Isn't it time to slow down immigration?

[Smallc]

People are losing jobs, people are not getting good paying jobs back and in addition they must compete for these limited jobs with new comers. who will work for a lower wage then a naturalized Canadian might.

Is that a situation that ensures higher wages?

Your joking right? Wages went up by nearly 5% year over year last month. There are so many shortages of labour in so many areas of this country it isn't even funny. To say that we don't need people is basically ridiculous.

[Mr.Canada]

Your joking right? Wages went up by nearly 5% year over year last month. There are so many shortages of labour in so many areas of this country it isn't even funny. To say that we don't need people is basically ridiculous.

The only places that have many openings are low paying hospitality jobs.

Medium regular please.

We DO need skilled people with the relevant credentials/experience that will better Canada. We don't need any more family refugees that have neither and will be a drag on our system.

Edited October 14, 2008 by Mr.Canada

[Smallc]

The only places that have many openings are low paying hospitality jobs.

Ummm.....no. I could look in the paper (were it not on strike) and find many jobs that won't even be filled because there isn't enough people. I don't know where you live, but I'm certainly not seeing what you are.

[Mr.Canada]

Ummm.....no. I could look in the paper (were it not on strike) and find many jobs that won't even be filled because there isn't enough people. I don't know where you live, but I'm certainly not seeing what you are.

I agree we need skilled workers/professionals not unskilled refugees who work for only the minimum of wages.

We need to close the door on the unskilled refugees and open the door to professionals.

See, you finally agree with my point.

Thank you.

Edited October 14, 2008 by Mr.Canada

[Smallc]

I agree we need skilled workers/professionals not unskilled refugees who work for only the minimum of wages.

We need to close the door on the unskilled refugees and open the door to professionals.

See finally you agree with my point.

Thank you.

No I don't agree with your point at all. I agree that we need skilled immigrants, but I don't agree with shutting out refugees. What you seem to forget is that you are not the only person in this country or this planet. You were right about one thing, we do have to look after our own. We are all people on this Earth, and we have to make sure that we take care of eachother.

[nothinarian]

Biy you sure have bought into the Liberal Kool-Aid on why e need so many immigrants. Give born and raised Canadians a chance and we would not need any immigrants.

Again Scary

All parties and econimists agree on the numbers

I will concede to cutting down numbers when economic times do not warrant it such as now when jobs have been lost but will never agree to closing our doors to future Canadians a la Lou "I hate foreigners" Dobbs

I agree with Harper on this front - apparently the crimson on the nape of your neck hasn't contaminated the core of your party yet - see link

http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/canada/stephen...cally-4026.html

[Argus]

Your joking right? Wages went up by nearly 5% year over year last month. There are so many shortages of labour in so many areas of this country it isn't even funny. To say that we don't need people is basically ridiculous.

We don't need people. We have plenty of people on welfare. We have plenty of people underemployed. We have plenty of people who ought to be retrained into better paying, high skilled jobs. Why isn't it being done? Because business doesn't want it done. Business wants to complain that it can't find people, and then get the government to let them import immigrants who will do the job cheaper and work harder without complaint. Business looooves immigration. Why? Because every economist will tell you immigration lowers wages. And that is all business cares about. But we should care more. We should care that we have so very many people underemployed whose talents are being wasted. And we shouldn't let business get away with pretending to search for people (generally offering a ridiculously low wage) then getting immigrants fastracked to come in and do the work.

[Argus]

No I don't agree with your point at all. I agree that we need skilled immigrants, but I don't agree with shutting out refugees. What you seem to forget is that you are not the only person in this country or this planet. You were right about one thing, we do have to look after our own. We are all people on this Earth, and we have to make sure that we take care of eachother.

I care more about taking care of the people born here than taking care of the people in other countries who want a better living. Most refugees are economic refugees. Proof of that is the fact that almost all of them seem to go back home on regular visits once accepted here. Clearly they're not too worried about being hurt over there.

[BC_chick]

Now Vancouver is at the point where 75% of peoples income is spent on housing and it's known to be almost impossible to get a well paying job where now not even a degree is enough. Jobs there pay nothing unless you are working for the gov't or are in a labor union.

Good God! Where to begin? How about asking for a link for that 75% figure of our income that's supposedly going for housing. WTF? People can't afford to buy, but there's still rent. Rent doesn't take that much of your income, and it's 'housing' just the same.

As for the labour unions or government jobs... you're kidding if you think a labour union member or a cop or nurse can afford to buy into this market right now.

That ship sailed about 6 years ago.... for just about everyone. It's a real-estate boom as it happens in every Olympics city.

It has nothing to do with immigration.

Edited October 15, 2008 by BC_chick

[Dr V]

We DO need skilled people with the relevant credentials/experience that will better Canada.

