The Fıfty Thousand

So it turns out that there are about 50,000 Canadian citizens living in Lebanon...

Reminds me of a pushy guy I ran into at the Istanbul airport, visiting from his home in Italy, who spent some time trying to decide whether it was in his best interests to enter Turkey on his Canadian, or on some other passport.

Are others getting as fed up as I am with this new breed of Canadians of convenience, who hold no allegiance to the country but see a Canadian passport as something of a fashion accessory? Are others as annoyed as I at hearing Canada described as a 'great hotel,' as Yan Marel has called it?

Bugs the heck out of me. Have we no pride in our own culture and history? Have we no self respect? Are we really ready to sell our heritage and our good name to the highest bidder?

I am not, mind, in favour of closing the door to immigration. Just the reverse. The trouble is that these people are not immigrants. They are tourists.

We need to do two things: fırst, no more dual citizenship. Anyone who gets a Canadian passport should show that level of commitment to being Canadian. Second, stop giving preference to the upper classes of Third World countries, as we do now with our financial and educational point system. These are the people who are fine where they are. They do not need Canadian citizenship, and are unlikely to express much gratitude for it. And they are, largely, the same people responsible for the dire situations in their home countries--at least, they are as a class. We do not need them, and will not benefit from having them. They will stay only so long as it is in their interest.

Let's go back to a preferential option for the poor. Let's go back to letting in people who will love Canada, wıll work hard to get ahead, and will stay to build the country. People whose children will call themselves Canadian.