David Suzuki's comments regarding immigration

Canada Immigration Forum (discussion group)


 
       
Subject: David Suzuki's comments regarding immigration
  When reading what David Suzuki had said about Canada’s immigration policy I was quite shocked and uncomfortable. I had always envisioned David Suzuki as a lover of the planet and all livings things within it and also a proud Canadian. Therefore to hear him speak about implementing more strict immigration laws seemed unnatural. However after thinking about what he had said, I can understand what he was thinking.
What Mr. Suzuki said is true. If more people immigrate to Canada, they will indeed use the resources in Canada. This will in turn leave fewer resources for those who have live in Canada longer than those individuals who immigrated to Canada. Land will be used by those who have immigrated to Canada to build homes and create lives for themselves and their family, therefore decreasing the amount of land that could be used by others.
Mr. Suzuki also made reference to Canada pillaging countries of their future professionals. I can also see how Mr. Suzuki feels this way (although I find the word “pillage” to be a bit strong). There are Canadian professions that do ease international relocation to Canada financially through recruitment funds. How this process can be viewed, and may be Mr. Suzuki’s view, is the countries where these professionals live and where these professionals have been trained, invested resources into these individuals, and that the country to which they immigrate will reap the economic benefits of this working professional.
In the most basic sense, Mr. Suzuki’s views do not represent my views because both of my parents immigrated to Canada. Neither my father’s family nor my mother were refugees seeking asylum. Without delving into the story of how my family came to be, my mother met my father, they fell in love, and I was born a Canadian because of it. I am proud of my heritage beyond the Canadian borders, but I am also proud to have been born in Canada. Canada to me is freedom, acceptance, beauty, and considerate, among many other things (including not so good adjectives such as cold).
Thus what can easily be seen is my view of Canada appears to be quite the opposite to Mr. Suzuki. His vies in many ways goes against my view of what Canada is about. Canada is: the freedom to immigrate from one country to another in hopes to create a better life for oneself and one’s family. Canada is: acceptance of others from different backgrounds to build a multicultural nation. Canada is: seeing the beauty and richness in having a mosaic of cultures in a community and celebrating each individually and together. And finally, Canada is to me: being understanding and considerate of others’ life experiences and struggles.
Bringing the environment into the equation brings forth more complexities. I also consider myself to be an environmentalist. I am a vegetarian because plants are a more efficient energy source than animals. I used natural based cleaners to be sure I do not add to the phosphorus and nitrates in our freshwater systems. I ride my bike and take the bus to decrease the amount of fossil fuels I burn among other things. However, just as every other Canadian citizen, I do use resources such as water, food, and fossil fuels daily. Consequently, how do we reduce the amount of resources use by Canadian citizens? Is the best option to close the doors to Canada to potential immigrants? Likely not.
Climate change is global and has global impacts. To have a reduction in the burning of fossil fuels in a solitary country, will not solve the global issue of climate change. The same concept can apply to foods. As many foods that are purchased in Canada are not grown in Canada, food scarcity and drought in other countries can affect the resources available in Canada.
Instead of focusing on how many people use resources, I think the greater focus should be on how people use their resources. The individuals will use the Earth’s resources no matter where they live. As international environmentalist, it is the goal to reduce global climate change and scarcity of resources. Therefore, the best way to reduce the impact of an individual is not to restrict where they can live, but to shape the environment where they live to have more sustainable resources, thus decreasing the carbon foot print of that person.
This begins by coming together as a global community and brings the environmental cause to the forefront of our politicians’ agendas. If this issue is important to the population, it will in turn be important to their elective representatives and can lead to policy change. However we truly must come together as a unified voice so that the most important policies are changed. For example, instead of making policies which lead to causing immigrating to Canada more difficult, policies regarding water usage restriction, fossil fuel burning, and public transit would go further for the environmentalist cause.
www.myvisasource.com is a immigration firm located in Vancouver, British Columbia.

[29-07-2014,22:13]
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Liliane A
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