They're here, driving cabs as they jump through the ridiculous bureaucratic hoops to get their credentials recognized and put to good use.

[PoliticalCitizen]

Except for the immigrants who are actually ON social assistance, of course.

Do you have some numbers?

I think some of this cream has curdled.

You know, my newest job has me attempting to match up people in federal prisons with other federal records. One of the things we tend to do is ask for certain pieces of information from CRC, and those include "place of birth". Most people would not be surprised that many of the times those places of birth are outside Canada.

Were these inmates immigrants or refugees?

[PoliticalCitizen]

Can you please prove numbers proving that false?

I'm not the one making the argument.

[PoliticalCitizen]

It's common sense. I won't indulge your strawman.

Thank you.

Is that Conservative common sense? Or Canadian Heritage?

[Brunopolis]

I dont think Canada should slow down immigration. Instead it should simply be more picky about where it takes people from. Accepting thousands of poor immigrants from poor nations can be problematic but their are many nations were the vast bulk of the population make excellent candidates for immigration. Countries that come to mind are Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile.

My cousin that has a university degree in agronomy and can speak English isnt allowed to immigrate(or even visit) to Canada yet entire poor Somalian families with barely any English skiills are? The problem isnt immigration into Canada. The problem is the kind of immigrants we accept.

[LIBERAL4LIFE]

Without immigration, this country's economy would come to a grinding halt.

What would remain unchanged is there would still be TRAILER PARK TRASH.

If they are not busy picking up bottles in shopping carts 28 days of the month, they are busy spending their welfare cheques on NO-NAME brand beer for the other 2-3 days a month. Even the laziest immigrant is more productive then lazy Trailer Park Trash which either doesn't want to work, can't get a job, can't read, probably doesn't regularly shower, and likes to live off of welfare. All taxpayers including Canadian citizens who were born in other countries (3 years is all it takes) as well as Candian-born citizens and even immigrants who just arrived all pay taxes to fund these lazy asses known as Trailer Park Trash.

I would like to see useless, lazy TRAILER PARK TRASH deported to whatever shithole they come from.

BTW - this type of biggotted thinking that some of the bigots on this thread have in regards to immigration is exactly why Harper and his REFORM Party will never get a majority government. They were again shut out of Canada's major cities (all with large amounts of immigrants): Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal.

Edited October 16, 2008 by LIBERAL4LIFE

[Argus]

Without immigration, this country's economy would come to a grinding halt.

Complete and utter drivel with nothing to substantiate it. In fact, statistics on immigration over the past years are indicating immigrants are a net cost, not a net benefit to the economy. They are more likely to live in poverty and more likely to have low-income jobs which do not produce much in the way of tax reciepts to offset the cost of government service.

Also, you drippy, ultra leftists who disdain evreything about economics and finances can't seem to quite grasp that enlarging the economy by adding in more people does not make any of us richer.

What would remain unchanged is there would still be TRAILER PARK TRASH.

Well, the Liberal Party has to get its recruits somewhere.

[Argus]

They're here, driving cabs as they jump through the ridiculous bureaucratic hoops to get their credentials recognized and put to good use.

Yes, we need nuclear engineers who can't read English, and doctors who think you cure cancer with herbs and spices. We need architects who don't know how to use computers and lawyers who think the proper punishment for theft is chopping off a limb or two.

Just because someone SAYS they have credentials from some rathole of a country doesn't mean those credentials have much value in Canada.

[Smallc]

Complete and utter drivel with nothing to substantiate it.

So the fact that Canadians aren't having enough children to replace or even sustain the population counts for nothing.

[Argus]

So the fact that Canadians aren't having enough children to replace or even sustain the population counts for nothing.

It counts for the need to have _some_ immigration - but we most certainly do not need the levels we have now. Why do you think Canada's population keeps rising? It's mostly due to immigration, which I'm sure you'll concede. But... why are the numbers going up so fast if all we need immigration for is to replace Canadians not having babies? Our numbers are projected to rise up past 40 million. Why? Why are we better off with 40 million instead of 30 million? More crowding, more pollution - and oddly, the same people who want continued large scale immigration are the ones whining about our CO2 emissions - as if bringing in a quarter million fresh people very year isn't going to affect that!

Most of the demographic arguments about immigration are false, anyway, as you'd find if you looked into it. Immigrants are, by and large, almost the same average age as Canadians, for one thing.

[Smallc]

It counts for the need to have _some_ immigration - but we most certainly do not need the levels we have now. Why do you think Canada's population keeps rising? It's mostly due to immigration, which I'm sure you'll concede. But... why are the numbers going up so fast if all we need immigration for is to replace Canadians not having babies? Our numbers are projected to rise up past 40 million. Why? Why are we better off with 40 million instead of 30 million? More crowding, more pollution - and oddly, the same people who want continued large scale immigration are the ones whining about our CO2 emissions - as if bringing in a quarter million fresh people very year isn't going to affect that!

