Trudeau talks about how our population has “grown really fast,” while not taking any responsibility for that incredibly rapid growth. Pictured: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Photo Credit: Justin Trudeau/X.
The Trudeau government appears to have an odd new communications strategy that involves them pretending they haven’t been in power for the last nine plus years and has a number of Cabinet ministers and Trudeau himself expressing surprise at the problems that have arisen from the very policies their government has implemented. An excellent example is immigration, which has become a chaotic, expensive and downright dangerous fiasco under the Trudeau government.
Canada has for decades had an immigration system that was highly successful and emulated all around the world, based on a manageable number of newcomers annually, who were confirmed to have skills needed in Canada, along with family unification goals, and vetting to ensure new entrants would either be financially supported by sponsors or had the means to support themselves once in Canada. This system worked not only to the benefit of Canada, but also to the advantage of new Canadians who were able to find employment, housing and other supports to make a successful life for themselves.
The Trudeau government upended all of this. Trudeau opened the floodgates to permit far more people to enter Canada than could be managed by our immigration bureaucracy, our housing market, our job market or our social services such as health care. The motivation for the Liberals making such disruptive changes to a system that worked well is likely partly because they believe these new Canadians will be enduring Liberal voters in future years, but also probably a result of the far-left’s desire to disrupt everything in society in the belief that they can build a better socialist society from the ashes. And disrupt they certainly have.
Most Canadians have been well aware of the mess of our immigration system for some time, but it has once again hit the headlines for a few reasons. One is that it is becoming more broadly known that many so-called refugee claimants have been eligible for payments of about $224 daily for food, lodging and some other costs such as family and employment expenses. This amounts to over $80,000 annually – considerably more than the average income of working Canadians. Most of these claimants are those who are euphemistically referred to as “irregular” border crossers, when what is really meant is that they are illegal immigrants. And because of a lack of legal means for Canada to reject these illegals, they are usually able to remain in Canada for years while they exhaust the various legal channels to fight their expulsion, while often living on the taxpayer dime.
The influx of so many of these illegals has been devastating for many border communities who lack the infrastructure to house them and provide adequate social services. Despite the fact the federal government is in charge of this issue, it has not put in place measures to deal with the many negative impacts of this surge, which is profoundly unfair to both existing Canadians and the immigrants themselves.
The issue has also once again had an increased profile because of a video Trudeau himself released just this week, doing a minor mea culpa by permitting the borders to remain overly open for too long. In the video, Trudeau talks about how our population has “grown really fast,” while not taking any responsibility for that incredibly rapid growth. He also blames “bad actors” who took advantage of his magnanimous government’s good graces for the problems with immigration, which undoubtedly has a shred of truth but is hardly the real problem. All in all, after watching this video, it would be easy to conclude that some other government had been in power for the last few years to mess up our immigration system so badly.
In addition, Trudeau claims in the video that his government is making some major changes to the current system, notably reducing the number of immigrants for the next three years. Beware though, as our years under Trudeau have proven time and again that he rarely tells the truth and promises made are very seldom promises kept.
The other massive recent development that will impact our lax border policy is the election of the Trump government in the U.S. The new border czar, Tom Homan, has made no bones about the fact that the U.S. is very concerned about the possibility of terrorists entering the U.S. from Canada. Recent statements from the Liberal government that they plan to bring thousands of Gazans to Canada is of particular concern in light of the pervasive influence of terrorist groups such as Hamas on the population of Gaza. As the Trump regime takes power in Washington in early 2025, some serious realignment of Canadian immigration rules will be necessary.
Just about exactly one year ago, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that it had made some major staffing changes in its communications and marketing roles, as the Liberals’ precipitous decline in public opinion polls clearly showed the party’s current approach wasn’t working. It is telling in and of itself that the Liberals seem to believe that their problems always stem primarily from improper communications, not from the actual actions and policies of the government that Canadians oppose. It’s likely that Trudeau’s recent announcements on changes in their immigration policy will be merely a change in “spin,” not actual results.
One year following the new communications direction, it seems that the basis for Liberal strategy is to take Canadians for fools that can be duped by putting a different coloured lipstick on the bad policy pig, and pretending they were not the government responsible for all of these things that turned out so disastrously. The continued strenuous opposition to Trudeau’s Liberal government suggests Canadians aren’t going to fall for it this time.
She has published numerous articles in journals, magazines & other media on issues such as free trade, finance, entrepreneurship & women business owners. Ms. Swift is a past President of the Empire Club of Canada, a former Director of the CD Howe Institute, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, past President of the International Small Business Congress and current Director of the Fraser Institute. She was cited in 2003 & 2012 as one of the most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network & is a recipient of the Queen’s Silver & Gold Jubilee medals.
