Canada’s War on Immigrants

A nation of the few, for the few, by the few. I imagine that’s how the banner must read at the monthly Conservative Cabinet meetings somewhere over the sprawling tar-sands mansions in Alberta. But more on that later.

Canada — the glorious and free country I immigrated to with a glowing heart — is being day-light robbed of its peaceful, tolerant, welcoming and kind-hearted persona that we knew it had prided itself on since its very founding. All because of a power-drunk non-stop late-night racist & rowdy Conservative Frat Party hooligans, who themselves must be quite amazed and amused as to how despite doing so much damage, nobody’s even noticing, let alone complaining!

Immigrants, times are a changing

Few newcomers and immigrants realize what dangerous historical crossroads they have landed on to, when they arrived in Canada during these last few years of the Conservative Party rule.

Little things make you wonder if you’re the last lucky ones to have been admitted to the True North Strong and Free. Little things — which aren’t really little, and that’s the point — like the ever more frequently popping up facts and happenings, telling you:

That there’s a racist and divisive Conservative Prime Minister (Stephen Harper) who openly and unashamedly says that immigrants are “offensive” to “Canadian values.”

That thanks to the same far-right Party and its hate-spewing leader, a once tolerant, progressive, enlightened country has been transformed into a racist and hateful nation, something that previously was thought completely impossible for a country like Canada.

That the country’s Prime Minister, the highest office in the nation, stoops so low as to wage a cultural-superiority war to character assassinate a lone immigrant woman and launches a crusade against ethnic minorities on what they wear. This encourages his Conservative Party members to go on a hate-mongering frenzy and riles up the racist Conservative MPs into competing with each other in bigotry, racist behaviour and xenophobia… who openly yell at immigrants to go back and “stay the hell where you come from!”

That the Orwellian Ministry of Citizenship & Immigration (whose sole purpose appears to cull, null and dull citizenship & immigration) and its various Conservative re-incarnations (Ultra Rightwing Minister Jason Kenney, Far-Right Minister Chris Alexander, et al) have virtually declared an open blanket war of vengeance on all newcomers, regardless of their nature of ‘crime’ of immigrating.

That a once-humane, unbiased and caring refugee policy for all is now openly discriminatory based on the Conservative’s religions of choice (seriously!)

That a xenophobic and racist far-right MP successfully maligns, smears and ridicules entire foreign cultures by calling them “barbaric” to justify making new racist laws against them.

That the Skilled Worker Program is all but molested mercilessly in mid-journey for most applicants, and now dying (dead already?) a slow painful death.

That the rightwingers have built deliberate mechanisms to discourage immigrants’ family members or spouses to join them. The family sponsorship remains all but in name, thanks to the cleverly marketed and disguised joke called the Super Visa.

That even the most supposedly progressive and diverse metropolis like Toronto has had a mayor who openly rants against immigrants, yells racial slurs like Nig–, Pa– openly, etc… (now a rightwing Conservative Rob Ford replaced with another Conservative who is even called ‘Tory’!)

That even when one qualifies to become a citizen after years of sweat, blood and toil, the citizenship test has been made racially biased to favour Europeans against visible minorities, and then even when one breaks through that, nobody’s bothered to at least arranging a citizenship judge for an oath.

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

History in the making (not the kind to be proud of)

However, the Canadian War On Immigrants (let me acronymize it CWOI) is just one policy to lose sleep over, mind you. There is enough for even ‘regular’, maple-leaf-slurping, stewed-beaver-tail-munching or poutine-gobbling homegrown Canadians to worry about.

You see, the thing is, my wide-eyed, gawking newcomer friends, that never in the history of Canada …

• have so many been marginalised and impoverished nationally (indigenous Idle No More First Nations pun galore)
• have so many been unjustly subjected to constant fear, hatred, insecurity and disillusionment by the threatening, punitive and indecent Citizenship revoking laws combined with delayed citizenship tactics
• have so many been witch-hunted by suspicious State Citizenship Police
• have so many been backstabbed with pure callousness
• has so much been tarnished so carelessly (tar sands pun intended, so kill me)
• have so many been considered inferior to the rest
• have so many been alienated (non-alien Quebec is finding itself asking questions again)
• have so many nations been offended internationally (no one-sided right-wing foreign policy puns, no environmental Kyoto puns, or immoral wars puns)

… by so few in absolute power (which always does something unsavoury absolutely, you know.)

Who’s on guard for thee?

As a sidelined but proud immigrant citizen, you tend to be more world savvy than most Canadians. Hence you realize that things aren’t just limited to your normal 10-kilometre radius confined rants about right-wing polarization of Canadian politics run by some superior-feeling old rich people, when you see that the world media has started taking notice as well.

And it confirms your fears even more about the unfolding reality: that Canada is gradually and steadily losing, by intentional design, its once unique, unmatched & exquisite brand : it’s former powerful standing among the nations and amongst it’s own people who are now more scary and scared, bullying and marginalised, hateful and hated, sidelining and sidelined than ever before.

Sans any resistance on the contrary, from far and wide, O Canada, who will stand on guard for the goodness of thee?

NOTES:

1. For most of what’s written above, I’ve given citations from reputed sources. However, there are many more sources for everything that I’ve said above and listed (and I have missed so many more depressing things to list), so I urge you, dear reader, to simply google what’s written above and you’ll come across sources for stuff that I might have missed citing.
2. When the former Minister of Citizenship & Immigration HRH Right Honourable Sir Jason Kenney (MP, KBE, CBE, OBE, MBE) departed the daily muck and filth of dealing with those dirty immigrant buggers (how he must have rejoiced being relieved of the ethnic stench!), I thought the fresh reincarnate HRH Right-Honourable Sir Chris Alexander would bring some dignity and sanity to the Ministry. But Lo and Behold! Our new Lord and Master is proving to be even whiter and mightier than the rest of the white and mighty knights in gleaming Harper armoury! Godspeed Minister, ahoy!