Xenophobes beware, more immigrants are coming!

Xenophobes beware, more immigrants are coming!

 Racists and xenophobes, start your computers: The immigrants are coming, the immigrants are coming!

Oh, sorry, I'd better define that second term: A xenophobe is someone who hates foreigners and foreignness.

Those of you who are both xenophobic and racist can get your bile up over the fact that not only are these immigrants foreign, most of them aren't even white!

Statistics Canada has just released data showing B.C. has been hit with the biggest wave of immigrants in more than a decade:13,218 of them landed in B.C. between July and September, the largest number in any three-month period since 1997.

Ethan Baron spent four years as a general-assignment reporter at The Province before taking on the job of columnist in 2009. He has worked as one sort of journalist or another for more than 15 years, in the U.S. and Canada, after receiving a master's degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley. Covering all manner of stories, his work has taken him to crime scenes, courtrooms, carnivals and war zones, with occasional stops at crack houses and grandmothers' kitchens.

By Ethan Baron (The Province)

The story above by The Province journalist Ethan Baron raised many questions.

Legitimate Immigrants soon to become Canadian citizens, many making Vancouver their home has this Vancouver quasi photographer/journalist on a rant. 

British Columbia’s Liberal government under Gordon Campbell, whose recent resignation has seen many dancing in the streets, seems to have done more to bring legitimate immigrants to our province than the NDP and SoCreds combined.

While blaming the Canadian government for distributing immigrant funding equitably to immigration community groups across Canada seems fiscally responsible, charges of racism against the government are unfounded.

Ethan Baron, pursed lips at the ready, seems to be either directing his rant against British Columbians or towards Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, perhaps both.

Racism or self preservation

Perhaps Ethan Baron misdirected hissy fit against British Columbians as racist may not be without merit,  though perhaps confusing racism with Canadians self economic preservation. 

While some British Columbia may be clad in white pointy hats, the majority of British Columbians were fueled by outrage towards those who illegal immigrants who continually jump ahead of the immigration line by way of boat, thus scamming Canada’s generosity, and depriving the legitimate refugee their turn at a better life, this could amount to a sort of genocide against legitimate immigrants whose own self preservation may not fall under refugee status, but for one reason or another their life may be currently in danger in their own country, especially those fleeing religious or gay persecution.

Is it racism exacerbated when even legitimate immigrants witness illegal immigrants with $50,000 dollars for a boat ticket enjoy what legitimate immigrants do not, such as not having an immediate debt of $5,000.00 to pay back the Canadian government for their airfare to get to Canada.  

Rumour and Innuendo

It has been rumoured that business class immigrants and the Vancouver real estate market are tied to prerequisite token amount investor immigrants must bring to the British Columbia economy. It certainly seems that when an immigrant of means comes to Vancouver, realtors know a good thing when they see it when Canada requires Investor immigrants to pony up $1.6 million dollars, with $800,000 dollars to go to the province for business investment. So it is a win-win situation for the province in their quest to get as many immigrant investors into Metro Vancouver.  The immigrant investor will get that $800,000 dollars back in about 5 years, without interest.

Since the immigrant investor program began the base amounts required for investment immigrants to bring to Canada seemed to coincide with Metro Vancouver house prices matching investor wealth beginning in the mid 1980s.  The year 2010 saw $1.6 million as a base immigration to Canada criteria, with $800,000 dollars for the province to invest and $800,000 dollars left over for the new arrival to purchase a modest home. Currently a modest home in Metro Vancouver is priced around $800,000 dollars.  In 2009, investor immigrants were required to have $1 million dollars, with $500,000 for provincial investment, leaving the immigrant investor $500,000 dollars to buy a home.  Guess what the house prices were then?  Going back to Expo one can see the house prices versus immigrant investor ratio.   Is it any wonder the majority of politicians were realtors or land speculators, developers and property investors?  Rumour and innuendo? You decide!

Facts and Figures

Currently Canada will accept upwards of 250,000 immigrants in 2011 alone, with successive arrivals of 250,000 each year after that to infinity. 

Canadian taxpayers are aware that immigrant settlement allowances of $1,200.00 per month, including other benefits Canadians enjoy is certainly not a princely sum and well below the poverty line. 

Considering there are Canadians who are also trying to raise a family on a similar amount, many Canadians below the poverty line feel hard done by, thus self preservation kicks in when they perceive newcomers getting a better deal, no matter how small.   This is not even placing the homeless who walk our streets into the equation who continually do without.

