Citizenship Suitability

"While other Western countries have cut back immigration during the recession, our government kept legal immigration levels high." Minister for Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney

A country comprised of immigrants from Europe and latterly elsewhere, along with the original inhabitants of the country, Canada remains dependent on immigrants to continue building its competitive edge as a world marketplace. There is an ongoing need for skilled immigrants willing to come to the country to make a life for themselves and their dependents, accepting allegiance to Canada, and profiting by it with pride and industry.

Canada can boast huge expatriate communities of long standing in the country. Germans, Ukrainians, Poles, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, Chinese, East Indian, Korean, Pakistani, Egyptian - and Sri Lankan. Among others who have come to these North-American shores looking for opportunities denied them elsewhere. Canada has much to offer and its burgeoning immigrant community also offers much.

There is a social compact between the country and its immigrants, one that newly-arrived immigrants don't seem to be as acutely aware of nor impressed by, as their predecessors. And that is to respect the prevailing laws of the land and the indigenous community's culture and social mores. To do all of that, immigrants must make a concerted effort to integrate, to absorb and to adapt. And most have.

Those who have not display a fragrant disregard for their obligations, and are no credit to Canada, nor to their own future aspirations. Some of which appear to be inimical to the well-being of the country. Canada's much-vaunted (externally) and much-criticized (internally) immigration and refugee determination system has been lax and requires up-dating, something the federal government is now concentrating upon.

Among other things, insufficient attention has been given to assessing the suitability of some candidates for immigration when vetting applications to determine whether they represent good citizenship material. And much of this evolves around adaptability. Those who present as incontrovertibly dedicated to a culture, or a religion that espouses values that run counter to Canada's will be seen to represent a potential adaptability problem.

Family reunification presents another problem. While it is a humanitarian gesture, to permit families to sponsor dependents, elderly parents and grandparents must be financially supported and not necessarily by the Canadian taxpayer. It should be recognized that even if a sponsoring family pledges support for their elderly, the Canadian taxpayer picks up the considerable tab for medical/hospital care.

When illegal immigrants present as refugees seeking asylum enter the country through the auspices of human smugglers the cost of housing, feeding, checking their security backgrounds, as in the case of the Tamil Sri Lankans brought aboard ships bypassing Canada's legal and orderly system of assessing and accepting applications for immigration represents a burden on the taxpayer.

Not does it portend well for the future, that people determined to leave their country of origin at a time that they are no longer persecuted, and encouraged to do so by family and friends already in Canada, do so illegally. Canada has a backlog of legal applications of some 300,000-strong, awaiting clearance, and these illegals claiming refugee status are jumping the queue.

People deliberately seeking out illegal means to enter a country do not quite appear to present as suitable citizenship material.