The idea that you can wall build walls and create quarantines is as ridiculous as it is dangerous
When we carefully examine fear, we can see that it’s mostly irrational. Legitimate fear is a good thing, however, because it pushes us to eliminate actual dangers to our well-being. During the Cold War, the threat of a nuclear Armageddon was very real. Many of us took up the task of changing global conditions by…
By 2034, newcomers to Canada will account for 100% of our population growth and an increasing proportion of our workforce
IKEA Canada’s recent commitment to hiring 250 refugees in the next three years is welcome news indeed. Newcomer unemployment in Canada overall was at its lowest rate in more than a decade in 2017, but refugees continue to face real challenges finding work. The unemployment rate for refugees has consistently been the highest among all…If the world has anything to teach Canada, it’s not how to treat migrants. It’s how to deliver health care for its own
Are you a big-hearted person who likes to help everyone? If so, you probably suffered a phase where you offered too much of yourself: heart, time and money. Then you realized if you gave out too much, you would just plain give out. Despite your best efforts, there would always be more people in need…
The best way to reduce the possibility of more alt-right-inspired violence is to confront its narratives head on
By John Grant Western University and Fiona MacDonald University of the Fraser Valley One year since the violent alt-right rally in Charlottesville, Va., and months since the Toronto van attack, Canadians can legitimately worry about increased political violence. The images of angry white men marching openly in Nazi regalia loom large alongside the revelation that…
Clinics, pharmacies and specialists continue to deny services to refugees and refugee claimants, based on the assumption they’re not covered by IFHP
By Y.Y. Brandon Chen and Vanessa Gruben University of Ottawa Despite changes to Canada’s refugee health-care program in April 2016, many people still don’t have adequate access to care, according to a series of interviews we conducted recently with refugee service providers in Ottawa. Health care for refugees in Canada is the responsibility of the Interim Federal…
We turned away a ship full of gifted souls, ready and willing to use their talents for the betterment of Canada, before because of our irrational fears
History too often repeats itself, to the detriment of us all. In the months before the start of the Second World War, more than 900 Jews boarded the MS St. Louis in Hamburg harbour in hopes of escaping the racism of Nazi Germany. All of these people had witnessed Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, and…
Citizens everywhere clearly want to have a debate about immigration. Some are worried, some are scared. Some are racists but some actually aren’t
“He’s doing what he said he was going to do. Let them protest.” The unlikely scene: a drinking establishment somewhere in the Dominican Republic. Two American men are perched on stools at the bar, watching a satellite TV report from Long Island, of all places, showing footage of multiple American protests about President Donald Trump’s…
Part of Basel Abou Hamrah' desire to help is prompted by a need to give back to Canadians who helped him
For Basel Abou Hamrah, the difference between an evacuee and a refugee is a simple matter of months and of who is helping whom. Four months ago, on New Year’s Eve, the 27-year-old Syrian accountant arrived in Edmonton as one of the refugees being helped to resettle here from that wartorn country. Last week, he…
Dying business models, political party fragmentation, climate change refugees, country shopping: welcome to the new age of disruption
Maybe a year ago, I started to notice the prevalence of the word disruption in the business media. It started occurring in the context of jobs that were rendered obsolete by the internet and the growing dominance of apps for everything. Increasingly, we read of a disruptive economy. Think about how many brick and mortar…
The immediate social cost is high, but in the long run a large influx of immigrants will help build our society
Immigration is not quite a dirty word in Canada, but it is becoming a scary one. Who is and will be coming into Canada? How many and from where? Are they going to disrupt our housing market, our health care, our schools, our way of life? What are they going to cost us? Canada has…