The ＂Immigration Consensus＂ is a lie
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Summary
Is there really an immigration consensus in Canada? You see this term thrown around by politicians and mainstream media talking heads as if it s the gospel truth, but the reality is that this so-called consensus has always been an elite-made lie, but it s rapidly losing credibility. Canada is a nation of settlers, not immigrants. And Canadians have consistently held isolationist, anti-immigration views throughout our history.
Transcript
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Is there really an immigration consensus in Canada?
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You see this term thrown around by politicians and mainstream media talking heads as if it's the gospel truth.
00:00:07.900
But the reality is that this so-called consensus has always been an elite manufactured lie.
00:00:14.880
Canada is a nation of settlers, not immigrants.
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And Canadians have consistently held isolationist, anti-immigration views throughout our history.
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Early prime ministers put importance on maintaining Canada's bicultural Anglo-French identity
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and consistently introduced policies to protect it.
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For instance, in 1885, a head tax was introduced on immigrants from China.
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The tax was continually increased over the subsequent 20 years
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and was explicitly designed to discourage immigration from China
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and encourage Chinese laborers working on the railway to return home after their work.
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then acting as the Deputy Minister of Labor in the Wilfrid Laurier government,
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This amendment to the Immigration Act required all immigrants to travel directly to Canada from their home country
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and was a means of restricting immigration from India and Japan, as there were no direct journeys available at the time.
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You may not agree with these policies, but that doesn't change the fact that they are our history.
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These and many other restrictionist policies were very popular at the time.
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In the post-war period, attitudes about race and immigration began to liberalize,
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but public sentiment remained very much against immigration.
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In a 1947 speech in the House of Commons, Prime Minister King said the following,
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The people of Canada do not wish, as a result of mass immigration,
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to make a fundamental alteration in the character of our population.
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Large-scale immigration from the Orient would change the fundamental composition of the Canadian population.
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The government intends to maintain that policy.
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And public opinion was consistent with this view.
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In 1952, 55% said Canada did not need more immigrants.
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In 1955, 60% supported keeping racial restrictions in place.
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And in 1993, 55% agreed that immigration to Canada was too much.
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Admittedly, there was a brief period in the late 1990s and early 2000s where immigration was broadly popular.
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This is before the long-term impacts of mass immigration started to set in.
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But more recently, Canadians have returned to their anti-immigration beliefs.
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In 2004, 58% of Canadians said there was too much immigration.
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In a poll conducted by the government earlier this year, 63% said immigration was too high.
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Elites try and astroturf this vision of Canada where we are a nation of immigrants.
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They push that everyone other than the First Nations,
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even families who have been here for hundreds of years, are still immigrants.
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That there's a consensus on immigration and anyone who questions it is a bigot.
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But the reality is that Canadians do not and have never agreed with mass immigration policies.
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It's time to bring our leadership in line with our expectations.
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There is no immigration consensus, but there is a rapidly growing re-migration consensus.