Why Canada?

As Canadians, it’s hard to imagine what being a refugee would be like. Canada is obviously in no way a perfect country; however, it is, for the most part, a very safe and peaceful place. No, Canada is not free from violence. No, Canada is not free from discrimination. No, Canada is not free from many environmental issues. With faults, one might ask, why do refugees want to come to Canada? Canada is, however, free from war, holds a democratic government, boasts many great social programs (like free healthcare and education), practices (for the most part- definitely not completely yet!) equal rights and allows freedom of religion. While these policies may seem fairly obvious to those who have grown up in Canada, we are in the minority in being awarded these rights.

Pride Day in Toronto, Canada, celebrating equal rights
for the Canadian LGBTQ community.

A shocking list about human rights awarded around the world: (Statistics provided by the Youth for Human Rights Website, 2012)

• 890, 628, 784 undernourished people in the world
• 738, 327, 845 people live without access to clean drinking water
• Approx. 27 million people are enslaved today
• Approx. 300, 000 children are currently being forced into serving in some form of military
• 246 million children (or one in six) are currently working in child labor
• The average person lives on 11, 690$/year

Children serving in the military in the Great Lakes
region of Africa.

These statistics appalled me. Demographic indicators tell a huge amount about the quality of life in a nation and these statistics demonstrate how poor the quality of life is for many living in developing nations, especially when one considers how high many of the demographic indicators for Canada are and how high the quality of life is for the majority of Canadians.

Now, as I have said, Canada is in no way perfect. The way that Aboriginal people have been and are currently treated is atrocious. We are one of the worst countries in the world for environmental damage and pollution. Despite proclaiming equality, homophobia, sexism and racism exist everywhere, including Canada. As far as living standards, however, we are much better off than much of the rest of the world. The average Canadian makes 42, 690$/year, child labour is outlawed, we do not have a prevalent military presence and 94% of Canadians are happy with their quality of water, and 100% have access to some form of clean water. (prb.org, 2013)

Something that is often heard is “I came to Canada so that my children could have a better life.” Canada’s literacy rate is 99% in both male and females. Both genders have equal access to free, public education from age three or four to age seventeen or eighteen. The secondary school enrollment rate is 100% for both males and females, much higher than the world comparison of 72% for females and 73% for males. Post-secondary education (university, college, etc…) rates in Canada are 69% for women and 51% for men, again much higher than the world average of 31% for women and 28% for males. As we all know, education is a key factor in a high quality of life! The more education you have, the better paid you tend to be, and the more opportunity you have to work in whatever it is that you want to work in. It’s easy to understand why parents would want to give their children the opportunity to succeed academically, particularly when they are often not given the chance in many parts of the world, especially being a girl. Many young girls are not given equal career and education opportunities in developing countries. Globally, there are seventy girls enrolled in school for every one hundred boys. And, in addition to sexism in the education system, many parents cannot afford to send their children to school. In developing countries, 20% of people never even have the opportunity to complete primary school due to financial crisis. Not completing a basic primary school education means bleak job opportunities in the future, and a continued cycle of poverty. All children, male or female, rich or poor, should be able to go to school.

Children attending school- both boys and girls in the classroom.

Next on the list is politics. This is something that many could care less about, claiming that it’s boring, unchanging, preferring not to bother with it. The majority of people, however, live their life without any kind of political choice, constantly threatened and fearful of those in charge. Only 43% of the world lives with full political and democratic freedom. This equals about three billion people, or slightly less than half of the world. Many countries are subjected to harsh dictatorship (like North Korea, Bangladesh and Swaziland, for example) with little to no say so in any aspect of how their country operates. The allure of the ability to vote and to speak their opinion about what is going on in their country is something that is incredibly attractive to those living in oppressed nations. People should be given the right to vote and the right to be involved in their government and in politics- “The first duty of a man is to think for himself” (José Martí, 1881). They should not be afraid to express their opinion or express ideas that would better their lives for fear of persecution. As said Alan Moore, “People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.” (V for Vendetta, 2006). Canada’s political ideologies are quite democratic, and we live a life free from fear of persecution for political reasons. Political ideologies are a cause for refugees to leave their country of origin, and the democratic policies of Canada can be very attractive, and seem very liberating to those being oppressed in their home nations.

The Canadian government system gives voters many
different choices regarding their 

Therefore, I think that this blog sums up why we are too harsh on refugees. How come we, as Canadians, expect to be given rights that we all (myself included) consider basic, obvious and required, yet we refuse to allow people to come to Canada desiring those same basic rights? All people should be allowed to live the way that we as Canadians consider typical. We should not be rejecting people who have done nothing save for try to secure a more safe, happy and healthy life for themselves and for their family, not when we, both as Canadians and as human beings desire the exact same thing.