We are not all immigrants and immigrants did not create Canada

I was taking a quick glance at some immigration stories and I was struck by how often people say Canada is a nation of immigrants and that we are all immigrants.

This is nonsense.

Most Canadian citizens were born in Canada. An immigrant is a person who is born in one country and moves permanently to another. A descendant of an immigrant is not an immigrant. My parents and paternal grandparents are immigrants. I and my siblings are not. We are native Canadians and I say that with no apologies to the aboriginal groups who have appropriated the term "native Canadian" for themselves. If you are born in Canada, you are a native Canadian.

There is certainly nothing bad or dishonourable about being a legal immigrant. (Illegals are another story.) However, it is important to examine the misleading rhetoric about Canada being a nation of immigrants because this characterization is being used to silence any criticism of immigration. I've seen this happen more than once on political chat shows and on talk radio. Someone will make a thoughtful criticism of some aspect of immigration policy and someone else, often the host, will respond reflexively with a comment to the effect that you shouldn't criticize immigration, because after all we are all immigrants.

When people say all Canadians are immigrants, they actually mean all Canadians are either immigrants or DESCENDANTS of immigrants. But that's not true either. We need to make a fundamental distinction between settlers and immigrants. The French, British and other west Europeans who created the colonies out of which eventually emerged Canada were settlers not immigrants. They weren't moving from one country to another; rather, they were creating a brand new country ex nihilo, i.e. out of nothing.

To call the European creators of Canada immigrants is an insult to their sacrifices and achievements. Again without meaning to downplay the problems new immigrants face, immigrants don't face the same hardships as the settlers who brought civilization to the wilderness.

While I'm at it, I am fed up with hearing how Indians and the Inuit (Canadian Eskimos) were here first. Yes, they were, but so what? They didn't create Canada. Canada's aboriginal population lived in tribal groups and never created a state in the territory that would become Canada.

It's sad that I have to state the obvious, but the nation-state called Canada is a British creation. The French certainly created the colony of New France which became the Canadian province of Quebec, but the Canadian nation-state with its parliamentary system of government and respect for the rule of law was created by the British. All Canadians, regardless of ethnic origin, are the beneficiaries of British civilization. God save the Queen and the civilization she stands for.

Technorat tags: Canada immigration policy Canadian history Canada mutliculturalism