Achievers
Books
Business
Calender
Community
Controversy
Cuisine
Eateries
Education
Enterprise
Faith
Good Samaritans
Health
Infotech
Media
Memories
Movies
News Archives
Opinion
Specials
The Arts

Canada's 'Intolerance' of immigrants puzzling: experts

J M Shenoy

If you are from India, Somalia or Algeria, think twice before moving into a white neighborhood in Canada.

Respondents to a nationwide survey said they welcomed neighbors from Britain and France.

So the Canadian governor-general can forget setting up home in these areas because she is from China. The same goes for federal cabinet minister Herb Dhaliwal and British Columbia Prime Minister Ujjal Dosanjh.

The Canadian government has repeatedly said that it wants more immigrants to revitalize its economy and businesses, its farms and industries, which are losing many workers because of Canada's fast aging population.

Canadians have become less tolerant of minority immigrants over the last two years despite good economic times, a government poll shows, the Canadian press has revealed.

On the brighter side, the survey, conducted by Immigration Department, showed that the intolerance is far less than it was six years ago.

The poll conducted across the nation between January 20 and February 2, found that 27 per cent of its 1859 respondents believe too many "visible minorities" are migrating into Canada. "Visible minorities" often refers to people of color -- from the Indian subcontinent -- who stand apart from the white migrants. At least 63 per cent of the respondents expressed concern over violence across Canada, and hinted that immigrants were responsible for declining law and order.

About 22 per cent held such convictions in 1998.

Opposition to visible minority immigration began rising in 1998 following a steady decline since 1994, when it was at 40 per cent, a report on the survey said.

Immigration authorities, sociologists and community leaders are not sure why the opposition to "visible immigrants" is rising. Usually, immigrants are the target of frustration and anger when the economy is slowing down or is in a mess. But Canadian economy has made strong gains in the past few years.

At least one immigration lawyer and expert in cultural sensitivity, David Matas, believed that the increasing intolerance is attributable to the arrival of the illegal Chinese migrants on boats last summer.

Matas was reacting to the poll that said nearly 50 per cent of Canadians believe there are too many refugees in the country. A substantial number of refugees have come from Kosovo in the last two years, and then there were a significant number from Sri Lanka.

Yet, Matas told the media that Canada doesn't bring many refugees in and has had trouble meeting its targets for several years.

Last year, Canada had plans for 29,300 refugees, but it got only 21,900, according to the Canadian press.

''We never did meet our targets,'' Matas told the media. ''You can say there's too many human rights violations in the world and there are too many refugees..."

Several Indian immigrants said they knew why racism was rising despite economic prosperity.

"In many places and situations, we are in the driver's seat," said one businessman. "We are partners in the prosperity, and that upsets many people who want us to remain good Canadians, which means we work and slog for others, but never have our own businesses and properties."

Previous: Reena's mother recalls girl's last day

Tell us what you think of this report