On Canada’s immigration crisis, the call is coming from inside the Liberal’s house

Sucking and blowing on immigration policy is breaking Canada’s consensus on immigration.

Earlier this year, the Globe and Mail published a stunning editorial outlining how, under Canada's current federal Liberal government, the country’s long-held pro-immigration consensus had undergone an alarming reversal of opinion. But instead of fixing the problem, the Liberals have chosen to play the blame game. 

That’s not surprising. But where they're pointing fingers is. 

This week, in an interview with the Toronto Star, Liberal Immigration Minister Marc Miller slammed his Liberal government's immigration strategy, describing elements of it as "a system that lacks the rigour and discipline" and "[an] unbridled backdoor entry system." He also hinted that his government cut plans to streamline refugee processes from the recent federal budget. Miller's comments came after former Immigration Minister, now the Housing Minister, Sean Fraser, suggested immigrants he helped bring in were to blame for Canada’s housing shortage.

These ebullitions are a colossal about-face for a government that has spent the past nine years demonizing anyone who has raised good-faith questions about whether Canada had the structural capacity to integrate the levels of newcomers the Liberals were allowing to enter the country every year. But neither man’s reaction will help solve what's become a huge, messy issue for the country. In the past month, more high profile examples of fallout from the Liberals' approach to immigration has come to light. 

The Bank of Canada criticized the government, echoing economists from major financial institutions who say the Liberals' "out of control" immigration policy (Miller's words) is hurting the economy. Additionally, plans for the government to buy entire hotels to house homeless refugees stuck in years-long review processes leaked as Canada's housing crisis worsened.  The issue of how to pay for unhoused and unprocessed refugee claimants has caused significant friction between Canada's provinces. And perhaps most alarming, a new poll by Leger released this week found that sixty percent of Canadians feel that Canada is admitting too many new immigrants. 

These are not problems that sprung up overnight; they brewed over nine years of what can only be described as willful neglect and incompetence on the part of the Liberal government. When that's considered, it's hard to believe that Mr. Miller's admission in the Toronto Star came from a place of sincerity. A year into his mandate, Miller has yet to enact any substantive change to the file. So his criticism of his government should be viewed primarily as an attempt to put political distance between the dumpster fire he inherited from his four blundering predecessors  - John McCallum, Ahmed Hussen, Marco Mendocino and Sean Fraser - rather than the sign he’s got the intestinal fortitude to actually do anything about it.

Nor should Mr. Miller's blame of his government absolve him of his own complicity in the matter. He sat silently for years (five at the cabinet table) while his government ignored major issues with the file and used it as a political wedge. He did nothing while his government went as far as to outright dismiss raised red flags that there wasn’t enough housing to match the immigration levels they set. 

The Liberal's collective inaction and deflection show they either don't understand what the stakes are, or that they don't care. Immigration has historically been a boon for our country, and could continue to be with the right policies and systems in place. A key to success in this matter is the government's ability to eliminate any doubts that immigration benefits the country, as this belief sustains peaceful pluralism. But it’s harder to argue that’s the case today, as it was prior to this government taking office close to a decade ago. The fact that the Liberals have engineered a scenario where 60% of Canadians now are questioning if immigration is a good thing is a massive problem for social cohesion and economic growth. And yet, the Liberals remain inert, capable only of deflecting responsibility.

And it’s not as if the Liberals weren’t warned; experts have been sounding the alarm bell for years. In response, over five years ago while serving as the Conservative Party's immigration critic, I held a major press conference to outline how Canada's immigration levels should be aligned with Canada's capacity to successfully integrate newcomers into Canada's social and economic fabric. 

The Liberals chose not only to ignore the warning that statement contained, but to juice the very policies and practices that were setting the system up for failure. Fast forward to today, where we are a nation of people - newcomer and longtime citizen alike - living under bridges, in tent cities, or being forced to pay exorbitant amounts to live in inhumane conditions.

So if Liberals are looking for someone to blame for Canada’s broken immigration system, they should start by looking in their own tent. Lord knows their incompetence has forced countless souls without homes in our country to do the same thing.