Immigrants cost Canadians $23 Billion a year: Fraser Institute

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Immigrants to Canada cost the federal government as much as $23-billion annually and “impose a huge fiscal burden on Canadian taxpayers,” according to a think-tank report released Tuesday that was immediately criticized as telling only part of the story.

A part of the story Canadians for decades have read are various media stories stating the “Pro and Con” on immigration, in particular multiculturalism, language and incomes.

The Fraser Institute report stating incomes of new Canadians versus Canadian born citizens show new Canadians earn a much lower paycheque. This results in less taxes for government coffers to prop up our declining social programs. 

As the Fraser Institute report states new immigrants cost the Canadian taxpayer $6,051.00 for every man, woman and child, many wonder how much longer can Canada sustain the Status Quo as our social programs are a political issue by Canadians and political parties alike?

Canada’s return on investment into our economy through immigration for decades was a Trudeau Liberal era mantra, still practiced today by liberal governments.  Immigrant ethnic votes are a tried and true election strategy.  Unfortunately, the Fraser Institute report states return on investment contradicts the Liberal ideology.

Canadians to this day still buy into the Liberal ideology that increasing immigration exponentially is a rosy picture and our employment future, when in reality new comers to Canada were the most vocal opponents to these Liberal falsehoods.  

For decades, the educated immigrant, Phd  in hand was never utilized to their greatest potential, as many immigrants were relegated to driving taxis or delivering pizza.   How the educated immigrant could possibly contribute into the payback scheme was never realized?  Two decades have passed and federal and provincial government inaction, political posturing, and promises to action this injustice was never fully implemented, except through rhetoric.

Multiculturalism

The Trudeau Liberals answer was a new government ministry called Multiculturalism, a multi-billion dollar taxpayer funded white elephant.

Multiculturalism ended up being more public relations and validation of cultures, more an appeasement of group hug experiment for Canadian businesses to buy into hiring from immigrant communities. A dismal failure seen by the majority of Canadians and immigrants, when Canadian Industry were not buying what the Liberals were selling.   Immigrants to this day demand a real meat and potatoes resolve past governments have continually failed to provide, such as real action in recognizing foreign university accreditations, including recognizing foreign work experience.

Then there is the issue of the vast majority of immigrants who are allowed into Canada, as past and present studies revealed immigrants for the most part were unskilled, uneducated and illiterate as compared to Canadian post secondary school standards, a vital prerequisite if securing any employment above minimum wage, in order to pay enough taxes to infuse into social programs without having to rely on social programs daily.

If the Fraser report is to be taken as accurate, Canadians need to ask themselves is it logical to increase or maintain immigration levels if Canadian social, school and health services have been on a steady decline for decades? A decline of services outraged and overtaxed Canadians demand to be increased, but never will be?  

Financially speaking, if our population increases to the tune of 265,000 new immigrants annually at a cost of $23 billion dollars, it is a fact that the money has to be taken from somewhere to pay for this.  Social services are continually strained as our population increases and ages every year and this is just for Canadians citizens. 

So if social services monies are also increased in settling and maintaining new Canadians, which have clearly outstripped any taxes paid from minimum wage occupations 10 to 1 how can we ever hope to maintain the barest of minimum of social services, when it is said taxes paid through minimum wage occupations are not enough? Especially when the majority of immigrants earn a minimum wage?

As taxpayer funded social service costs continue to spiral upwards, Canadians must supplement these social services through increased taxes every year just to maintain social services to a bare minimum!

If Canada expects new Canadians to infuse the Canadian economy with taxes from occupations then Canada needs to select those immigrants who can be up and running as soon as they land on our shores, begin working and paying taxes.  

Canadians may have difference of opinion on this hotbed issue, but facts and figures seem to indicate that our economy can ill afford to sustain even the barest of minimum social services if Canada selects those immigrants who can ill afford to even maintain themselves and their families without relying heavily on social services year after year.

While everyone will experience a learning curve in order to adapt, many new comers to Canada are resistant to change.

An immigrant whose failure to improve themselves or assimilate into Canadian culture will intern them to a cultural ghetto where they will stagnate in minimum wage occupations forever, most relying on their children to succeed where the parents failed. 

Is it unfair to paint all new Canadians and the varying cultures with the same bad brush, based on the examples of a few, or do Canadians expect immigrants to adjust faster to be a right fit in Canadian society? 

Metro Vancouver and Toronto are prime examples of cultural ghettos and language issues.  Media and university studies past and current reveal many immigrants who have lived in Canada for decades are still unable or unwilling to learn English or French, Canada’s two official languages.

Notwithstanding many immigrants and new Canadians prefer to enroll their children into their own local cultural based school, with little Canadian content.   While maintaining ones culture is their right under the Canadian Charter, this leaves the Canadian school system fraught with declining enrollment, budget cuts, overcrowded classrooms and limited resources, thus depriving all children of a brighter future, immigrant children included in many cases.  

Many will think racism, but in the words of British Columbia’s previous Lieutenant Governor  David Lam “ When a Canadian is concerned about his own way of living, this is not racism”.

Diversity is our strength. Unity in diversity”.

In actually, several academic studies would suggest otherwise. Irenaus Eibi-Eibesfeldt, Pierre van den Berghe and Harvard’s Robert Putnam have correlated growing diversity to declining trust, making a formerly homogeneous population less willing to vote for redistributive social programs that benefit those not like them.

Bob Birrell of Monash University also found that the more culturally diverse a community is, the lower the rate of civic volunteerism becomes. It is therefore apparent that there are both benefits and costs of diversity.

Variety may be the spice of life, but too much spice may give a society ethnic indigestion. Cultural cohesion is every bit as important as cultural pluralism. “Diversity” must be taken for what it is-a neutral term without either a positive or negative connotation. I have a diverse number of insects and pests that inhabit my home. I am afflicted with a diverse range of medical ailments. And I have a diverse number of creditors on my back, and it isn’t shrinking my total debt one bit. Personally, I could do with a little less diversity in my life.

When Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper's recently elected majority government this month spoke volumes what a no nonsense approach to economic policies, including immigration quotas sated the Canadian masses, including new Canadians who realised Prime Minister Stephen Harper does not deliver rhetoric, but sound policies benefitting all Canadians, though some Canadians did not agree in principle with certain election promises, those who did not agree may realise after reading the Fraser Institute report that tough times call for unpopular fiscal measures.  

In addition, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney once stated we are fast becoming a nation of cultural ghettos, he certainly was not being racist.  Mr. Kenney was succinct, a refreshing respite one rarely finds in a politician who rarely sugar coats their words, in which even new Canadians agree with.

If Canadians feel they are living in troubling times now, with many Canadians demanding less government and lower taxes seems a contradiction in terms when these same Canadians are either demanding increased immigration and are still dependant on government taxpayer funded services as a mainstay of their daily lives. 

It is up to Canadians to decide what they want, a better social safety net for themselves and their children to be sustainable or face the challenges of the Pro and Cons increased immigration Canada will bring? 

If Canadians wish for immigration to be maintained, then Canadians cannot blame anyone but themselves when social services are reduced and $6,051.00 of your income taxes every year are increased every year after that to infinity to maintain the barest of the minimum benefits for infrastructure, schools, unemployment  health care, welfare and social housing etc.

In a perfect world it would be nice to have everything we wish for, but we are not living in a perfect world and we should think long and hard what we wish for.