John Weissenberger Urges STr To Pr Selective Immigration for 100 Million Goal
John Weissenberger says Canada must be more selective in welcoming newcomers, and he argues that rigorous, objective standards are imperative. In his tr to pr argument, he says Canadians still have not really debated what immigration is for, or whether it serves short-term economics or the country’s future prosperity and identity.
He points to Canada’s average 2024 birthrate of 1.3 and says the population could halve by 2100 without newcomers. He also cites Gallup data showing that at least 80 million people want to become Canadians right now, a scale he says makes selection standards unavoidable.
Weissenberger on growth choices
Weissenberger says Quebec seems to favour cultural preservation over growth, while English Canada is largely on the growth train. He also writes that the Conference Board of Canada extolls immigration for bolstering expensive social programs by increasing the ratio of employed workers to retirees.
He contrasts that with the Century Initiative, which wants Canada to grow to 100 million Canadians by 2100. The gap between those positions runs through his argument: immigration policy is not only about volume, but about the standard used to decide who enters.
Gallup Migration Pressure
He cites Gallup data from 2024 showing that 37 per cent of people in sub-Saharan Africa want to move, along with 28 per cent in Latin America and 26 per cent in the Middle East. He also writes that the United States is named as the ideal destination for one in five of the world’s potential migrants, while one in 10 hope to come to Canada.
Those figures sit at the center of his case for selecting more carefully. If large numbers of people want to move, he writes, Canada cannot treat every applicant as interchangeable.
Trudeau and Diab
Weissenberger says conservatives want to tie admissions to economic indicators and curb excess benefits for newcomers. He also writes that multiple Liberal MPs have said criticism of ballooning asylum-seeker-related costs amounts to punching down on the most vulnerable.
He adds that Justin Trudeau and immigration minister Lena Metlege Diab think that terrorists have a right to be citizens. He follows that with the line: “All migrants are created equal.”
The piece ends where the policy argument begins: with the criteria Canada uses to choose newcomers. Weissenberger’s position is that the country should not expand admissions first and ask questions later; it should start with strict standards and decide from there who fits its economic and social goals.
