We’re Winning The Argument Against Absurd Liberal Immigration Increases, But We Can’t Let The Government Evade Responsibility For The Damage They’ve Done

By Spencer Fernando, Exclusive to the National Citizens Coalition

It’s always important to balance acknowledging the seriousness of the challenges we face without losing faith in our ability to address and ultimately overcome them.

Extremists on both sides want most of us to feel hopeless above all else.

They want us to give up on democracy, give up on peaceful change, and give up on our ability to have an impact.

They want us to be apathetic and listless.

When people give up on our democratic institutions, those who despise freedom and democracy can create an opening to gain power or hold on to power.

This is why we must never lose sight of our successes, even when things seem dire.

And right now, we are achieving significant success when it comes to the argument over the absurd immigration increases proposed by the government.

Not long ago, the Liberal government completely dismissed anyone who raised concerns over surging immigration levels.

They sought to label those concerns as ‘bigoted’ and ‘racist,’ in what was an attempt to snuff out any kind of good-faith discussion over the impact huge immigration increases were having on our country.

Despite Liberal attempts to make the issue go away, many Canadians – including the National Citizens Coalition – continued to speak out.

This willingness to speak out helped encourage others to be honest about what they were seeing all around them: Huge immigration increases were simply not sustainable.

More and more economists, business groups, and financial institutions started to add their voices to the list of those concerned about Canadian immigration policy.

More and more every day Canadians started speaking out as well. 

And so, because of our willingness to speak the truth, the entire conversation on immigration has shifted.

To get a sense of how dramatic this shift has been, consider that even Liberal Immigration Minister Marc Miller is now trying to portray himself as an opponent of higher immigration levels as noted in a recent Reuters article:

"The era of uncapped programs to come into this country is quickly coming to an end. This is a big shift. You can't just slam on the brakes and expect it to stop immediately," Marc Miller said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday.

"I'm not naive enough to think Canada is immune to the waves of anti-immigrant sentiment. ... Canadians want a system that is not out of control," Miller said in a phone interview.

Canadians "want a system that makes sense. And they want one that still has a lot of welcoming aspects we've been proud of, but it's got to make sense," Miller said, predicting immigration would be "a top issue, if not the top issue, in the next election," expected to take place in late 2025.”

Again, this is quite a profound rhetorical shift.

Had someone said a year ago what Miller is saying now, Miller would probably have denounced that person.

But the change in public opinion has been so dramatic, and the damaging impact of surging immigration levels so undeniable, that the Liberals have been left with little choice but to at least pretend to care about what the public wants.

So, we should take a moment and realize the significance of this.

Through sustained pressure and a relentless focus on the reality of what Canadians were experiencing, we were able to push past the demonization coming from the government and effect a real change in this country.

This shows that you – as a Canadian citizen – have the power to change things, and that change is still possible within our democratic institutions.

We are not powerless.

Just the opposite.

With that in mind, there are two important things to consider going forward.

First, is that while the Liberals may now be acknowledging the damage done by their extreme immigration policies, they are still responsible for implementing those policies.

The Liberals chose to implement a policy that has driven down our standard of living, made housing even less affordable, hurt an entire generation of young Canadians looking for work, weakened our social cohesion, and overburdened our already-overstretched social services.

It’s not enough for them to just acknowledge that those policies are misguided, they must also be defeated at the polls. Such a nation-damaging choice by a government to wreck what was once an enviable immigration system can’t be waved away with an apology or even a future shift in policy. The government that implemented such absurd changes to Canadian immigration must pay a political price on election day.

There is another important point to consider.

As public opinion on immigration shifts, some extremists will try to use that shift as a cover for spreading hate. We are already seeing this to an extent, particularly directed towards Indo-Canadians.

Giving in to such hate and letting our fellow Citizens be targeted and blamed for the failures of the Liberal government would be deeply un-Canadian.

As we push for badly needed reductions in immigration, we must not give in to the scapegoating of individual Canadians or groups of newcomers.

Canada doesn’t need more negativity and division. After all, we’ve seen enough of that under the Trudeau Liberals for the past nine years.

Instead, what we need is a return to the common-sense immigration policies that helped build this country into a secure, prosperous, and unified nation.

We’ve already shown we can push back against the worst excesses of the Liberal government, and now it’s time to complete the job and ensure the Liberals are defeated.

And you can gain confidence and hope from the knowledge that you have the power to help make that happen.

Spencer Fernando is one of the most popular and prolific political voices in Canada. He is a writer and campaign fellow for the National Citizens Coalition. Join the mailing list to receive his exclusive weekly columns in your inbox.

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