Some predictions: Canada Immigration and our Syrian Refugees

1. In 2017, Trump/Putin will make the peace in Syria. Peace will be followed by a Syrian economic boom.

2. By 2018, many, if not most, of the fathers from our recent 25,000 refugees will be doing business in Syria. They will leave their wives and children behind in Canada for up to five years. By 2021, the kids will be citizens. They will be educated. They will be heavily subsidized. They will have Canadian passports. The fathers will not be paying any Canadian taxes. They will not be generating Canadian exports.

3. By 2021, few of the original 25,000 families will still be here. They may be replaced by their cousins who see no harm in duplicating the game. Not wishing to admit that government policy is, yet again, based on wrong assumptions, our politicians will play pretend until after the next election.   

I realize that it is not particularly helpful playing Monday morning quarterback with tragic human suffering. Canada was right to react with kids floating up on beaches.  

 

I don’t mean to tar the refugee or humanitarian process with a broad brush. I have nothing but respect for a hard job done well by our well trained and disciplined immigration officers. It is not easy selecting rom among those stuck in the former Yugoslavia, Vietnam, Rwanda, Iraq or Syria etc.

My concern is Ottawa’s delusional core belief that it has to keep a tight lid on its failed retention policies.

The over 1 million Canadian passports in Lebanon ,China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Gulf States ,the Indian sub-continent , and now Syria ,stand as testament to either Canada’s failed  recruitment , selection or retention policies.

I don’t pretend to have all the answers. I just don’t understand why we cannot have a discussion on what it takes to retain more immigrants. If the system is broke, then fix it.     

My own suggestion is that:

• Let’s admit that the old way needs some serious adjustment     

• We should eliminate the landed immigrant process.
• Instead, Canada should go straight from long term work permits to citizenship status. Each and every refugee and citizen applicant should work and pay taxes for 3-5 years

• We should start the new “retention driven“process by selecting the best of the best from among our 1 million undocumented workers. Let’s drop the old voodoo that undocumented folks cannot stay because they abused the system …. There is no system for trades workers from Italy , Portugal Poland etc

Canadians are fair people. They recognize the need for productive immigration.

But they know when they are being conned. And they don’t like it.

Richard Boraks, December 13 2016