I'm sorry, but what a bizarre and ridiculous way to respond to this rhetorical, largely humorous thought piece. Especially given that it's a response to Trump's continued declarations that Canada should join the US. Is Trump's constant senile yapping about absorbing Canada or Greenland or Panama also proof of how broken the US is?
As a Canadian, the #1 reason I wouldn't want to join the EU is that the Schengen Agreement almost seems purpose designed to force destructive mass migration, diluting cause and effect just so much that no one in particular can be accountable and put a stop to it.
> Is Trump's constant senile yapping about absorbing Canada or Greenland or Panama also proof of how broken the US is?
I mean, the fact that his name is spoken about in public as if this is a serious leader capable of managing a nation's affairs is evidence enough of, yes, broken US.
Situation in Canada isn't awesome. But if there's anything that would bring Canadians together it's listening to blowhard Americans pretend some level of superiority while they elect a game show host and felon to the highest office in their land.
Nothing lower value than criticizing a satirical post about a piece of satire. How dare I offend the “humorous thoughtpiece” with my own humorous thoughtpiece.
Does Canada have a migration issue? It didn’t seem that way the last time I was in Vancouver.
Meanwhile, in Europe, self-inflicted wounds from austerity, corruption, and years of ineffective policies continue to mount – and as usual, immigrants are the scapegoats. When the euro was introduced, the conversation was about harmonizing taxes, social welfare, pensions, and wages. Now, the EU celebrates forcing iPhones to adopt USB-C, as if that matters – and they pat themselves on the back for it.
Big corporations avoiding taxes in Ireland? Silence. German companies suppressing wages by threatening to relocate to Poland? Why not raise wages in Poland and create a fairer landscape?
These days, the EU feels more like an extension of NATO than a representative body. Its survival so far seems like a miracle, but I wouldn’t place bets on its future. The normalization of parties like AfD, pushing to exit the EU, adds to the uncertainty.
An increasing number of Canadians think they have a migration issue. This rhetoric is currently selling well.
It's not really factually correct though.
Canada has a housing price inflation problem, at a level I don't think most Americans can really grasp. It is definitely connected with high legal immigration, but not exclusively, as the exponential growth curve in prices began a long time ago (like 20 years ago) and is definitely connected with fiscal policy choices and legal aspects of how the property market is managed.
It is absolutely, unequivocally factually correct. Canada is under population-trap growth levels, growing by over 3.2% in a single year. That is absolutely bonkers growth. Canada had more growth in absolute numbers than the US, a country almost 10x the population (and thus ability to absorb).
Canada's housing is completely disconnected from reality and has a wide range of reasons, but right now we have a housing crisis, not just a price crisis, because of unchecked, outrageous migration through a thousand different programs and venues. Hospitals are clogged. A substantial percentage of housing transactions over the past couple of years -- fuelling the massive spiral upwards -- was predicated on hosting a number of international students in the basement.
Highways are clogging. Everything is at crisis levels. Canada has 5 million visa holders in country who are expected to leave over this calendar year. The vast majority have no plans on leaving.
There are legitimate problems with the housing market, but the moment someone makes the outrageous claim that migration is just "rhetoric", they're either grotesquely misinformed, or they're outright lying.
Canada does not have an illegal immigration problem, which is what is implied by the phrase migrant especially in the context of US politics and what American observers of this thread would think of as "migrant"
Canada has a massive program of legal immigration, and if you'll note above I did say it plays a part in housing price inflation here, which is bonkers. In particular our legal immigration program targets almost exclusively wealthier / skilled people from abroad, too, whereas the US system is... more complicated. People come here with money to spend. On houses.
But do go go back and look at the housing price inflation since the last crash, end of 90s. Through multiple federal gov'ts, with multiple immigration rate eras, multiple economics situations. It's basically following an exponential curve.
There are deep systemic issues here beyond just "we let too many people in"
A migrant is simply someone who moves from one place to another, in this context from one country to another. The legality of said move is irrelevant, and they are additional people that need housing and services. The number of people who have moved to Canada, through an unending series of special programs and exemptions and visa waivers and programs is colossal.
But if we must talk about illegals, yes Canada has an enormous number of people who technically aren't allowed to be in country. They came here legally -- given that this government is so set on not being racist that they removed virtually all checks and restrictions -- and just...didn't leave, for instance it's incredibly common for legal temporary residents to bring their parents here to "visit", where visit means live here. And anyone thinking the five million with expiring visas are going to leave is deluded.
As to housing, it basically hit peak insanity in 2016 on its natural curve and stagnated through to 2020 (literally - 2020 was slightly below 2016, inflation adjusted). So this government juiced every immigration channel to the max, leading to a massive inflation in housing. Yes, it was immigration that caused that, as something where demand closely matches supply is going to be massively out of balance when suddenly demand vastly exceeds supply over a short period of time.
One of the parent posts lamented people "blaming immigrants". I don't blame immigrants. I do blame immigration, however, and a government that turned a blind eye to the catastrophic effects, buying as much time as they can by just telling everyone that it's racist to dare question mass migration or its effects. All of Africa, South Asia and the Middle East can't just move to Western countries. That isn't rational or sustainable.
"targets almost exclusively wealthier / skilled people"
Have you not updated your priors since 2003? Wealthier/skilled people make up a very small minority of Canada's new residents. An absolutely tiny proportion. Which is a big reason Canada has had multiple years of GDP/capita contraction. We have millions of doordash drivers and Tim Hortons workers imported from abroad.
> which is what is implied by the phrase migrant especially in the context of US politics and what American observers of this thread would think of as "migrant"
This isn't really the case, and especially not so in the Trump era.
If anything I'd say it's the reverse - i.e. voters and even more so politicians specifically talk about "illegal immigration" with an emphasis on "illegal", but once you start digging into it, it becomes clear that they really have a problem with immigration in general.
As a Canadian, the #1 reason I wouldn't want to join the EU is that the Schengen Agreement almost seems purpose designed to force destructive mass migration, diluting cause and effect just so much that no one in particular can be accountable and put a stop to it.