Wednesday, August 18, 2010

No more welcomed?

Rob Ford's curious position that Toronto ought not to accept more newcomers has certainly garnered him some attention. And it's true Toronto's infrastructure is insufficient. But surely that is what needs fixing -- and not a blanket exclusion of newcomers?

Mr. Ford's exact words were:

"Right now we can't even deal with the 2.5 million people in this city. I think it is more important to take care of people now before we start bringing in more people. There's going to be a million more people, according to the official plan (which I did not support) over the next ten years coming into the city. We can't even deal with the 2.5 million people. How are we going to welcome another million people in? It is going to be chaotic. We can't even deal with the chaos we have now. I think we have to say enough's enough."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is nothing to be fixed, its very simple math. Toronto takes in approx 125,000 immigrants and refugee's each and every year. These people need houses, apartments, schools, daycares, hospitals and clinics. How exactly does a city cope with that kind of growth without getting back any kind of wealth in the form of taxes? Both Liberal and Conservative partys need to be spanked for this mess, and, it is a mess. Toronto and Vancouver can take no more. Sorry, but, when reality hits you in the face its a good idea to take notice of it.
billg

Anyong said...

Anon
..you are absolutly hammer on the nail. Suppose we were to get a boat a week with 500 people on board. What will we do with that problem? We are in a recession, high unemployment, people over 66 are not getting much as a pension and we would have to fork out for this? When I was working in South Korea...for eleven years....there were many times I heard about married women going to Canada, Australia and New Zealand to have their babies....it's called a foot in the door. I taught a Korean student this past year who came to Canada on vacation, had their baby here ...who has a medicial problem...he was found a house in which to live, a job and the child is receiving free medical...do you think this couple wants to go back to South Korea? Not on your life. The law needs to be changed. A person doesn't have to wonder why there were unaccompanied children on this boat that arrived last week with Tamils. Give it some time and all family members of these children will be arriving. What a great way for governments to gain votes.

Stephen Downes said...

People are not welcome in Toronto? Send them to New Brunswick! We'd love to have them here.