Rob Ford's Foolish Immigration Stance

The Toronto mayoral candidate should know that immigration drives economic growth.

Even though the Toronto mayoral election is two months away, there has been considerable press coverage for Rob Ford, the controversial councillor and mayoral front-runner. In a debate last week on CP24, Ford said that "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." His comments have been attacked by the other candidates as anti-immigration. Candidate Joe Pantalone called on Ford to apologize, and added that Toronto is a city of immigrants who drive the economy.

Ford's comments follow the arrival of close to 500 Tamil refugees in British Columbia. Various polls have gauged the reaction of Canadians to the ship's arrival, and the results have generally shown little compassion for the refugees. For instance, in an Angus Reid poll, 63 per cent of respondents felt that the ship carrying the refugees should have been turned back before its arrival. Likewise, in a Leger Marketing poll, 74 per cent of Conservative Party supporters think the Tamil refugees should be sent home.

Myer Siemiatycki, a professor of politics at Ryerson University, spoke with The Mark about why he thinks that immigration is key to the economic survival of a city like Toronto, and why Ford's comments might spur the immigrant population to hit the polls.