Canada is caught in a “population trap” and needs to significantly rein in immigration to escape it, National Bank of Canada economists said on Monday, one of several such critiques to emerge from Bay Street in recent days.
In a report, National Bank economists Stéfane Marion and Alexandra Ducharme said that “staggering” population growth is stretching the country’s absorptive capacity, notably seen in residential construction that is nowhere near sufficient to house all those newcomers.
Canada has been shaped by large-scale immigration. With the exception of Indigenous Peoples, the vast majority of Canadians today are either immigrants or descendants thereof. Our nation has thrived as a pluralistic and multiethnic society, built through the gradual integration of people from around the world.
While this is largely a good news story it should not obscure a hard truth: in the 21st century, the challenges associated with immigration are vastly different from those of 50 or 100 years ago, and until recently policymakers have been unwilling to discuss immigration policy accordingly. These challenges can be broadly categorized into three areas: economic impact; infrastructure capacity; and cultural friction.
George Orwell wondered why it was that in decisive moments during the 1930s British statesmen always managed to do the “wrong thing with so unerring an instinct.”
The Trudeau government is treading in these footsteps.
It took the Liberals days to craft a statement on their position on Israel being accused of genocide by South Africa at the International Court of Justice.
The story of the Trudeau government has been one of storm winds repeatedly knocking them off course.
In their first mandate, it was the Trump presidency. In their second, it was COVID. Coming out of the 2021 election, the Liberals no doubt hoped their third mandate would be their chance to make up for lost time — but…War! Downtown Ottawa is occupied! Foreign interference! State-sponsored assassination! More war!
Over the weekend, a cluster of approximately thirty-six demonstrators gathered at the residence of a known public figure, Mélanie Joly, setting up a tent and using a loudspeaker to express accusations of complicity in an alleged ‘genocide.’ The act was not well-received by the public, particularly on social media platforms, where it faced widespread criticism. Several public figures and politicians didn’t hold back in condemning the strategy of protesting at a private residence.
Let’s see the Liberals can implement a cruel mass immigration policy that;
… makes rent so unaffordable that Canada’s homeless population is ever growing and the dream of home ownership is destroyed,
… creates a strain on limited healtcare resources,
… pushes seniors into abject poverty,
… depresses wages,
… destroys the nation’s GDP,
… destroys the economy through their Net-Zero Tyranny,
… destroys the social fabric by importing incompatible cultures who fight out their ethnic and religious hatreds in our streets.
I could go on but you know the litany of disaster the LPC has inflicted on Canada.
Joly is lucky she wasn’t tarred and feathered. I say let her and her fellow LPC MP’s enjoy what they have subjected others to.
Palestine supporters in Toronto, Canada, take to the streets to express solidarity with Gaza and urge an immediate end to the Israeli genocide in the besieged strip.#GazaGenocide pic.twitter.com/rLnn1F1OB1
— Palestine Highlights (@PalHighlight) January 15, 2024
Poor Joly!
Breaking: Montrealers rally at Foreign Affairs Minister @melaniejoly‘s home to call for an end to Canada’s military and diplomatic support for Israeli genocide. pic.twitter.com/tjIWLBgFpc
— hussan (@hussansk) January 13, 2024
For a brief moment, it appeared Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had come out against South Africa’s ludicrous genocide case against Israel. Not as forcefully as other countries, but just enough to show our nation stood with its longtime ally.
That sentiment turned out to be fleeting. Let’s examine why.
“I would rather lose by telling the truth than lie in order to win,” said Chris Christie as he announced the end of his presidential campaign before the first votes were cast in the Republican primaries.
The premise of the remark is not highly contested, that success in politics requires a level of dishonesty. Christie thus characterized his campaign’s lack of success as the price paid for honesty.
The Trudeau government was warned that their rapid push for higher and higher immigration numbers was having a negative impact on housing and health care across the country. A presentation to the government in 2022 warned of the problems but rather than rethinking or adjusting their policy they pushed ahead.
Former prime minister Jean Chretien says deciding when it’s time to step down and leave politics is simple, but “very personal.”
Chretien sat down with CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos for a wide-ranging exclusive interview airing Sunday to discuss how Canada has changed, when it’s time to leave politics and how to work with political opponents.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller says in the next few months he’ll be looking at the possibility of putting a cap on the number of international students living in Canada, but he wouldn’t say how great a reduction the government is planning on making.
