Canada, Leading the Free World

by Nicholas Kirstof at the NY Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/04/opinion/sunday/canada-leading-the-free-world.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1

"SNIP........


Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s immigration minister, told me that one of the criticisms he faces from ordinary Canadians is that he’s not bringing in enough Syrians. And Hussen is himself an emblem of the country’s openness: He arrived at age 16 as a refugee from Somalia and now runs the ministry that once served him.

“We want people to join the Canadian family,” he said, noting that the country is trying to figure out how to keep more foreign students from leaving after graduation. And his trajectory is not unique: Two of the last three governors general arrived as refugees, one from Haiti and the other from Hong Kong. Canada also noted last year that it had more Sikhs in its cabinet than India did.

Let’s be clear: Canada has xenophobes, too, and indeed, six people were just killed at a mosque in Quebec. Its people are not intrinsically nicer or more tolerant than Europeans or Americans.

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Ahmed Hussen arrived in Canada at age 16 as a refugee from Somalia and now runs the ministry that once served him. Credit Justin Tang for The New York Times

Historically, Canada had a “white Canada” immigration policy steeped in racism and xenophobia. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, 96 percent of immigrants were from Europe, and even Pierre Trudeau, who as prime minister championed tolerance, started out his career as a racist who joined an anti-Semitic riot.


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