Finding the ‘middle way’ in policy and politics is increasingly rare these days. But Canada is managing it.
Has Canada truly developed a unique sense of kindness, balance, and openness to others, or have we just been lucky to avoid pressures that force more difficult decisions and bring about the anger and division such decisions generate?
That’s a question some have been asking in recent years, as we’ve been tested by economic stagnation, a declining standard of living, regional disputes, online anger, a housing shortage, immigration levels that pressured our social cohesion and social services, and significant external threats.
It’s been easy to slip into cynicism and to feel that perhaps Canada’s reputation as a kind and open nation was simply little more than good luck, and that our luck had run out.
However, there are some good reasons to believe that it’s more than good luck. Even under significant testing and pressure, many of Canada’s core values and principles have held. And in one very crucial way, we have bucked the trend seen in many other parts of the world.
Canada has managed to get immigration under control without scapegoating and without cruelty.
Earlier today, StatsCan reported that Canada’s population dropped by a record amount in Q3 of this year (you can read about it here). This drop was largely due to a significant decline in the number of temporary immigrants in Canada (representing international students and temporary foreign workers).
Thus, in a relatively short-time, Canada has gone from significant levels of immigration and resulting high population growth, to negative population growth. What makes this notable is that this shift was in response to changing public sentiment, and it was accomplished without widespread scapegoating of immigrants by prominent politicians, and it was accomplished without government-sponsored cruelty.
That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been a rise in tension, nor does it mean that there hasn’t been a rise in racism towards some groups. What it does mean is that most Canadians have chosen a ‘middle way’ when it comes to addressing immigration: Pushing for lower immigration levels without directing hate towards immigrants.
For example, you don’t see official Canadian government accounts sharing hype videos celebrating the deportation of people in chains, nor do you see official Canadian government accounts demonizing immigrants as if they are the cause of every challenge facing the country. Meanwhile, as the U.S. reduces immigration, there have been many instances of a gleeful revelling in the deportation of people, as well as aggressive enforcement operations that have even ensnared U.S. Citizens. And in much of Europe, right-wing parties are much harsher in their rhetoric regarding immigration than we see in Canada. There is also a far-right contingent in many countries that is absent at any similar scale in Canada.
Canadian politicians across the political spectrum also deserve credit for a relatively responsible approach to discussing immigration. While right-wing leaders in many parts of the world have often used quite brutal language and even spread lies to try and gin up public anger against immigrant communities, that has been left to a few more fringe voices on the far-right in Canada, while the main right-wing party – the Conservatives – have generally framed immigration in economic terms and spoken about Canadian values without directly demonizing specific groups.
Similarly, even as the Carney Liberals undertake a significant reorientation of immigration policy, they have done so without demonizing immigrants and have simultaneously maintained Canada’s stance of openness to others.
This speaks well of Canada and Canadians. Our nation may not be perfect, but we have built a country where people of all backgrounds can feel included in the Canadian family, and where the public can be heard, policy errors can be addressed, and immigration can be dialled back without the scapegoating and cruelty that often accompanies immigration restriction in other parts of the world.
This is something Canadians can be proud of.
Spencer Fernando
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