Whether or not Canadians voted for the new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, everyone will be forced to honour his promise to bring more than 25,000 Syrian refugees to the country in a span of few months’ time.
The problem with this decision is that the government alone will not be bearing the cost of this promise: that burden falls on the shoulders of Canadian taxpayers.
Canadian taxpayers will be affected in at least two major ways. One is a direct effect, as all those refugees will add an extra burden to the already encumbered health care sector.
This means rising costs, longer wait times and more researchers to cope with the newly imported diseases and disorders that will disembark on Canadian shores with the influx of new refugees.
The other major effect will be felt by some of those taxpayers who are newcomers themselves. These new immigrants paid dearly and waited years for Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to process their landing papers as skilled workers or applicants in other categories.
They paid dearly, only to have others now jump the queue.
Impact of receiving refugees on Canadians
These new Canadians who are of non-refugee status worked hard to make ends meet. They took starter and entry-level jobs after leaving good jobs in their countries of origin to pursue their dream in Canada.
That dream could turn sometimes into a nightmare in which families couldn’t afford to put proper food on their tables, despite working long hours at entry-level jobs.
Compare this with refugees, most of whom have heard about Canada for the first time and were recently air lifted to free food, shelter and healthcare and who will pay little to no taxes.
As a proud Canadian and an immigrant myself, I feel battered and betrayed by a government that promised change.
They paid dearly, only to have others now jump the queue.
Myself and thousands of other Canadians are actively looking for this change as well. We’re looking for a better job, better pay, fewer taxes, more time to spend with our families as well as the ultimate dream of receiving a decent pension when we retire.
But now, we have to bear a cost—an extra cost—for a decision we might not have supported and definitely were not consulted on.
The only change we should expect is paying more for less in everything. We will pay more taxes for fewer job opportunities. We will have to work more hours to support our families and spend less time with them. Ultimately, we’ll get peanuts when it comes to pensions.
Those hard working Canadians who’ve been working for twenty or thirty years have to downsize in everything when they reach retirement age simply to make ends meet. Only in Canada does this happen.
Protecting Canada’s security
Am I against supporting refugees? Of course not. The issue is more about which refugees we should support.
Syrian refugees are not the typical kind of refugees that should be taken care of or looked after. Many of these refugees are coming from Turkey and other countries that might be a threat to our own national security.
Many of those refugees have forced their way through borders and have confronted local authorities in countries they passed.
Syrian refugees are not the typical kind of refugees that should be taken care of or looked after.
Real refugees are those that are victims of real civil wars or national disasters.
Syrian refugees are not victims of real civil wars. They are a product of rich countries destroying other countries for their own interest, and we naïve Canadians pay and bear the cost of these actions.
I’m simply against risky commitments to wrong people in wrong times. Canada is in a precarious economic situation and needs to protect its jobs and opportunities.
Troubling economic times
Decades ago, Canada used to export talent to the whole world. Canada used to export the best heavy machinery.
Canada used to build the best (US) cars. Canada used to brag about its efficient government services and affordable food prices.
Simply put, Canada used to be the best in many economic aspects.
Now, Canada has very few industries left, and that has left Canadians struggling to find real jobs.
I still remember when I landed here as a newcomer and travelled across Ontario and visited dozens of automotive factories. At the time, it was the dream of any Canadian to work for the automotive industries, which paid anything in a range between $28 to $45 an hour.
I’m simply against risky commitments to wrong people in wrong times.
Now, only a handful of those factories and production lines are still there.
The government should take care of these existing economic issues and make them priorities. Instead, Trudeau pledges $100 million of taxpayers’ money this year (and the same amount next year) for processing and settling those refugees.
I still remember a very famous national campaign that went viral towards the end of nineties that said “Out of a Job Yet? Keep Buying Foreign.”
Mr. Trudeau, you’re simply buying foreign, and very soon, you’ll keep us all out of jobs.
This is the change you’ll make.
Khaled Salama, a bilingual writer/columnist, reports on politics, economics, tourism and social issues. As a radio and a TV anchor, Salama interviewed heads-of-states and renowned figures. Now a social worker, he’s helped lots of new Canadians. He says “I’m lucky to witness chapters of today’s history before they write it differently.”
Khaled Salama is an Egyptian-born journalist, columnist, radio host and reporter for Arab media.