Monthly payouts to new immigrants just in 2010 alone with other social services tabulated, amounts to $500 million dollars each and every month.   

Canada’s population currently at around 32 million citizens has a median age of 39 years of age.  Canada has approximately 16 million Canadians currently employed; this includes part time students over the age of 15. 

A reality check!  

The Canadian taxpayer is on the hook for $300.00 a year and that is a conservative amount totaling $4.5 Billion dollars a year.  This amount will double when compounded each and every year as another 250,000 new arrivals seek Canada as their home.  This payout compounded annually for new immigrants will last for an average term of two years or $9 Billion dollars, replacing the previous wave of new arrivals each year.  

While the $1,200.00 monthly stipend for new immigrants will continue for two years, it will cease once new immigrant are ready for the dwindling Mcjob market, joining Canadians who can’t find one.

While some immigrants will arrive up and running if they speak either of Canada’s official language, the majority of new Canadians will require language training which can take up to two years in order to even qualify to get into the Canadian job market.

Media reports that thousands and thousands of skilled immigrants many with doctorates are stonewalled in getting jobs within their profession, while delivering pizzas or driving taxis to support their families. 

So if Canada’s intent is get as many immigrants who are skilled doctors, accountants, scientists, carpenters etc into Canada to provide a boost to a much needed labour force fails miserably.  How could Canada say one thing and yet do another?  Certainly looking for a potential 250,000 ethnic voters to prop up their political party fortunes comes to mind.

Government cuts to social programs

British Columbians are outraged by Government deep cuts to social services, everything from Health Care, Schools, Welfare and Unemployment etc. 

The British Columbia government excuse is we cannot afford to continue to pay for the increase use by British Columbia taxpayers use of these services.  Yet all the while BC politicians spout that increasing immigration to British Columbia brings money, jobs and prosperity.  Apparently not!

If British Columbian tax dollars are not meeting the costs associated with the increase use of these services, yet at the same time British Columbians do not want to pay more taxes to support these services, where should our priorities lie to pay for these programs?

 Some politicians and labour groups insist raising the minimum wage from $8.00 anywhere from $10.00 to $15.00 dollars an hour is the answer to what ails us.  Somehow I don’t think the immigrant entrepreneur would like that, considering his hard earned money and little profit he invests in a business in British Columbia would evaporate exponentially and he would look to greener pastures elsewhere in Canada, thus leaving British Columbia with additional economic immigrants with little work or language skills.

The children are our future

It is believed Canada hedges it hopes not with the parents, but with the children who will be the main economic contributors as Canadians.  It is reported that in British Columbia alone the BC government closed 176 schools, with many more threatened with impending closures.

To put things into perspective, if Canada hedges its bets on the children of immigrants, does it make sense for schools to close, not including school closures Canada wide?  I think not, especially if our motive is to educate new Canadians for the job market.  

Teachers, teach, developing young minds, but to teach in an amphitheatre setting devoid students of any chance of one to one contact with their academic mentor who will ultimately determine their path both mentally and socially in life.

Reducing teachers, eliminating schools, increasing class sizes shows the government once again is not serious in developing young minds as our future workforce, unless that workforce are destined to wear a paper hat and dole out supersized meals. 

Immigrant parents who either are unskilled or lack the education or language skills to help their child with their studies will doom their child to fail.   

 Certainly with school overcrowding, students seem to be regaled to educational institutions similar to cattle pens.  School overcrowding so immense that if our children were chickens, would have PETA and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency coming down hard with a vengeance. 

So increasing immigration may not be the answer until we solve the dilemma what is our future workforce today.  Education is the key, not numbers.  To do otherwise may see Canada as a future population of illiterates without any meaningful skills.

In ending

Call it racism or call it economic self preservation, bottom line, Canadians and immigrants alike are getting the big political reach around, financially and emotionally.

 As for our new Canadians, welcome to Canada, welcome to your new economic nightmare as politicians, especially the New Democratic Party and Liberal Party who will continually state we need more immigrants, yet once you become Canadian you no longer qualify as an immigrant and will join the ranks of the ignored who complain as a Canadian and will be called a racist because you too will be clamoring for too few jobs and experience the joy of frustration of trying to access dwindling social services, just like the rest of us.   

As for Ethan Baron, you are way off the mark, you should stick to what you know best, for the life of me I am not sure what that would be, but I am sure if you asked any Grandma who subsists under the poverty line her views on this story, you would deem her a racist too.