Despite ample evidence of the grave harms on multiple fronts caused by excessive immigration, MSM continues to offer long-discredited arguments against reducing the intake of international students.
A REARGUARD BATTLE?
Over the course of the past 12 months, stark reality has collided with the deeply ideological nature of Canada’s immigration policy that was its hallmark for a couple of years, forcing the Trudeau government to start curtailing the intake of newcomers to Canada under various categories. As many of you would know, much of the public awareness regarding these policies was created, not by the mainstream media but rather by individual voices (including yours truly) on social media. As the months passed, many Canadians felt directly the adverse impacts of the excessive influx, be it in the form of skyrocketing housing costs or plummeting job prospects (especially for young Canadians and seniors looking for supplementary income to their pensions) etc.
And yet, our mainstream media is still churning out ‘reports’ that cling (either determinedly or desperately, depending on your point of view) to points that have either been discredited or that give rise to serious questions. For example, on November 23, CP24 carried a piece from the Canadian Press titled ‘Colleges and universities face job cuts, deficits amid international student cap’. On the very next day, November 24, CBC followed up with an article titled ‘Canada’s post-secondary industry predicts a storm ahead, as budget cuts shrinks courses, staff’. A few days earlier, on November 19, Maclean’s magazine had published an article titled ‘These international students wanted citizenship. Canada killed that dream’. The article featured first-person account from 4 international students, 3 of whom are from India. When I shared the link to this article with a friend of mine, who is also of Indian origin, his immediate response was, ‘Why is it up to Canada to fulfill the dreams of foreigners?’ I think this comment captures perfectly the prevailing public mood regarding immigration in general. It is not difficult to divine the complex set of thoughts that brings one to this conclusion; the myriad difficulties created for all Canadians – older residents and newcomers alike – are widely known and do not need repetition here. But somehow, MSM is unable to stop itself from pushing a line that is completely out of step with what Canadians need.
HIDDEN NUGGETS
All my criticism of the MSM notwithstanding, their reports often contain nuggets of information that are worth noting – primarily because, if expanded on, these would serve to negate their own thrust in reporting. For example, the Canadian Press / CP24 report says the following:
Ponder this: According to a director of Colleges and Institutes Canada, around 70 percent of programs colleges currently offer are deemed ineligible for post-graduation work permits. From the report, it is unclear whether this ineligibility is the result of the recent changes in the PGWP regime, or predates the changes. Regardless, this datum begs the question: if the study permit policy is aimed at plugging ‘labour shortages’ (which, for the record, I believe are largely fictitious), how is offering courses in lines of study that the labour market does not want relevant to foreigners seeking to gain permanent residency and, eventually, Canadian citizenship?
Let us now turn to CBC, whose report highlights – perhaps inadvertently – the disconnect between the cost of delivering post-secondary courses and Canadians’ ability to pay for these courses. I believe this is a major issue that should not be swept under the rug by either increasing international students (who pay much more in tuition compared to domestic students, generally 3 times higher) or by government subsidies. As I have remarked often, almost every time there is a budget shortfall in the (broader) public sector, people immediately start talking about more funding; there is never a desire to look at the costs.
Let us bear in mind that graduates of STEM courses are usually the highest-earning cohort of new entrants to Canada’s workforce. If the cost of these courses is prohibitive, then we are putting a damper on Canada’s future growth. We owe it to ourselves to find a way to make these courses affordable to young Canadians / their families. But in all these years, I have not come across any ideas in this direction – the debate is always about shortcuts such as increased intake of international students or more funding from the government.
MIXED BAG
Finally, let us take a look at the piece in Maclean’s. It is a mixed bag, but in my view, still manages to take a slanted view. For example, while it does say that there was an ‘unsustainable influx’ (of international students), on the front of the negative impacts thereof, it only talks about those happening to the students themselves (such as ‘unscrupulous immigration consultants, substandard private colleges of questionable education value and a cost-of-living crisis that left many students in poverty’). While there is no denying these impacts, not mentioning the impacts on the broader Canadian society makes the piece one-sided. My main takeaway from this article is that the authors contend that the recent changes in immigration policy amount to a grave injustice to those who came here based on (often fake) dreams of gaining Canadian citizenship; the suffering inflicted on Canadians in the process does not appear to be a concern for the authors.
The central question that I think we need a public debate on – perhaps desperately so – is this: If ensuring the survival of the post-secondary education sector requires us to jack up the numbers of international students to the point that housing becomes unaffordable and cost of living unsustainable FOR THE SAME YOUNG CANADIANS for whom we are trying to ensure the survival of the post-secondary education sector, what is the point? It seems to me that the approach that we have taken (if we accept that argument at face value) has created a feedback loop, where high costs justify a high intake of international students, which, in turn, pushes the costs further up. This is an upward spiral – but at some point, it will be unsustainable and things will come crashing down. Unless, that is, we take sensible remedial action without falling for emotional appeals.
THE WAY AHEAD
One part of the solution will consist of cleaning up the absolute mess that the functioning of our immigration system has become. I speak on an ongoing basis to several immigration consultants of impeccable integrity, and they have all told me that many public officials and journalists do not make a distinction between licensed professionals in the immigration field and those who operate without authorization. The latter often operate overseas – which means that getting a handle on this part of the mess would require active cooperation from other countries’ governments. Given that a big chunk of our immigration intake is from India, our frayed relations with that country are a big obstacle in this regard. I have also been told by the same immigration consultants that in case a licensed professional in Canada is found to have engaged in wrongdoing, the penalty needs to be a lot harsher than it is at present.
We also need to recognize that many of the applicants are willing participants in fraudulent schemes. Unfortunately, the current ideological climate, with its obsession for finding ‘victims’, does not allow us to do that. Especially in the political arena, the idea is anathema.
In the final analysis, there needs to be acceptance of the hard fact that immigration is supposed to benefit Canada and Canadians. Barring the category of genuine refugees, it is a bipartite contract where either side gains from the arrangement. An immigration system that prioritizes either ideology or the interests of specific constituencies (such as employers or the education sector) over those of Canadians is bound to cause widespread grief – as we have seen in ample measure of late. It is high time that mainstream media saw this reality and starts acting accordingly.
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