The Syrian migrant situation has been addressed by the press as an issue for the 2015 federal Election. I believe that the Conservative government has acted prudently by proceeding with caution.
The vast majority of the people fleeing Syria in the face of the civil war are migrants and are not refugees. A migrant, particularly an economic migrant is defined by Wikipedia as “someone who has traveled from one region to another region for the purposes of seeking employment and an improvement in quality of life and access to resources. An economic migrant is distinct from someone who is a refugee fleeing persecution.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration
Though the crisis of the Syrian migrants cannot be ignored, Canada must refrain from caving in to pressure to accept thousands of the Syrian migrants without a carefully considered limitation on the number of persons and complete security processing. The Canadian economy is not generating enough tax dollars to incur the additional expense. The following are relevant issues to be considered and are only a sample of the relevant considerations.
1. Canadians wait three times longer for medical care than any other country with public medicine according to a June 13, 2014 article by the CBC. 1.2663013 http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/medical-wait-times-up-to-3-times-longer-in-canada-1.2663013
2. Canada has a 7 per cent unemployment rate not including those who are exempt from the statistics such as persons who care for their own children at home who would otherwise be working.
3. The Huffington Post Canada September 15, 2015 states one in ten Canadians is living below the poverty line http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/06/15/poor-canada-poverty-statistics-canada_n_877311.html
4. On Wednesday, December 10, 2014, The Star.com published an article about the fate of the Canadian economy if oil prices plunge. The 2014 Alberta Budget was based upon oil selling at $100.00 CDN per barrel. That estimate had to be re-calibrated to $75.00 at the time of the article. The article states: “Taxes earned from oil production are a large contributor to Ottawa’s bank account. Oil money pays for health care, new schools, roads and a host of government services and transfer payments.” In the event that oil should drop to or below $60.00 per barrel then “If prices continue to drop, oil sands development will be significantly slowed, says Matthew Mendelsohn, director of the Mowat Centre at the University of Toronto’s School of Public Policy and Governance. “What happens to all of this if oil is $60? I think at $60 a barrel expectations around oil sands growth are going to be significantly moderated,” he says.” As of September 14, 2015, the price per barrel of oil is $44.25 USD. http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/12/10/oil_price_plunge_would_be_felt_throughout_canadian_economy.html
5. In 2013, Statistics Canada reports a drop in persons employed in the fishing industry over the previous year http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/stats/cfs-spc/tab/cfs-spc-tab2-eng.htm
6. A 2006 report by statistics Canada states that the lumber industry represents 0.07% of the Canadian economy. Canada has 10% of the world’s forest coverage.http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-621-m/11-621-m2007055-eng.htm Canada ranks as the No. 5 producer in the world. http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/countries-with-most-timber-producing-countries.html
7. The British Columbia mining industry had pre-tax net earnings for 2014 of $288 million,. In 2013, the pre-tax earnings were $1.387 billion. http://www.mining.bc.ca/mining-facts
8. The number of people employed in manufacturing dropped between 2004 and 2012 by an average of 2.2% (18,230 jobs) per year. There was a slight increase in 2011 over the year 2010. Administrative jobs dropped an average of 1% (4,400 jobs) per year over the same period. Statistics Canada shows increases in overall employment from 2010 until 2014, while the prospective unemployment rate is expected to grow as 2015 winds down. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/canada/unemployment-rate.
9. There is precedent for Canada’s fears that operatives of terror organizations hide in throngs of fleeing people. There were the Boko Harem suicide bombers in Nigeria http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3149643/Dozens-killed-female-suicide-bombers-blow-middle-village-owd-Boko-Haram-jihadis-storm-Nigerian-village.html and the female suicide bomber in Sri Lanka. http://uk.reuters.com/article/2009/02/09/uk-srilanka-war-sb-idUKTRE5186CM20090209. An effective plan for infiltration by terrorist elements when there is little hope of beating the immigration safeguards is to have the terrorist element hide within the flood of persons seeking a safer place from a war-torn environment. Naive but well-meaning public pressure may result in Canada making quick and erroneous decision about the character of the displaced people who it admits on humanitarian grounds. It is bound to result in leakage of terrorist-affiliated persons. Canada should not bear that risk.
10. Canada is an active participant in the Syrian conflict. Canada is likely a target of the factions that it opposes and therefore infiltration has to be considered a clear threat.
Summary
Canada will admit persons displaced by the war in Syria. Proper security processing must take place. Once a person enters Canada, it is too easy for them to evade the authorities if they turn out to be a threat.
We cannot ignore the status of the economy in Canada. The indicators are that our economy is not as robust as we had expected and is not gaining positive momentum. The sources of tax revenue to fund our three levels of government to provide services are shrinking.
Once the displaced persons arrive in Canada, they have to be supported. We cannot stress the existing support systems by taking in too many persons on humanitarian grounds. If individual groups wish to take on the maintenance of a displaced person or group and are prepared to support them financially, then let them commit to it before the migrants are admitted to Canada.
We have an obligation to look after the needs of our population as a priority. We have to limit our commitment to what we can afford without further depriving Canadians of the services that they require.