My partner and I were talking about the survey and the CBC article the other day. One of the Comments on the CBC article said,
"As someone who is the child of immigrant parents, I have to say that this needs to happen. Everybody who comes from an immigrant family knows somebody who has come to Canada using marriage fraud. It's much more common than most Canadians would think."
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2010/09/28/immigration-marriages-sponsorship-survey.html#socialcomments#ixzz128l9uhxb
That is a pretty shocking comment. My partner, being English, cares deeply about Immigration issues in any country. The UK could have done much better with its Immigration policies and is only now trying to clean up their mess but it's simply too late. I don't blame people for saying to just close the Family Class altogether. The truth is that Family Class immigrants, many times, ARE a burden.
Look at us; my partner would not qualify as a Skilled Worker. He's in University now. When we return, we plan on both being in University. It's not like by accepting him, they will be gaining a new Rocket Scientist or Chemical Engineer. They'll be accepting him on the hopes that he contributes. There's no contract for him to sign with the government that talks about what his role will be or whether he even plans to work at all. I personally think that the Principle Applicant should have to sign some kind of agreement with the Canadian government so that it's clear what the expectations are. No one should be able to just show up at the airport, call up their spouse and say, "Hey. Don't bother coming. You'll never see me again."
As it stands now, I am proud of my country. I am taught about the sacrifices that were made to build it in school, and I hear stories about how my own family contributed to its development. My Italian grandfather ran one of the first and only saw mills in Vancouver and employed (at the same wage as white Canadians) the Chinese railroad builders who were swindled into being slaves for Canada. My Norwegian ancestors helped stop the great fire of 1886 in Vancouver. That's my mom's side. My dad's side also saw my English grandmother of a wealthy family leave it all to live with the Canadian pilot she met during WWII as a Military Clerk. The Canadian Pilot, my grandfather, was something like 5th generation Canadian from a long line of Scots from Saskatchewan to Nova Scotia. I have managed to trace them back tot he 1600s in Perth, Scotland. The point is that they were there during the first settlement of the country and I feel a very real sense of connection to Canada. When I was 17, I was invited by my First Nations friend to witness a cultural event called a Return. It's hard to explain and you're not really supposed to talk about it in detail but it was just another special thing about Canada that I will never forget.
Although I agree with Immigration, and indeed I agree that Canada needs Immigrants, I think there needs to be much, much more emphasis on giving obligations to Applicants as well as Sponsors. I do think Canada tends to think too much about being "politically correct" and doesn't want to "rock the boat". I really believe that Immigrants should be given the opportunity, and maybe even have it mandatory, to do something for the better of the country; to help them build a sense of connection to it. If that means volunteering a certain number of hours during the first year, then I would agree to that. I'm not talking about assimilation or making everyone "be more Canadian", but I do believe that society would feel much better about Immigration if they thought that Immigrants were coming to be involved. Often times, Immigrants (especially the Family Class) just live in little communities of their own nationality and never integrate with the rest of Canadian society. It happens everywhere - the English set up camp in Spain and none of them speak Spanish or integrate with Spanish cultures. They just live in little English communities within Spain. They have no connections to Spain, its history, its people, and when they stay so long that they become Citizens and then voters, they will have a say in the future of a country to which they have no personal connection. I just think it's a recipe for unrest between cultures and communities. Vancouver now has communities within communities - the Chinese, the Japanese, the Indian, the whatever. Gangs develop because they have no real connection to Canada, so they find a connection with their smaller community. They rival each other because they think of themselves as different from the other. If everyone felt a connection Canada and felt more attached to being Canadian, I think a lot of this would just not happen. Everyone would just live together and although everyone would have that special thing that makes them who they are (like the country from which they come, or the religion they may have), ultimately everyone is Canadian and in this ship together as partners in developing the nation.
It is sad that the system is being abused, but I do sympathise with those who are saying things like, "Just shut the doors to the Family Class altogether." There is a growing unrest about it. I think there is still time to turn it around but there needs to be drastic measures. Maybe it will be harder, but I just think it would be worth it. My partner and I were talking about it the other day, and I said that if it meant that we couldn't be together because of the strict rules, I think (and he agreed!) that our relationship would be fairly insignificant to the actual development of the country. If it meant we would have to sacrifice being together so that the country would be a better place, I just couldn't object to that. We both are "bigger picture" kind of people so we try to separate ourselves and our own situation from decision-making. We both love Canada, and we truly want to see what's best for it so that it can continue to be the unique place that it is for future generations.
Anyway, in summary, I agree with Immigration but I think we have to get real: many times the Family Class is a burden. I think what we need to do as a country is to find ways to make sure that it isn't; to make sure that Immigrants, regardless of the method on which they entered Canada, feel a sense of connection to the country and understand the expectations from them as well as the expectations they should have from the country. With that, I think society would be more willing to accept Immigration in general. It would not only limit Marriages of Convenience but it would also limit the growing cultural tensions within communities already.
That's my two cents anyway.
