Harper Government Gets it Right on Canadian Citizenship

As we approach Canada Day, I thought it would be fitting to write a new blog post on the reforms to Canadian citizenship introduced by the Harper government.  Canadian citizenship has lost its value over the last few decades, beginning with the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's reforms in the 1970s.  These reforms watered down the requirements that prospective citizens needed to meet.   Canada's doors were open to immigration from all corners of the world.  While there is certainly no problem granting citizenship to someone regardless of where he or she comes from, there is a problem granting it to those who do not share Canada's values.  Unfortunately, this is exactly what has happened under the guise of multiculturalism and so-called inclusiveness.  In fact, Canadian citizenship seems to have lost so much of its value that some folks on the left want to give people who are not Canadian citizens the right to vote in municipal elections.  See, for example:

Council Votes to Allow Permanent Residents to Cast Ballots

Give Permanent Residents Vote, City-Commissioned Report Says

Why Can't Permanent Residents Vote in Municipal Elections?  

What's next?  Will we be allowing permanent residents the right to vote in provincial and federal elections?  Maybe the lefties want to start distributing voting cards to people as soon as they get of the plane.  It's a scary proposition, but the lefties want and have always wanted to devalue Canadian citizenship for one reason: votes.



How Left Wing Politicians Use Immigrants

For decades now, new immigrants and prospective Canadian citizens have been pawns in the game that left wing politicians, especially those in the Liberal Party, like to play.  Prime Minister Trudeau began playing this game in order to realize his personal vision of a multicultural Canada.  But he also wanted to ensure the continued electoral success of the Grits by flooding Canada with new immigrants that he believed would be loyal to his party.  He would bribe them by making it easier to become Canadian citizens, thereby giving them access to our generous social security system.  This Liberal tradition continued well after Trudeau left office.  The Grits made it easier than ever for new immigrants to not only become citizens, but also to bring their families into the country, whether or not they actually had something to contribute to the economy.  But of course, the Grits and their fellow leftists don't care about whether or not immigrants benefit the country.  They're willing to let anyone come to Canada so long as they think they can get their votes once they become citizens.  This is the reason why the lefties are crying foul over the Harper government's reforms.

Harper Restoring Value to Canadian Citizenship

Earlier this year, the federal government introduced a new bill to reform the way new immigrants to this country become citizens, Bill C-24.  Among other things, the bill will increase the amount of time immigrants must reside in Canada before they can become citizens.  There will be additional measures to combat citizenship fraud and ensure that immigrants with a criminal past do not become citizens.  The government will be able to revoke citizenship and deny it to persons convicted of terrorism or high treason.  The bill also expands the ages of applicants required to prove their knowledge of Canada and their competence in English or French from between 18 and 54 years to 14 to 64 years.  Along with the new bill, the feds have also introduced a new citizenship handbook with more emphasis on Canadian heritage, such as our country's proud military history, our respect for democratic values and our ties to the British monarchy.

I support the Harper government's citizenship reforms because I believe that these reforms will restore value to Canadian citizenship.  But of course, the leftists are dead set against these new measures.  To them I ask, why should a prospective citizen not have to physically reside in Canada for a reasonable amount of time to prove that he or she intends to live here?  Why should they not be required to prove their knowledge of Canada's values and heritage?  Why should we allow immigrants with criminal pasts, or even a terrorist pasts, to become citizens of our great country?  And why should prospective new citizens not have to prove that they have at least a working knowledge of English or French?  As always, the folks on the left will have an answer to all of these questions, but they won't give you the real answer: "Because we want their votes!"

The leftists in Canada don't care about criminals or terrorists coming into this country.  They don't care if prospective citizens don't share our values.  They don't care if there are new Canadian citizens who can barely speak English or French, and they believe that Canadian citizenship is a right, not a privilege that every new immigrant to this country needs to earn.  Fortunately, we have a government in power that respects and honours the value of Canadian citizenship and wants to make sure that this value is maintained.  But you can bet that if Justin Trudeau's Liberals or Thomas Mulcair's NDP ever takes power, they will follow their leftist tradition and water down the value of Canadian citizenship just so they can benefit from the votes that they think an easy path to becoming a Canadian will bring them.