When Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau was first elected in 2015, he embraced immigrants, literally. Images of the prime minister hugging refugees filled newsfeeds, a stark contrast to the border-building rhetoric of Donald Trump in the United States and deportation-happy Brexit leader Nigel Farage in the UK. While much of the rest of the West was closing its doors, Canada stood out by accepting more refugees.
Nearly a decade later, the tone has shifted. Immigrants are now scapegoated in Canada, with the Liberals blaming international students for the housing crisis. Deportations have skyrocketed and pathways to permanent status have been cut. Those that remain are subject to the worst exploitation — what the United Nations classifies as modern-day slavery.
The problem is that immigration in Canada is not based on the needs of immigrants but the needs of corporations. While Canada officially eliminated racial quotas on immigration in 1962, the system continues to exploit vulnerable workers for profit. Caribbean immigrants are sent to work on farms, where they are often paid less than minimum wage. International students, who pay the highest tuition fees, are treated as cash cows by universities that profit from their financial burden while offering little support for staying in the country. Rather than addressing the country’s economic failures, Trudeau has shifted the blame onto immigrants for the rising cost of living.
A just immigration system would offer permanent status for all who come to work and study. Immigration is a labor issue: when people don’t have status, they can be deported whenever they ask for higher wages or safer working conditions. Granting status would raise labor standards across the board, benefitting both…
La suite est à lire sur: jacobin.com
Auteur: Aidan Simardone
