Immigration and Language laws.

[Argus]

Why should we let them into our country in the first place? We really don't need them.

They bring endless social trouble, crime and problems with them. The least we can demand is they be able to speak the language of the nation they are puportedly attempting to become a citizen of. It also helps to get a job. What do you expect all those well-educated university grads to do here when the best their English can manage is "Ju being wanting of ketchup wit dat?"

Why should we let immigrants into our country?

-the simple answer? We NEED them. Canada, along with pretty much all other industrialized nations has seen a drastic decrease in natural population growth

Yes, yes, yes. We've all heard that one. It turns out it's not really true, at least, not to the extent most seem to believe. In point of fact, if Canada halted all immigration, just completely halted it, our population would fall - in 30 years, by a fraction of a percentage. By a total of about a quarter million people, in fact. No big deal. What we should be doing is letting in "some" immigrants, but not nearly as many as we are, and not the kind we are.

You way be aware, or maybe not, but there is a large bracket of people we refer to as the "baby boomers". In order to pay the social costs of keeping these people alive once they retire and reach the end of their lifes will be astronomical. We will need people working to pay taxes to pay for hip replacements. Its really not that hard to understand. Take a look at a population pyramid for Canada....

Been there, done that. In fact, the average age of immigrants is only a few years younger than the average age of Canadians. Furthermore, when we let in immigratns who do not prosper, they consume, rather than pay taxes. Immigrants who are making minimum wage are not net contributors to the system, to say nothing of those on welfare.

I guess the problem is that you possess a socially constructed belief (Albertan? Grew up in rural area? just kidding) that immigration is inherently evil.

No, my problem is I read a lot, and appear to have more knowledge than people who simply take things at face value and don't ask questions.

I get this from your comment that "They bring endless social trouble, crime and problems with them". Usually if I am to make a bold comment like that I would want to cite some sort of research that proves this statement. The prevalence of such things in the media doesn't count since I think we can all agree that isnt exactly a "scientific study".

Right. And who is going to launch a "scientific study" into the social evils brought by immigrants? And who would fund it? We refuse to even collect race-based crime statistics, and we certainly don't collect statistics on who are the primary users of welfare and such. But we can wander through any slum in any major immigrant destination city in Canada and find it filled to the brim with immigrants. We can read the papers and see the parade of arrestees, can hear about the howling of racism and prejudice and abuse and the need for affirmative action programs and anti-racism school programs and street gangs (which is mediaspeak for ethnic, mainly black gangs). There is no question that bringing in millions of people from widely differeing social and cultural backgrounds is going to cause social upheaval, particularly when many speak little or no English, and when many do not see the need or have been discouraged from attempting to integrate. Clearly this is the case with the Muslim community, in particular.

Anyways I am in agreement that if you are moving to a country you should learn the langauage. Its just common sense thats all. That being said there is no way to know how long anyone has lived here that you meet when picking up your BigMac and fries. Maybe they just moved here and they are only beginning to learn english. As someone currently working on learning French I can say acquiring a second langauge is not something that happens overnight.

Agreed. But we are bringing in far more immigrants than we need, and if we were more selective and demanding we'd probaby be able to insist they speak English before they get here, and be of a more integrationist mentality.

[watching&waiting]

Canada has two official languages (French and English) and it would not be too much to ask new imigrants to learn one of these two. English by far is the most commonly used langauge of Business and also can be found spoken in many countries around the world. It also seems to be a little easier to learn then French. The problem with learning french and being in Canada, is that once outside of quebec and the areas near the borders of Quebec, you are hard pressed to find any French being used. I live 80Km from the Quebec border and in our county you will not see a french sign and rarely will you find a conversation in french in the shopping malls or streets. It is even more so the further you get from here towards Toronto. Depending on where the Immigrant intends to settle it would be wise to make the request of the language they learn to suit thatb area. But there also should be told of the limits there are in learning only the one language.

I can understand french if spoken slowly and I must admit that my wife was only french speaking when we met. She is now more fluid in english then french and I have proably a better understanding of french, but I have almost never occassions to use it.

To me, I do not think it is too much to ask of new immigrants to learn at least one of our languages and I do believe that it should be made part of the citizenship rules for our country. We can welcome the culture of the immigrants pasts, and in some cases tolerate it as long as our laws are not broken by cultural differences. We need people to fit into our country that are happy to be here, not those who only wish it to be a step to some other nation.

Also we need to make things very clear that being here is a privilage and when they have shown thay they accepted our ways and methods, and are willing to live within those guidelines, then and only then should we grant citizenship.

[Canuck E Stan]

To me, I do not think it is too much to ask of new immigrants to learn at least one of our languages and I do believe that it should be made part of the citizenship rules for our country. We can welcome the culture of the immigrants pasts, and in some cases tolerate it as long as our laws are not broken by cultural differences. We need people to fit into our country that are happy to be here, not those who only wish it to be a step to some other nation.

Also we need to make things very clear that being here is a privilage and when they have shown thay they accepted our ways and methods, and are willing to live within those guidelines, then and only then should we grant citizenship.

EU: Netherlands Leading Trend To More Stringent Immigration Rules

If you don't speak Dutch, and the thought of nude beaches or homosexual marriage makes you uncomfortable, then the Netherlands is not for you. That's the message from Dutch immigration authorities, who have just instituted some of Europe's most stringent requirements for would-be immigrants. Several other European states are following suit, as European politicians react to growing anti-immigration sentiment among voters.

The Netherlands is not the only European country that has begun to restrict immigration or citizenship only to people it sees as culturally or economically desirable.

Britain recently announced it will rate potential immigrants according to a point system that will favor well-educated or highly skilled workers, and two German states recently proposed new citizenship tests that would question applicants' views on forced marriage, homosexuality, women's rights, and terrorism.

I think the Dutch are on the right track in their thinking.I don't believe this is "anti-immigration" but rather making the immigrant aware what he's getting himself into and aware of what the country wants from him as a citizen.

If the immigrant doesn't like what he sees in the country, then don't bother applying.

If he does enter the country then don't complain about what you knew was there.