Immigration: How Much is Enough for Canada?
Original article published on 6 March 2008. The standard of much of the discussion that ensued was very high.
See #OtherDiscussions">below for links to other online discussions.
How many immigrants should Canada accept each year? What population can Canada support - and how to determine that number? And how many do we want?
These are difficult questions, and it is a sensitive issue. My grandparents immigrated to Canada when my father was eight years old. My wife and stepdaughter are currently permanent residents, and we have sponsored my wife's mother. My business partner and his family are immigrants. I am well aware of the value that immigrants bring to Canada, and the conditions in developing countries. And "Isn't the real problem overpopulation?" is one of the most frequent questions I receive during my Inconvenient Truth presentations.
Having revealed all this, I believe:
- We should allow immigration at levels that stabilise our current population
- We should conduct a 'sustainability audit' that determines how many people Canada can realistically support
- We should determine what kind of population density we want, from sparse to Singapore levels
- We must stop using population growth to postpone problems like a funded Canada Pension Plan, or to drive continuous economic growth
- We must build in a buffer to account for climate change
Second, once we know how many people the country could support, we must determine how closely we want to live together. It is one thing to say "Canada has lots of space and could hold more people." It is another when you start telling people they must live up north, or that Montreal is going to have the population of Beijing.
Trying to force people to live in sparsely populated areas of Canada has never worked for long. Most immigrants migrate to the big cities for a reason - for many reasons, in fact, and they are generally the same reasons most of us end up in the cities.
I also think we grossly overestimate how many people Canada can and should "hold." Yes, we have vast unpopulated areas. It is also true that many of these areas are inhospitable to humans, and most necessities would have to be shipped in from other regions.
Finally, we need to get over ourselves. We are not the only beings on this planet. We are not the Supreme Beings, though we certainly have the power to destroy life, including our own. We must learn to live with Nature, as we are Nature and Nature is us.
Brian Gordon
Nominated Candidate, Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca
Green Party of Canada
Trained Presenter
An Inconvenient Truth
People - Planet - Prosperity
The New Green Economy
#OtherDiscussions" id="OtherDiscussions">Other online discussions on immigration and population
Is it reactionary to oppose immigration? of 19 Dec 07 on webdiary.com.au.
Is there intelligent life on Planet Green? of 9 Sep 08,
#comment-470700">Will "the great immigration debate" take place? of 21 May 08 on larvatusprodeo.net.
Have the Greens lost the plot on immigration? of 11 Jul 08 on Online Opinion.
Comments
Vivienne (not verified)
Tue, 2008-09-16 09:07
Permalink
Immigration to Australia
Add comment