Nick Noorani Website

A lot of the xenophobia and bigotry that reverberated in the wake of the arrival this summer of a ship bearing 492 Tamils ostensibly focused on those few refugees.

But you didn’t have to read much between the lines of Internet and talk-show chatter to notice that much of the vitriol continues to target a broader swath of immigrants — in some cases those who don’t fit someone’s definition of being sufficiently like “us,” and, in some cases, the whole damn lot.

Which got me thinking about where Canada would be without its steady influx of newcomers, whether skilled or not.

In my own city of Vancouver, if you were to take away visible minorities and those who speak with unCanadian accents, all our hospitals would be left with frighteningly small staffs.

Ditto the food court where I buy lunch, the store where I buy electronics, the barber shop I need to visit soon.

Without newcomers, we’d never see the contributions of thousands and thousands of highly skilled technical workers, nor entrepreneurs ranging from the fruit-seller down the road, to business and philanthropic giants like the founders of Future Shop (Iranian Hassan Khosrowshahi) or Roots (Americans Michael Budman and Don Green).

I haven’t seen comparable Canadian data, but in the U.S. — with its proportionately much smaller immigrant population — 25 per cent of new startups are undertaken by foreign-born entrepreneurs.

As for the future, take away immigrants and their children — regardless of whether they came here rich or poor — and you’d be able to open a bowling alley in our halls of academe.

Of course, no one knows what, if any, success stories will unfold if or when any of these 492 Tamils clear the hoops to stay legally in Canada. As with any population — including native-born Canadians — odds are some will turn out to be bright and productive, and others not so much.

But, on balance, Canada needs people with many different skill levels to cope with looming demographic realities.

I don’t know any thoughtful analyst who thinks immigration can totally solve the problems of a rapidly aging population, a workforce shrinking in relation to the jobs that need doing, and an ever-larger requirement for public spending, especially on health care for old people, with an ever-smaller group of productive workers to pay for it. But absence of immigration will worsen these problems.

Which is why I think the system urgently needs fixing.

First, it takes too long, and our bureaucrats too often lose track of those who don’t qualify to get in. That’s a frequent complaint of those who argue against immigration, and it’s valid. But it seems to me it’s our problem, not the immigrants’, and it’s up to us to fix it.

Second, while it’s true that immigrants may get some help (those who need an assist from welfare to get started draw particular fury), it’s also true that, increasingly, there are impediments to how quickly they advance. Some of this stems from government inaction in dealing with protectionist professional groups, who often go to great lengths to make it difficult for newcomers to practise. But, whatever the reason, it takes a steadily lengthening period of time for new arrivals, on average, to start earning as much as native-born Canadians.

It’s worth noting, however, that, even though immigrants’ incomes trail by as much as 20 per cent, this neither increases their welfare usage nor lessens their savings. Recent arrivals are more likely than other Canadians to live in over-crowded homes, but the tables soon turn. Established immigrants are more likely than the rest of us to own a home with a manageable mortgage.

There’s also a question of how new immigrants distribute themselves across the land. With the tendency for newcomers to settle in — in order of preference — Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, the rate of growth can strain services such as schools and English-as-a-second-language training in some communities, while others could really use new blood.

So I don’t argue we should take all comers willy-nilly. But — for good reasons related to our self-interest — we have, and need to have, clear rules on who should be let in. This includes refugees who clear the bar we’ve set for them.

Don Cayo writes for the Vancouver Sun.

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/should+immigration/3588691/story.html#ixzz10pwrOVs7