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Liberals create national language barrier

Candice Malcolm

By

 
Get ready for “radical changes” to Canada’s citizenship laws.

That is what Immigration Minister John McCallum told reporters in Ottawa, adding that details of these changes will be announced in the next few weeks.

Recall that during the election campaign Justin Trudeau said he would scrap the Conservatives’ Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, also known as Bill C-24. The bill, among other things, allowed the government to revoke the citizenship of dual citizens convicted of terrorism.

Trudeau let it be known that he believes “a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian,” regardless of whether they burn their passport to go fight alongside the Islamic State or al-Qaeda. Under a Trudeau government, all terrorists would get to keep their Canadian citizenship.

The idea of allowing foreign-born nationals convicted of high treason, espionage or terrorism to use a Canadian passport while travelling around the world is unsettling to most. It weakens the value of our citizenship and lends credibility to the notion that Canada is soft on terrorism and a safe haven for criminal networks. It’s a wrongheaded policy, but at least Trudeau was straightforward about it during the election campaign.

The “radical changes” McCallum is referring to now, however, were not part of the Liberal election platform. McCallum elaborated that his fellow Liberal MPs are urging him to eliminate the language requirement for those seeking Canadian citizenship.

Since Canada has had its own citizenship, we have required newcomers to learn basic English or French. We don’t expect them to enjoy reading Margaret Atwood (who does?!) but there has always been an expectation that newcomers learn our language. The law, as it stands today, requires those under the age of 55 wishing to become a Canadian citizen to pass a basic language test.

New Canadians should be able to communicate with their neighbours, go to a store to buy food, or speak to an emergency room doctor in English or French.

This language requirement has served Canada incredibly well. We have a harmonious and peaceful society, where newcomers strive to join the Canadian family and Canadians are gracious and welcoming. We do not have isolated ethnic silos that police avoid or entire generations of people born in Canada who never integrate.

Canada takes integration seriously, and demands that newcomers do too.

But John McCallum and Justin Trudeau see things differently. Instead of promoting Canada’s successful integration model, they want to allow people who don’t speak a word of English or French to become Canadian citizens.

They want to adopt the failed European model of multiculturalism, where host countries ask nothing of newcomers and bend over backwards to try to accommodate them. For years, many well-intentioned but naive Europeans believed it was too much of an imposition to ask immigrants to learn about their culture, adopt their values, or speak the local language.

Look at the mess that’s created.

The Trudeau government, without pointing to any studies or making the case that learning our language is somehow unnecessary for newcomers, are leading us down the European path of failed integration.

They’re openly musing about getting rid of an incredibly successful aspect of Canada’s immigration system.

For a country that spends over $2 billion annually trying to teach English Canadians French and French Canadians English, it’s bizarre that the government would suddenly tell newcomers not to bother learning either.

That’s the kind of “radical change” that Canada can do without.

http://www.torontosun.com/2016/02/10/liberals-create-national-language-barrier

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