John Meyer, a Canadian businessman and a past-president of Zero Population Growth, is the author of the article ("Immigration To Canada Now That We've Grown") featured in this bulletin.
Mr. Meyer's observations are particularly relevant in this deepening recession :
(1) In the 1970's, it was predicted that higher rates of immigration would lower per capita income growth. Recent OECD stats on this issue show that Canada has under-performed every other OECD country and that the prediction has come true. High immigration to do the so-called "dirty low paid jobs that Canadians reject" was a clear attempt to expand and perpetuate low-paying work.
(2 The move to raise immigration even higher is a "smoke stack era policy" which ignores social and environmental effects. High immigration makes environmental goals, such as a commitment to Kyoto, worthless.
(3 Creating millions of low-paying workers means creating a group which contributes minimally to our tax pool. This makes it impossible for Canada to both balance budgets and maintain full social programs.
(4) The impact of mass immigration on deficits and the environment has never been officially calculated. High immigration supporters such as cheap labour employers (supported by huge indirect subsidies) and land speculators lobby our governments to keep things that way. Canada, now likely a net food importer, has moved from feeding the world to consuming the world.
(5) Canada's accounting system remains cash-flow based. It values negative things such as sitting in traffic and paving farmland because these activities increase paid activity. Our GDP does not present a true picture because it fails to measure much more important factors in our economy.
(6) Canada needs to advance to a real-wealth accounting system which values environmental assets and considers the true and total effects of high immigration. Our current system hides all these negative effects and allows Canada's immigration lobby to control immigration policy. We do not permit the tobacco industry to write health legislation. We should not allow the immigration lobby to control immigration policy.
(7) "Knowing what we are measuring , looking down the road and developing integrated policies are core competencies for a democratic government--as is keeping a full set of books." Canada does not have any of these "core competencies" in place.
Read the whole bulletin
