Welcoming Immigrants to Canada

I attended a Gala a few weeks ago and was pleased to see about 450 persons gathered to celebrate the contributions of many from different countries.  The countries that the immigrants are coming from have changed but the reasons for arrival remain the same.  They are coming for their vision of a better life for themselves and their families.  The vision may vary from individual to individual but the end result is the same; a better, a more peaceful, plentiful life and prosperous life. .  It was enlightening to notice that many of the established companies in the area were willing to be part of the proceedings by sponsoring the event or providing volunteers to sit on the Board of Directors.

Many who have been here for a while and consider themselves part of the status quo often forget that their family also came as immigrants even if it was two hundred years ago.  There is the need for governments and the media to bring this information to the forefront on a regular basis.  It was indeed a pleasure to see an announcer from one of the most viewed television stations in the national capital region taking time from his busy schedule to attend and be part of the proceedings.

One of Ottawa radios has a talk show host who often criticizes the different levels of governments and anyone who dares to mention the word "multiculturalism" as it is viewed as taking government money from the mainstream (white Canadian men) to be spent on immigrants (non-white people with lots of children). These are those who want to maintain their culture and what is considered their wealth.  It is often forgotten that the Canadian culture is now something to be admired as it has gone through so many changes that almost everyone can feel comfortable with it.  The persons who are critical about multiculturalism should realize that it is about diversity and equality as much as about culture.  Most people do not really care if you want them in your home or not; but they do care when you use biases to prevent them from working in order to feed their family.

In the late 1950's and the 1960's when someone arrived in Toronto, it was apparent that you were not welcomed there.  The governments were controlled mainly by the English who did not want to share with anyone.  A black man who was studying accounting was told by one English woman after he gained a promotion "you would never be my supervisor" before she resigned the same day. I go back further, my relatives first came to came to Montreal between 1913 and 1916, they did not remain there as there found it too cold and prejudiced against persons of colour.  Now, my relatives would not be considered black in the Caribbean but was considered so in Montreal.  They, all three men went to the Southern USA and flourished; becoming a Bishop in the Episcopal Church, a lawyer and businessman.

The immigrants of today are the citizens of tomorrow and forever after that and deserve to be treated as such.    This is important because when we look at our hospitals and see that the doctors are often non-white, the pharmacists, the ex-ray technicians and many more.  Many of the Canadian-born individuals are not studying as well as they should with the results that the immigrants who upgrade their studies as are often required or realize what their parents sacrificed to give them a better life will be the leaders in this country in the future.

Diversity is good because if we can all live in unity, peace, and love whether at home, at work, on the soccer field, the hockey rink and wherever we may be then they should be peace within the world.  If we all feel that we are able to share in the wealth of the society as long we become educated and socialized in the community then there will be less tension and stress in the society.

Canada should continue to welcome immigrants and encourage them to become citizens as fast they can by providing diverse opportunities for them to settle and become entrepreneurs, teachers, doctors, lawyers, and scientists or whatever profession they decide on and increase the domestic markets while providing different foods that make this country greater with the arrival of each group.