts doubt on whether the nation’s immigration policy is able to retain the global talent required to bolster the economy on the home front.

Highly educated and skilled immigrants are the most likely to leave Canada within five years of landing, according to a new report commissioned by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC).

In a report released Tuesday titled “The Leaky Bucket 2025,” the ICC found that one-in-five immigrants leave Canada within 25 years of being accepted as permanent residents. The trend, referred to as “onward migration,” peaks at the five-year mark.

Every last one of these of “panic” articles is a call for more cheap foreign labour nothing more.

All of the skilled immigrants brought here to date can’t have helped much given Canada’s obvious declining fortunes.