Survey Shows Big Disconnect Between Public & Political Class On Immigration Levels

The views of many millions of Canadians continue to go unrepresented by those in power, on an issue that has a huge impact on the future of our nation.

If you looked at the rhetoric and policies of Canada’s main political parties, you would think that there was a massive consensus among Canadians that higher immigration is widely supported.

The Liberals & NDP both champion large immigration increases, while the Conservatives are similar, only raising some questions around the edges of the issue.

The idea that Canada will continue to increase our immigration levels – levels that are already among the highest on Earth on a per-capita basis – is deeply entrenched among the political class.

However, there is no such consensus among the Canadian People.

According to a new Angus Reid poll, the plurality of Canadians say the upcoming 2022 immigration target – 411,000 – is too high.

Here’s the breakdown:

22% say that is “Far too many – the number should be way lower.”

17% say the number is “Too many.”

34% say the number is “About right.”

8% say the number is “Too few.”

5% say the number is “Far too few – the number should be way higher.”

Taken together, that’s 39% who want lower immigration, 34% who are content with the current numbers, and just 13% who want higher immigration.

Also, when we consider the impact that social desirability bias has (people wanting to seem politically correct), we can imagine that many of those who say they like the current numbers are in favour of lower immigration but are afraid to say so.

Opposition in the Conservative Heartland

As we saw above, there is a large number of Canadians who support lower immigration.

Indeed, with 39% saying they want lower levels, that makes the ‘lower immigration constituency’ far larger than the current number of people saying they are willing to vote Conservative.

Recent polls show the CPC languishing between 24-31%, with most on the lower range of those scores.

Additionally, opposition to higher immigration is highest in the Conservative heartland, with 50% of Albertans and 54% of Saskatchewan residents wanting the immigration target lowered. Even in Ontario and BC, 39% and 35% respectively want lower immigration numbers, levels of support that are both higher than where the CPC is polling in those provinces.

And, while opposition to higher immigration is strongest among men, the survey shows 36% of women between the ages of 35-54, and 40% of women above the age of 55, opposing the higher levels, both of which again are higher than what the CPC is polling in those respective groups.

Conservatives want lower immigration

And that brings us to the party breakdown, where it’s clear that Conservative voters want lower immigration levels.

Among those who voted Conservative in 2019, 64% want lower levels, compared to 23% who are fine with the current levels. Just 2% say we are bringing in “Too few” people, and 0% said the number is “Far too few.”

Clearly, the members and supporters of the CPC want lower immigration, yet that viewpoint has somehow been blocked and filtered out by the upper echelons of the party, failing to be expressed in policy.

As Angus Reid notes, O’Toole seems out of step with the party on the issue:

“Conservative party leader Erin O’Toole has been described as “bullish” on immigration, calling it “critical to (Canada’s) success.” O’Toole will have to work to persuade his party’s established voting base if he plans to maintain the immigration levels of recent years. In 2018, 2019, and in this most recent study, the vast majority of past CPC voters say that immigration levels should be reduced.”

We really need to ask this: Don’t the majority of CPC voters deserve to have their actual views represented by the party, rather than have an agenda pushed on them against their wishes?

The foolish and false demonization of immigration critics

Our political class is not only unrepresentative of where millions of Canadians stand on immigration, but also often lazily resort to demonization of immigration critics as ‘racist’ or ‘bigoted,’ all the tired old attacks that are used to try and silence debate and end discussion.

Of course, that narrative is foolish and false.

According to the Angus Reid survey, opposition to immigration is slightly higher among visible minorities, and strong opposition is much higher among that group.

28% of Visible Minorities say Canada is bringing in “Far too many,” while 12% say we are bringing in “Too many.”

By contrast, 20% of White People say Canada is bringing in “Far too many,” while 18% say the number is “Too many.” 

While the overall opposition to higher immigration is about even among both groups 40% vs 38%, it’s interesting to see that strong opposition to immigration is higher among visible minorities.

This again shows that – since Canada is already a pretty diverse place – opinions on immigration aren’t easily broken down by whether someone is a minority or is an immigrant/descended from recent immigrants. It’s not as simple or clear-cut as the political class would like us to believe.

What’s really going on here?

As we’ve seen above, there are many millions of Canadians of all backgrounds who oppose higher immigration, and the desire for lower immigration is more popular than Canada’s top Opposition Party.

So why – in a country that is supposedly democratic – aren’t those views being represented?

Because the elites want higher immigration for economic and political reasons.

First off, the more people are brought in every year, the easier it is to keep wages low, and keep people in a debt-addled, desperate economic existence where it all becomes about just making it day to day, rather than looking at what decisions those in power are actually making.

Big multi-national corporations want to see lower wages in countries like Canada, making it easier to wipe out local small businesses and consolidate dominance.

Then there’s the political aspect.

We know that the elites are pushing a “Post-National-State” agenda, and that’s far easier to do if you combine huge immigration increases with a demonization of Canadian history and attacks on Western Civilization.

As we know, people will always find an identity to hold onto, and if you bring in a bunch of people from around the world, while demonizing the country they came to, then they will form their identity more so around their nation of origin.

Ironically, many newcomers are resisting the Post-National-Agenda, with Patriotism remaining strong among new Canadians and many newcomers speaking out against the disgusting ‘Cancel Canada Day’ push.

But that won’t stop the political class from pushing their agenda, and that agenda will only be defeated if the actual views of Canadians on key issues – like immigration – are represented.

Change from the ground up

It is beyond clear that the upper echelon of the CPC is beholden to the political and corporate class who want higher immigration, rather than listening to their own supporters.

With that in mind however, many CPC MPs are surely opponents of higher immigration levels, and with some encouragement they may push for change from within.

That’s why I encourage you to share this article with your MP (especially if they are a CPC MP), and make it clear that you expect them to start representing the real views of their party on immigration, rather than pushing the policies of the out-of-touch political class.

Spencer Fernando

Photos – YouTube

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