I haven't whined about CO2 emissions. Canada could do just fine with a population of between 40 and 50 million. It grows our consumer base and out economy and it allows us to have a larger tax base to pay for things that we need (despite your assertions abo8ut immigrants). Canada needs to grow, or we'll lose our place and we won't be able to compete in the world. As a mosaic, we have a unique opportunity to tap into many different markets, something that is beginning to be shown with the work towards a trade deal with the EU. I don't disagree that the system may need some reform, but I think asking for less immigration at the current time is simply unrealistic given our aging population and low birth rate.

[Hcheh]

Biy you sure have bought into the Liberal Kool-Aid on why e need so many immigrants. Give born and raised Canadians a chance and we would not need any immigrants.

I would not say that being born in Canada should merit any special treatment. However, being a Canadian citizen is another story.. Anyhow, I agree with the rest of whatever you are saying

[whowhere]

I haven't whined about CO2 emissions. Canada could do just fine with a population of between 40 and 50 million. It grows our consumer base and out economy and it allows us to have a larger tax base to pay for things that we need (despite your assertions abo8ut immigrants). Canada needs to grow, or we'll lose our place and we won't be able to compete in the world. As a mosaic, we have a unique opportunity to tap into many different markets, something that is beginning to be shown with the work towards a trade deal with the EU. I don't disagree that the system may need some reform, but I think asking for less immigration at the current time is simply unrealistic given our aging population and low birth rate.

I liken your post to the carefree spending American who has racked up his credit cards and defaulted on his car payments and is now looking to the world to bail themout and foot the bill. The US is not in the doom and gloom people project them to be. If the US made a move to introduce a Federal Sales Tax, that would certainly right their heading. As for Canada, All Canada has going for is its resources and exploitive labour market practices. Free Trade was suppose to be about Canadian Products finding their way into the US market, not about Foreign companies moving into Canada to exploit lower labour Costs and access to the US market. To further this exploitation Canada imports workers in a move to pump more exports into the US. That is not what free trade was to be about!! A federal sale tax would not be good for US consumption but would be good for balancing their books. Reduced US consumption will mean reduced demand for Canada's exploitative exports. Until their is an idea of where the US is heading, Canada has no business bringing in more people. If this results in Canada being in a financial bind, Canada is going to have to figure out how to get by on less until it learns what it means to be a "developed" country.

[Smallc]

Canada is going to have to figure out how to get by on less until it learns what it means to be a "developed" country.

[Argus]

I haven't whined about CO2 emissions. Canada could do just fine with a population of between 40 and 50 million. It grows our consumer base and out economy and it allows us to have a larger tax base to pay for things that we need (despite your assertions abo8ut immigrants).

This is simply silly. If we have a larger tax base in order "to pay for things we need" we'll need more things because we have a larger population. Doesn't that occur to you? We'll need more hospitals, more courts, more airports, more roads, more public transit, more pensions, more services, etc. Can you think of any way we are better off with 34 million than we were when we had 20 million? Hint: we had a smaller debt, then, less poverty, less pollution, less crowding.

Canada needs to grow, or we'll lose our place and we won't be able to compete in the world.

Yes, it is so much better to be an Indian than one of those poverty stricken people in little countries like Sweden and Finland and Norway. Poor folks. I send a food basket to the poor Danes every other week.

As a mosaic, we have a unique opportunity to tap into many different markets, something that is beginning to be shown with the work towards a trade deal with the EU

.

Can you explain how our "mosaic" which seems to consist of various Asians, middle-eastern, and African ethnic groups is helping us tap into the EU, which was once our traditional source of immigrants but which has been largely ignored the last thirty years?

I don't disagree that the system may need some reform, but I think asking for less immigration at the current time is simply unrealistic given our aging population and low birth rate.

Are you aware that the average age of immigrants is only slightly lower than the average age of Canadians. Nor do we need anywhere near the numbers were taking in to make up for our low birth rate. Have a look at demographic data sometime. I've posted some here before.

[Smallc]

Can you explain how our "mosaic" which seems to consist of various Asians, middle-eastern, and African ethnic groups is helping us tap into the EU, which was once our traditional source of immigrants but which has been largely ignored the last thirty years?

You know, I was going to take the time to respond, but I think I've decided that I'm done with you. I wouldn't matter what I show you, the fact is you don't like people from other places and as a result your not really someone that I want to have a discussion with. You have this idea about "those people," one that goes against Canadian values and my own personal beliefs. I'm done discussing it.