Immigration Advocates: Fraser Institute

Fraser Institute: Many immigration advocates are worried that the Harper governments overriding focus on building an immigration policy around short-term economic wins is excluding many would-be immigrants whom Canada should be welcoming. Such fiscally justified pressures toward exclusion are frequent and high-profile. Last week, reported that the federal government is considering saving on refugee health-care costs by accepting fewer refugees with high-needs medical conditions. The week before, a new report from the Fraser Institute claimed that current immigrant selection policies are imposing a staggering fiscal burden on Canadians, according to The Star. But since no one denies that economic goals are a centrally important part of a sound immigration policy, its not enough to rebut outright mistakes in order to put the economic factors in a much-needed broader context. Whats missing from public debate is a focused effort by advocates to explain both to the federal government and their fellow Canadians why and how grounds other than narrowly economic ones should inform immigration policy and Perhaps you re the child, grandchild or great-grandchild of immigrants who came to Canada decades ago, escaping poverty and danger elsewhere, and you re glad Canadas doors were open to them. They got a chance to build lives here out of nearly nothing, and they gave this country a lot. Do you think enough would-be immigrants are getting that chance today? Do you hear a strong case being made that they should? Those who are worried about combating such trends can start with the low-hanging fruit for instance, as University of Ottawa professor Patti Tamara Lenard did in a Broadbent Institute blog post exposing the shoddy logic of the Fraser Institutes figures and proposals. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.