I’m proud our land is made up of immigrants. My parents and grandparents were immigrants. But it’s time to turn to our history and point out why today's Canadian is not willing to accept the new kind of immigrant. The one protected by political correctness under a skewed shield of human rights.
In 1900, when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to Canada, people got off a ship and stood in a long line-up in Halifax to be documented. Some of these immigrants got down on their hands and knees and kissed the ground, making a pledge to uphold the laws of their new country and support it in good times and bad. They had waved good bye to their birth place in order to give their children a new and better life. They made learning English a primary rule in their new Canadian households. Some even changed their name to blend in. They did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture. Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labour laws to protect them. All they had were skills, craftsmanship and desire to trade for a future of prosperity.
Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. Canadians fought along-side men whose parents had come from Germany, Italy, France, Japan, China, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Sweden, Poland and so many other places. None of these first generation Canadians ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Canadians fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending Freedom as one people. When we liberated France, no one in those villages was looking for the Ukrainian-Canadian or the German-Canadian or the Irish-Canadian. The people of France saw only Canadians. And we carried one flag that represented Our Country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent their ancestry. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be a Canadian. They stirred the melting pot into one red and white bowl.
In 2015, we have a new kind of immigrant. One who wants the same rights and privileges as Canadians, only they want to achieve it by playing by a different set of rules - one that includes a Canadian passport and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. Would the country they came from extend the same right to a Canadian immigrant?
Canadians have been very open-hearted and open-minded regarding immigrants, whether they were fleeing poverty, dictatorship, persecution, or whatever else. The original immigrants from years past truly did adopt our country, our flag, our morals and our customs, and left their wars, hatred and divisions behind. I believe that the immigrants who landed in Canada in the early 1900s deserve more for their toil, hard work and sacrifice while they legally searched for a better life, than that what we see happening today. They would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags, fighting foreign battles on our soil, making Canadians change to suit their religions and cultures and wanting to change our country’s fabric, by claiming discrimination when we do not give in to their demands.
We need to stand up for our forefathers rights. We are CANADIAN. I am a native of this Country and proud of it!