Many years ago, I was in a relationship with a woman whose parents had emigrated to Canada from Europe shortly after WWII. The reasons for their move had to do with conflict in their homeland and the search for a better life abroad. Canada offered them that better life.
Nevertheless, the woman’s mother hated everything about Canada: our food, our mannerisms, our customs, our culture…everything. It was so much better back home, she would insist. I was often tempted to ask her why then she didn’t pack up her bags and go home. She never did.
Our country is home to millions who came here for all the right reasons: our democratic institutions, our freedom, our security, our health and education systems, and other characteristics that make Canada what we are. And those millions have helped forge our country.
Then, there are the others…
Some seem incapable of leaving behind their homeland disputes, seeking to recreate or rejuvenate them on our soil. Pockets of Sikh communities are part of that group. Desirous of an independent homeland in the Punjab they call Khalistan, they use Canada to fundraise, promote their cause and, in the worst case scenario, use violence to achieve their goals (the Air India attack in 1985 is an excellent example.
Even today, bands of roving Sikhs appear ready to engage in violence against India, not over there, but here (this time in Brampton, where last week demonstrators hoisting banners calling for an independent Khalistan clashed with Indian Canadian Hindus outside a temple). ‘Celebrating’ the Air India bombers as ‘heroes’ has long been a tradition in some parts of Canada’s 770,000 Sikh diaspora.
While India itself is not without blame – the killing of a Sikh ‘activist/extremist’ (it depends what side of the fence you are on) last year allegedly by Indian agents is rightfully condemned by all – it is nonetheless true that Sikh separatism has become a largely diasporic issue. Few in the Punjab seem to really care about this anymore. In this, we see a typical manifestation whereby those who stay at home move on while those who migrate hold dearly to old causes.
Similarly, we have seen ‘pro-Palestinian’ marches in Canadian cities and on campuses by a dog’s breakfast of actors, ranging from leftists, to those horrified at civilian casualties, anti-Semites, and Canadian Muslims seeking to vilify just about anything linked to Israel or the Jews. Some of those participating have also flown the flags of Hizballah and Hamas, both listed terrorist entities in Canada.
The bottom line is that we are witnessing the transport of faraway conflicts and wars to Canadian cities. And while we have a Charter right to protest, provided it is peaceful in nature, how does this displacement to Canada result in any benefit for us?
On the contrary, incidents of this nature merely serve to feed the anti-immigrant faction which maintains that the government is allowing too many newcomers (and, yes, there are valid arguments that the Liberals have unnecessarily and negatively raised immigration levels that have led to other – foreseeable, by the way – problems, lack of affordable housing chief among them). Interestingly, the current Trudeau lot seems to finally have caught on as it announced decreases in its annual immigration targets.
In a perfect world, those who choose Canada as a new start would park their baggage at the border and fully integrate into their adopted home (although Justin Trudeau’s boast that we are a ‘post-national state, whatever the heck that means, begs the question what they are integrating into). Bring your language, your cuisine, your culture, sure, but leave your wars and disputes back in the motherland, thank you very much!
This is clearly what is NOT happening. Whether it is the Sikhs and Khalistan, Muslims and Palestine, or Serbs and Croats (when I was growing up in London, ON, we all knew to steer clear of Serb-Croat soccer matches for fear of getting embroiled in a knife fight over what happened in 1342!), there is simply too much fervour for longstanding disagreements that have nothing to do with Canada. The more violence we see tied to those disputes, the more some will see ALL immigration as a curse.
If we as a nation cannot expect newcomers to adapt to us, rather than have us adapt to them (or if we turn a blind eye to violence), then it is a fair question to ask what Canada really stands for. Alas, this current regime does not seem to have a clue about that.