In an interview airing Sunday, the minister told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos this is a conversation the federal government will need to have with provincial governments “to make sure that the provinces that have not been doing their jobs actually rein in those numbers on a pure volume basis.”
“That volume is disconcerting,” Miller said, in reference to the number of international students in Canada. “It’s really a system that has gotten out of control.”
Feds say Canada’s air defence donation to Ukraine has final hurdle to clear from U.S.
The Department of National Defence says Canada’s donation of an air-defence system to Ukraine is in the midst of clearing one final administrative hurdle with the U.S. government.
A spokesperson says Ukraine and the U.S. are finalizing a letter of acceptance that will confirm delivery timelines for a surface-to-air missile system Canada pledged to pay for more than a year ago.
… It took more than a week to get the response from the Defence Department, which sought information from the U.S. government.
The department spokesperson also says Defence Minister Bill Blair met with U.S. ambassador David Cohen Thursday to ask for an expedited timeline.
Seriously? You spend 500 million and don’t check up on delivery? I watch a pack of socks from Amazon closer.
The Trudeau government’s ongoing craven attempts to play both sides in the Israel-Hamas war truly knows no end.
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made vague comments early Friday that would seem to suggest Canada opposed South Africa’s charge of genocide, the full statement came out later in the day.
Well. That’s what I call clarity and principle. Thank you @PierrePoilievre
This man is going to be 🇨🇦 next PM. Can’t happen soon enough. https://t.co/pkqSYeb2kz
— Vivian Bercovici (@VivianBercovici) January 12, 2024
It’s a stunning, yet entirely predictable, turnaround in public opinion.
Less than a year ago, polling by Nanos Research showed 61 per cent of Canadians thought that immigration levels should either be increased or stay the same, in keeping with a decades-old consensus that welcomes newcomers to this country.
Public opinion has inverted, according to Nanos. In December, 61 per cent of Canadians said immigration levels should be reduced, with just 34 per cent still believing that Canada should maintain or increase the number of newcomers.
I think the alleged concensus around immigration was fraying far earlier especially among urban dwellers.
The myth was propped up by the fact that until recently merely raising the topic of immigration policy was to risk being labeled a racist by the political and chattering classes.
This was done at the behest of the corporate class who to this day dictate Canada’s immigration policy to the detriment of everyone save themselves and their political minions.
The stopper on immigration discussion was only removed in the past year as the ruling class no doubt sensed an imminent explosion.
It’s a start that ideally will result in the will of citizens being made paramount in designing immigration policy.
Our politicians have proven they cannot be trusted to act in our best interests.
One aspect of mass immigration the MSM refuses to address is the impact on society caused by the introduction of incompatible cultures.
Our MSM won’t touch Islam’s clash with western culture despite vast numbers of marauding Hamas supporters in the streets of every major western city.
Despite decades of living under the constant threat of Islamist terrorism and the encroachment of sharia law in society.
Islam’s harmful presence has been an exercise in the tolerance of the intolerant made possible by the elite’s embrace of racist doctrines such as DEI and CRT and the dissent crushing cancel culture bludgeons of official multiculturalism and diversity.
Not all cultures are equal and that is indisputable.
No wave of immigration has cost societies across the west more than Islam.
The dollars spent on domestic policing to keep the Hamas mobs in check is likely already in the millions in Canada alone.
The kowtowing of our political class to ethnic strongmen is a shameless insult to Canada and emboldens groups to import their pet hatreds and battle it out in our streets.
But no longer.
The sacred cows too long off limits in the polite society of our (Often government subsidized) betters are being slaughtered one by one.
Pity the MSM and our mainstream political parties remain behind the curve.
The Liberal caucus found itself, once again, a house divided as the United Nations’ top court met this week to hear arguments put forth by South Africa that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
As the first day of hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) convened on Thursday, two Liberal MPs, Iqra Khalid and Omar Alghabra, released separate statements on X in support of South Africa’s submission against Israel.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland made a stop Thursday in Toronto’s Canary Landing, a new rental community just east of the city’s downtown, to discuss the government’s new housing plans. But a question about recent warnings concerning immigration levels and housing supply elicited a less than satisfactory response.
Filthy liar.
Chrystia Freeland is asked why the Trudeau government didn’t lower immigration levels when it had been warned that housing levels could not keep up with immigration growth. pic.twitter.com/Itiz93CvRs
— True North (@TrueNorthCentre) January 11, 2024
