Abstract
1946, after a fifteen year lull in immigration caused by depression and war, Canada again endeavoured to develop a policy which would meet both the needs and obligations of this country. Since then this policy has been under constant fire both in parliament and across the country. Why has this particular and seemingly specialized governmental activity become the focus of so much attention, and why has so much written and spoken on the subject generated rather more heat than light? In the first place immigration is not really a specialized activity at all; it affects Canadians in all stations and walks of life, and because it affects us personally we are unable to view the problem as a whole in an objective and dispassionate way. Immigration affects our consciences, for we can never rest easily in our Christian philosophy while we bar the gates against so many of our coloured brethern. It affects our pocket-books because our memories of the hungry thirties have not faded, and we dread the prospect of losing our jobs to immigrants who will work harder and for less money than we will. And yet we are faced with an economic paradox, for unless we open our gates to new Canadians so that our country may grow beyond its present hundred-mile ribbon of settlement north of the American border, we shall continue to pay through the nose for the privilege of remaining Canadians. Moreover, in spite of our history, few of us have yet overcome the ingrained human characteristic of distrusting foreigners. If our own roots are in the Ukraine, or Poland, or Germany, we are apprehensive of too much immigration from Britain and concerned to ensure equal rights of entry for those of our own race. If we are British (and especially if we are that stuffed shirt, sixth generation Upper Canadian variety which is more British than the Queen herself) we shudder at the influence of foreign elements which will dilute the speech of Shakespeare and adulterate the morals of Milton. And if we are Canadien
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