The traditional Canadian story depicts Canada as a nation of people from around the world who want to come and start a better life. Nowadays however, most Canadian immigrants are people who are doing well in their home country. This shows a disconnect between the narrative and shifts in government policy, according to UBC law dean Catherine Dauvergne, author of a new book on immigration.
The country needs a new immigration policy, Dauvergne told CBC.
“The narrative serves governments really well in terms of their capacity to tell a story that says ‘we are opening our door to migrants because this is our tradition, we’re not really changing anything for now, we’re just tweaking a few things at the edges.’ Because if that policy doesn’t work, the old narrative provides a really strong basis on which you can just blame the newcomer, for not living up to the mythology.”
