IMMIGRATION IN CANADA Canada should support immigration as it isneeded and should be encouraged. Most Canadians forget,they are descendants of immigrants. In this essay thefollowing will be discussed : - need for immigrants - the myths about immigrants - illegal and inadmissible immigrants. Immigrants are needed in Canada and should be encouraged to come. The commons-senate committee says we will need at least a 100,000 immigrants a year to offset the declining birth rate. However, there are problems with the amounts of immigrants coming to Canada. "B.C. might get 70,000 (immigrants) one year and 280,000 the next... so the city of Vancouver is faced with a problem over night,"said Bud Cullen, immigration minister. The very controversial immigration bill seeks to to balance the immigration level with the employment level. Most immigrant families are young, they usually arrive with nothing but some clothing. After arriving they need housing and other essentials (dishes, furniture, vehicle). This makes for prosperous industry and new jobs are created. There are many myths about immigrants such as them taking away jobs and crowding welfare rolls. Other examples of these myths are immigrants filling hospitals and overloading schools. They infact increase demand for articles, creating more jobs. The government tries to take fewer immigrants when the unemployment rate is high so they are not taking jobs from Canadians. In addition the bill requires proof of someone wanting to hire them, although this is not always enforced. Ontario has allowed in 60% of Canada's immigrants since 1946. Most were rapidly absorbed into the work force. Few needed government assistance. Ontario had some of it's most prosperous times during this period. William Marr, a professor of economics disagrees with the belief that increased immigration during hard times means more unemployment. " People forget that immigrants are demanders of goods and services, as well as suppliers of labor,"said Marr.

The government has reduced the classes of inadmissible immigrants by removing classes such as epileptics, mentally retarded, homosexuals, alcoholics, and those suspected of moral turpitude, not defined. " The number of inadmissible cases has been reduced and that's good. But then they go and stick in clauses about criminals and it widens up the whole," said Lee Pakin a law student from the university of Toronto. Many people feel that the immigration officers have too much discretionary power. Some of these powers include being able to make people leave Canada. An example of this is those who are in Canada illegally. The government says these are used only for a "handful of serious grounds". Mr. Armstrong does not feel this way. " As a person from the black community I think most people feel that the illegal people are black and asians and I have reason to believe that people who will be harrased the most are blacks and Asians," said Armstrong. Canada is being built by immigrants and their descendants, many people forget this. They help create jobs, and don't just come and lay around collecting welfare. Our birthrate is decreasing and immigrants are needed. They should be encouraged to come to our country.