Here we go again. Another round of drought for immigrants, the perfect culprits of all the social problems that plague us.
• Also read: QS accuses other parties of “cutting corners” in the immigration and housing debate
• Also read: Housing crisis: Significant decline in the number of foreign students in Canada for two years, announces Miller
Pointing the finger at someone else is so much easier than looking in the mirror.
Living, health, French, fun!
It has to be said: If we can't find affordable housing, it's because we welcome too many immigrants.
If we don't have a primary care doctor and are waiting in the emergency room, it's because we're taking in too many immigrants.
If French language proficiency is declining in Montreal, it is because we welcome too many immigrants.
If crime is increasing, it's because we're taking in too many immigrants.
Just try it, you'll see it's really simple and almost cathartic.
Note that we can also find other culprits: mayors, the federal government, previous governments, Lark (again).
Let's accept our responsibility
However, it is much easier to shift responsibility for a problem onto others than to recognize that we all share some responsibility.
It is neither victimhood nor colonized behavior to believe that each of us, at our own level, can play a role in solving our social problems.
Take a step back from French. It's all well and good to say that if Montreal is anglicized it's because it welcomes too many non-French speaking students, but if there are twelve of us sitting around a conference table and we all switch to English because “it's easier” If only If there is an Anglo on site, he is certainly not the problem.
And the housing shortage? Can we ask ourselves how many buildings we let fall into disrepair before we blame asylum seekers? How many construction starts have we completed? I go further: have we questioned what we consider to be the normal percentage of profit that an owner can obtain from housing the elderly and poor?
Immigrants have very broad backs. We can do better.