By Sumayya
Tom Mulcair served as the leader of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2012 to 2017. He works as a political commentator for CTV News and writes columns for CTVNews.ca.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is like an arsonist (a person who starts fires) who tries to act like a hero just because they helped put out the flames of a fire that they started themselves. Don’t be tricked; she is not a hero at all.
She started the process that could have broken Canada apart, and then she fought against her very own referendum question. She does not deserve any praise for the result. That praise belongs to the good people of Alberta, who showed their strong love for Canada in the clearest way possible.
Anti-immigrant politics
Now, Smith has the nerve to claim that she has a clear permission (mandate) from voters to push a series of other referendum questions. These questions provoke people and rely on anti-immigration feelings. That is not a smart move either. However, in the political mind of Danielle Smith, any idea that keeps her in her job is a great idea, no matter how damaging or dividing it is.
Canadians, including the vast majority of Albertans, want nothing to do with breaking up this amazing country we call home. And, unless your family belongs to the First Nations, Inuit, or Métis people, your family immigrated here at some point in history, sometimes under the most difficult conditions. Taking unfair and intolerant political shots at immigrants is not a winning plan.
Remember her alarming comments from earlier this year. In those comments, she blamed immigrants for having “flooded our classrooms, emergency rooms and social support systems,” because of “out-of-control” immigration.
This week, by the smallest number of votes (the slimmest of margins), some of Smith’s openly anti-immigrant proposals passed. But all that gives her is an excuse to walk back into her office. It gives her absolutely no right to keep using immigrants and refugees as targets and scapegoats to blame.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, just like most Canadians, seemed very relieved by the voting results. He was able to speak from his own personal experience as someone who grew up in Alberta. All of his actions on this issue have been positive and well-liked. His actions helped cause Monday’s clear and complete defeat (drubbing) of Smith’s reckless plan. Carney has not just talked about letting Alberta develop its massive natural resources easily; he is actually building a new pipeline to the West Coast.
A government priority
Carney has shown that he is open to talking about giving more independent power (autonomy) to the provinces in certain parts of immigration where their ideas are very important.
But that does not mean using hidden, tricky language (dog whistle policies) to take away government services from new arrivals, which is what Smith’s questions suggest. Provinces often have deep knowledge about what their local factories and other employers need, such as temporary foreign workers. The federal government has been clumsy and highly bureaucratic in how it runs that program from Ottawa. Employers have been driven crazy by the clumsy choices of the office workers in Ottawa. That is an easy thing to fix.
The recent election of the separatist party, Parti Quebecois, got a big boost from the highly offensive anti-immigrant tricks used by the new Premier, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon (shortened as PSPP). He stood in front of a high school near Quebec City at the start of his campaign and seriously stated that overcrowding in schools was the fault of immigrants. It worked for him.
Quebec has a preferential deal
PSPP has made anti-immigrant policies a main part of his brand of nationalism. He made his own comments about schools “overflowing everywhere in Quebec” because of immigrants. He also blamed them for the drop in the use of the French language.
The ironic part is that when Carney brings the provincial premiers together to talk about immigration problems, the other provinces would love nothing more than to get the same special, preferential deal that Quebec already has. My guess is that PSPP will refuse to take part in the meeting because he does not see himself as equal to the other “provincial” premiers; after all, he views himself as the head of a nation.
There is one lesson here for Mr. Carney. Yes, the economy is our number one issue as we survive the continuous attacks from the two loud talkers from New York, Trump and Lutnick. But that problem will pass too. What will not go away is the fact that Canada is a complicated place where regional differences sometimes turn into reasons for local anger. Being flexible when running very complicated programs, like immigration, is necessary to build the country and its economy.
A winning formula
Mr. Carney has been excellent at running his government and the economy through dangerous, historic troubles. He has had to rely too much on a very small number of highly capable and experienced ministers. He has also avoided changing his cabinet members for now, choosing instead to use his own skills to fill in any empty gaps.
In the area of immigration, he needs more strong help. There is a lot of new talent inside his own group of politicians (caucus). There are some truly amazing people who were left out when Carney first put his government together. He cannot do everything by himself, and it is up to him to replace people who are not doing a good job with the new talent available to him. He should not wait to do this.
Canada is the second largest country in the world by land area, but we are very low on the list when it comes to the number of people living here. Any attempt to grow our population too fast through immigration—like the rules Trudeau forced on the country—will cause a public backlash. This backlash must be expected, understood, and answered. You cannot manage a big issue like that just from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
If Carney does not take control of this issue, extreme politicians (demagogues) like Smith and PSPP will keep having a great time warning people about the dangers of the very forces that built Canada. New arrivals, who are full of talent, energy, and hope, are our future. They know they are lucky to have the chance to take part in the incredible opportunities our wonderful country offers. They want nothing more than a fair chance to do so.
Weak policies make it easy for weak politicians, like Smith and PSPP, to target immigrants. Instead, let’s make it easy for new Canadians to help out and feel welcome by doing a better job of making their important contributions understood and valued. Everyone will win with that plan.
