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COLUMN: Anti-immigration hysteria a sign of growing fascist extremism

Don’t be fooled by your local xenophobic, “anti-globalist” protest group
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Recent anti-immigration protests throughout Canada represent a maple-leaf version of a global push towards anti-immigration extremism and intolerance.

The demonstrations, which centered on Parliament Hill in Ottawa but were present throughout Canada including Red Deer, were ostensibly to protest Canada signing on to the United Nations Global Compact for Migration. What they ended up being were dog whistles for the most ardent xenophobes in our society.

If you believe what these protesters were telling you, the average Canadian would assume that Canada’s borders have been opened solely for sexual deviants, gang members and ISIS members.

If you believe what, you know, books, experts and facts tell you — you would understand that the non-binding UN pact is an effort by over 100 countries to help monitor and control rates of migration throughout the world, with there currently being a staggering 258 million people living outside of their place of birth due to many different issues such a famine, war and genocide.

You would also know that countries like Canada, which have low birth rates, rely on controlled immigration to help spur the economy and that the UN pact is a way for countries like Canada to help end undocumented and irregular border crossings.

Most importantly, to help quell the bigoted fears of a few, the pact does not eliminate Canadian control over their own immigration policies.

In short, nothing has been committed to directly by the Canadian government other than a commitment to look at immigrants, refugees and displaced people with more compassion.

The overwhelming majority of displaced peoples throughout the world are not wanting to come to Canada to murder, they are not coming to sell drugs and they are not coming to steal jobs.

They are, in many cases, coming to escape murder, to escape drug wars and to try to fill gaps in the economy in order to provide for their families.

Canada, with a current population 36.7 million people, committed to welcoming between 290,000 and 330,000 permanent residences in 2018 — a tiny fraction of the 258 million displaced peoples worldwide.

Moreover, Canada has committed to try to solve the issue of irregular border crossings — something that will continue to be an issue that requires diligence, yet compassion, for any government elected.

This commitment to the UN is a way to search for global answers to irregular migration and sticking your head in the sand by resorting to calling immigrants and displaced peoples murderers, terrorists and rapists is dispassionate, lazy and cowardly.

Anyone throughout the world that is trying to give their families better lives deserves, at the very least, our attention.

Don’t be fooled by your local xenophobic, “anti-globalist” protest group — Canada is a country of love and tolerance and defending that mission of love is more important that defending our borders against imaginary threats.



todd.vaughan@lacombeexpress.com

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