Mark Carney Plans to Outdo Trudeau on Immigration

When Canadians went to the ballot box last year, only one issue was top of mind: Orange Man Bad. Since then, many by-elections have resulted in a Liberal victory, with voters still thinking about President Donald Trump.

One issue that has not been front and center for much of the country was the idea of bringing in more people from a certain part of the world. And yet, Prime Minister Mark Carney aims to outdo his predecessor, Justin Trudeau, on the immigration file and import millions more, largely from places like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

Mark Carney Makes Justin Trudeau Blush

Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Liberal government recently unveiled their budget for the upcoming year. For anyone with a modicum of fiscal responsibility in his or her bones, it was an abysmal financial blueprint: more deficits, more spending, and more debt-servicing payments.

Free with the Daily Briefing

85Essays

Unravel the Constitution

Hamilton, Madison & Jay’s complete case for America, free and searchable in the Publius Reader.

Join Free & Read

Free with the Daily Briefing. Unsubscribe anytime.

While other pressing matters have captured the public's attention over the last two years, immigration has returned to the front of the nation's collective consciousness, only because the current government wants to outdo the previous one.

Under Trudeau, Canada brought in about two million people from South Asia in a two- to three-year span following the pandemic, which nearly everyone warned would backfire. Under Carney, Ottawa aims to import more than that over the next couple of years, after proclaiming in earnest that the government had gotten immigration under control.

According to the budget, the prime minister plans to welcome 2.3 million new and temporary migrants. Breitbart may have said it best in its coverage with calculations:

"His very unpopular plan is so ambitious that it will deliver two immigrants for every Canadian birth over the next three years. It will add one migrant for every 20 people, or one migrant for every fourteen native Canadians."

What's more, the Grits will launch a one-time program to transition about 200,000 temporary residents to permanent status.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre called it a "disaster," adding that jobs should go to Canadians first, not foreign workers. Shortly after, Poilievre added that Carney is listening to the "corporate power brokers" who are using cheap labor to bring down wages and raise rents.

Can Canada Absorb More Foreigners?

Canada was built on immigration. A key part of the nation’s identity is welcoming people from around the world to join the dominion.

However, until the last decade or so, Canada had maintained a system of controlled immigration. Put simply, annual immigration numbers were significantly lower 50 years ago than they are today, mainly because the country wanted to bring the best of the best from Europe and East Asia.

The prime minister’s efforts come as the Canadian economy is in the doldrums.

The country has lost approximately 50,000 jobs this year, the unemployment rate nears 7%, third-quarter economic growth is poised for a sharp deceleration, and early forecasts suggest the fourth quarter is not looking pretty. Carney’s attempt to become an associate member of the European Union does not appear to be offering any significant benefit to the economy.

Motivations

So, why bring in all these people in the first place?

The official government messaging is that Canada is suffering from a worker shortage. While it is true that the labor force participation rate has been sliding, it is also accurate to say the economy is not creating any job opportunities (it lost more than 100,000 in just three months). No responsible politician would let in millions of people at a time when employment growth has contracted.

From Liberty Nation News, Trivia, Facts, Check Us Out Stay informed. Today’s news, the Constitution and American history, written for young readers. Visit GenerationLiberty.com

Unfortunately, the reality is that the native population is not having children. Without immigration, the population would be shrinking right now. Perhaps fearful of being labeled racist, the country has struggled to have a national conversation about the consequences of old-stock Canadians not reproducing and instead emulating other major economies by relying on those from Islamabad or New Delhi.

But none of this is surprising, considering that the Great White North is prioritizing euthanasia for Canadians while keeping the front door open for the rest of the world.