Thread: Harper stands by Canada's policy on diversity

Harper stands by Canada's policy on diversity

All Financial Times NewsStephen Harper, Canada's Conservative prime minister, has rejected calls to tighten immigration and refugee policies following the arrest of 17 people on terrorism charges earlier this month.

Instead, Mr Harper told a United Nations conference in Vancouver that "Canada's diversity, properly nurtured, is our greatest strength".

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Canada accepts close to 1 per cent of its population in new immigrants and refugees each year. Almost 207,000 permanent residents arrived in the first nine months of 2005, 10 per cent more than a year earlier. The largest numbers came from China, the Philippines and Pakistan.

Most of those charged in southern Ontario are either relatively new immigrants or the children of immigrants, mainly from south Asia and the Middle East. The police have alleged that they planned to bomb several public buildings and behead Mr Harper.

The arrests have fanned public debate on Canada's immigration and multiculturalism policies.

The government has taken numerous steps in recent weeks to tighten security, including stepped-up screening of air passengers and cargo, and assistance for local authorities to improve public transport security.

Janet Dench, executive director at the Canadian Council for Refugees, said the official response to the arrests suggested a willingness to separate security from immigration issues. "We have a very striking advantage in that we believe in the value of diversity," Ms Dench said.

But, she added, "the execution of these values has a long way to go". She cited "irrational fears" sparked by the arrests in Toronto, at least one attack on a mosque, and "troubling" media coverage.

Mr Harper said: "It is true that, somewhere in some community, we will find the apostles of terror – people who use the symbols of culture or faith to justify crimes of violence."

But, he added "we have avoided ghettoisation – the bane of urban existence in so many other places – the impoverished, crime-ridden, ethnically-polarised no-go zones". Canada is "a place in which where you are going matters more than where you came from".

The Conservatives, who took office in February, espouse similar immigration policies to the previous Liberal government. However, they have promised to speed up the refugee determination process and take swifter action to deport illegal migrants.

Immigrant communities have become a significant political force in recent years, especially in the Liberal party. Several members of parliament are of recent south Asian, Chinese and east European heritage.

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/pro...620&ID=5811025

I hope they believe in the "value" of terrorism, because that's what they can expect more of with this asinine policy.

Instead, Mr Harper told a United Nations conference in Vancouver that "Canada's diversity, properly nurtured, is our greatest strength".

Just more evidence that the leaders of the West are totally insane.

"Canada's diversity, properly nurtured, is our greatest strength".

You tell a lie enough and people begin to believe it. Prove it!