A boy ploughing at Dr. Barnardo’s Industrial Farm / Un garçon labourant la terre à la ferme industrielle du Dr. Barnardo, Russell (Manitoba), vers 1900.

Is Canada ‘a country of immigrants?’

Posted by: Douglas Todd
August 11, 2012. 7:21 pm •
Martin Collacott makes the case that the first waves of newcomers to Canada were settlers, not immigrants. And to him there’s a significant difference.

The saying that Canada is a “country of immigrants” is as commonplace as they come. It ranks up there with hockey, the Mounties and niceness as part of the perceived national identity.

But does it stand up to scrutiny? A former Canadian diplomat and specialist on immigration believes it is a somewhat misleading phrase. He makes an interesting case that the first waves of newcomers to Canada were settlers, not immigrants. And to him there’s a significant difference.

Martin Collacott, a former Canadian ambassador in Asia and the Middle East, says some people who claim Canada is a “country of immigrants” do so to imply high immigration “is part of our national identity and, unless we continue to bring in large numbers of newcomers, our country will not really remain the Canada that we know and cherish.”

Kandasamy had a permanent residency permit in Norway, but acknowledges the Norwegian residency stickers in her passport had expired.

Toronto grandmother, 70, deported to Sri Lanka
CBC News Posted: Aug 9, 2012 10:55 PM ET Last Updated: Aug 9, 2012 11:09 PM ET

A 70-year-old Toronto grandmother was deported on Thursday, despite having no family members remaining in her native Sri Lanka.

Gunapoosany Kandasamy, a Sri Lankan Tamil, boarded a flight to her old home at about 10 p.m., accompanied by another deportee, a Canadian Border Services Agency officer and a nurse who will accompany her for the flight.

Her Canadian daughter and granddaughter say they were given bad advice: rather than sponsoring her, they filed a refugee claim, which was rejected.

Kandasamy, a widow, has a hard time walking on her own. Her daughter in Toronto is scrambling to make arrangements so someone will collect her mother once she lands.

“She can go back there,” her daughter, Chandradevi Uthirakumaran, told CBC News before the deportation. “But there’s no other relatives or close friends or anyone.”

Her granddaughter, Thadsa Uthirakumaran, said, “You wouldn’t want it to happen to your family. Just give us a chance to give her a sponsorship from here. Don’t send her off right away, not knowing the situation.”

Two of Kandasamy’s adult children live in Toronto, two in Norway. In its refusal, the Immigration and Refugee Board says Kandasamy had a permanent residency permit in Norway, but acknowledges the Norwegian residency stickers in her passport had expired.