The New Colossus

I think it is fair to say that Canada (i.e. the Liberals) has made some mistakes with our immigration policy over the last few years. It's a delicate subject to tackle without sounding like a racist. Like I care how I sound.

In Ontario, it seems that every fresh face seen in the grocery store, convenience store, coffee shop or restaurant is staffed by a young brown person with English as a second language. You are not imagining it. I asked a store manager buddy what was going on. He suggested that for every job posted; they receive scores of resumes from international students. When hired, they show up early, stay late, are unfailingly polite, well groomed and work their assess off. Quite a change from what is going on out west, where you see the sign I posted above. We need to have a discussion. Not a soundbite. We need to think in terms of the percentage of existing population allowed in ... to assess how quickly we are expanding. 400,000 was 5% of our population and a huge number in 1897. 400,000 today is 1% and barely moves the needle ... unless you put them all in Southern Ontario. We need to decide who gets in and how many.

Four times, Canada has opened the sluice gates to immigration. The first two bumps were in the late 1900s and just before the 1st World War. We needed people. To settle northern Ontario, work in the mines, cut down the forests, clear the land and head out west. The people we enticed were basically all white and all from the British Isles, the German or the Scandinavian counties. If you were sending someone to Saskatchewan with an axe and a bag of seeds just before the snow flies, you wouldn't send an African. And don't worry; it wasn't altruism. We killed thousands who didn't make it through that first winter. The next (third) surge was just after the 2nd World War. Refugees, again mostly European but from a little further south. Talk to five old people in Guelph. Three of them will have retained a pretty strong Italian or Balkan accent. That was their wave. It wasn't until 1962 that we recognized and fixed what was basically a racist immigration policy. I'm not judging; it was a different time.

These last few years, we have been in the fourth (albeit small) bubble. Three things are going on. Justin (who is balls deep into Katy Perry as I write this) was seeing numbers correctly showing that we are not making enough babies to support our important social safety nets into the next generation. He cracked open the faucet a notch, encouraging people to move to Canada or just come and have a look (under a temporary work visa). We were coming out of COVID and needed to get the supply chain moving again. White Europeans are fat and happy these days. They are not scrambling to get into Canada. Poor people living under repressive regimes or simply looking for a better life are. They are mostly Asian or brown. The other thing that we are seeing is a bit more insidious. The provincial Liberals and then the Conservatives needed to fund our colleges and universities without parents seeing massive tax increases or U.S. level tuition fees. They found a slick loophole. Promise permanent work visas upon graduation, charge triple for international students and let er rip. The numbers exploded. Overnight, a whole new private consulting industry found, recruited, and filled these slots with rich foreign students from privileged families. If they weren't privileged, then they sold a kidney. Those are the kids you are seeing in McDonalds! Talk to one of them? These are not the sullen, nose ring clad teenagers we are supplying to the labour market. These are ambitious young professionals in the making who will gladly tell you where they are from, what they are taking and what they are going to do when they graduate. Impressive.

So, people are pissed and politicians are pumping the brakes. Everyone knows what happened to the Democrats in 2024. Canada had already reduced targets for new residents from 500,000 to 395,000. Justin did that just before he folded his tent. He said out loud that they had moved too fast. Next year, down to 380,000. The following year, 365,000. The government expects temporary residents already in Canada will account for 40% of those numbers. In January, they capped international student permits, and that number will decrease again in 2026. Expect condo prices to crash and "For Rent" signs to spring up everywhere.

Carney will release new lower numbers in his fall budget. My feeling is the sweet spot will remain just under 1% for immigration, something similar for temporary work visas with continued lower numbers for international students. An intelligent, considered approach. What a concept? I understand the not so secret hope for hundred of young white doctors and nurses from English-speaking countries. Dream on! What we will get is another influx of folks who want a job, a home, a better life for their children, a chance. There is bound to be some major hand wringing provincially. Ford has already blocked MD admissions for foreign students. Next, campuses will close, and six colleges are going to be in real financial trouble. Foreign students paying triple was 40% of their business model. That's deader than disco ... for now.

By the way, the newly announced U.S. numbers for immigration are effectively zero. (.00002% of their population). Trump announced he would prioritize white South Africans. That is not a typo. You can't make this stuff up. Here is where they try to land new Canadians by country of origin ...

Our Optimum Week

Oops, they did it again. They sent me another 30K points offer for spending $100 at PC Express. I bought everything on sale, spent $128 and got 38,000 in points. If they keep this up, I'm going to have two millions points (again), and an embarrassing low grocery bill for the month. Time to go to Costco, perhaps? It was hard slogging through the flyers this week; early in a new month blues? We are seeing some baking supplies on sale, so have a peek and start stocking up if you have that routine during the holidays? I am not much of a baker. They do have the Swanson turkey and beef pies on for a dollar! SWMBO doesn't like them, but I think they are the easiest and cheapest meal for a buck anywhere. Swanson is a U.S. brand, but I checked. They make these in Canada. 40K in points on a hundred dollar perfume spend at Shoppers! Now is the time if you are getting low on your favourite or want to do some early Christmas shopping. I am currently on Millions (Paco Rabanne). Here's your list:

Those PC Naan Crisps that were on last week, suck the bag.

What I'm Reading

Not much other than new car reviews and content creation research on immigration. Fall yard clean-up and the disaster that is my basement have kept me busy.

We Are Watching

Jays - There is no joy in Mudville.

Leafs - Thank goodness we didn't stay up for the third period on Monday. Leafs were awful and down three nothing. They had something like two shots on net in the second period. Bedtime for Bonzo! Got up the next morning, and they are raving about what a comeback they made against Crosby and the Penguins! Bite me!

... and finally

I gave you those Flavour Explosion (photo above) pastas on your list. Those high-end pre-rubberized coloured ones they sell in the service case ... always seemed a bit "toffee nosed" to me. I can buy an entire bag of pasta for two bucks, so why, oh why would I pay eight for them to pre-boil it? Is it because it's shaped like a gigantic troll's belly button and orange? Or green? Anyway, this item caught my eye as they used the terms that SWMBO uses every time I present her with a new dish. "Ooohhh, Flavour Explosion, thank you, my lord." Either that or "Eeeww, what is it?" I can never remember. We have a buddy whose spouse is a fair cook. When he needs to let her down easy, he says, "I wouldn't order it in a restaurant." SWMBO has adopted this naming convention for my middle tier culinary efforts. So, out of ten meals, I can count on three "Eeww, what is it's ... perhaps four "I wouldn't order it in a restaurant", and a couple of Flavour Explosion, thanks! I made up the my lord part. It's a tough crowd around here.

Mitch & Maddie