Canada’s decline is not the fault of Donald Trump

Immigration is one of the most powerful forces shaping any nation. It can be an engine that drives growth, or a fire that burns what once built the nation. It can lift a country to new heights, or it can strain society beyond its limits, and it all depends on how it is handled. Immigration is strength when guided with discipline and vision, but it becomes dangerous when mismanaged with slogans and political theatre. My ancestors immigrated to Canada, twice! Once in the 1870s to settle on the Prairies and my parents to southern Ontario in the 1980s from the windswept plains of the Chihuahua semi-desert. We will be forever grateful for the opportunity to come to Canada and be invited to contribute to the societal fabric of this great nation.

Vice President JD Vance triggered a wave of debate last week when he pointed directly at Canada. He argued that our living standards have stagnated and that our political class has leaned farther than any other advanced nation into the belief that diversity is our strength while abandoning the expectation that newcomers integrate and assimilate. He went so far as to say that Canada’s decline is not the fault of Donald Trump, or any other villain provided by the media. He said it is the fault of Canadian leadership and by extension the voters who allowed this direction to continue. Whether people agree with Vance or not is not the point. He has forced an uncomfortable reckoning between what we claim immigration should be and what it has become.

“We have a shrinking birth rate and an aging population.”

The engine is real and Canada needs newcomers. We have a shrinking birth rate and an aging population. We rely on immigrants to sustain our labour force and to keep our economy functioning. Immigrants now represent almost one quarter of the national population, and they account for nearly all new labour force growth. Many bring education, talent, ambition, and a genuine desire to build a better life in a stable country. When immigration works, it fuels productivity and it enriches the culture of Canada and the culture of the immigrant. It rejuvenates a society that would otherwise struggle under demographic decline.

The fire is real as well. Population growth in the last decade has surged far beyond the capacity of our housing market and our infrastructure. Wages have largely stagnated in comparison to inflation across the country and access to services has become more difficult. Newcomers arrive with hope only to face overcrowded cities, unaffordable homes, and long delays for health care. These problems are not created by immigrants, but by the political leadership that pushed record intake numbers without any corresponding plan to absorb the growth.

That is where Vance’s criticism lands. Canada opened the tap wide while building very little. Not enough homes, not enough transit, and not enough health facilities, or schools. In fact, it seems that the plan was to attract any type of immigrant, even if clearly unwilling to contribute, or integrate into Canadian society, to build a new voting bloc for a certain ideology. Immigration became a political virtue project instead of a realistic policy.

There is another dimension that shapes this entire conversation. Strong immigration policy must include enforcement that is moral, targeted, and accountable. What we often see from certain US agencies does not fit that description. They raid job sites and they storm neighbourhoods. They tear fathers and mothers away from children even when the only issue is a civil immigration violation. I have no patience for that kind of policing. It is abusive and it is cowardly. It is a complete failure of leadership. Raiding a construction site to arrest workers who are hanging drywall, or picking produce does nothing for public safety. It destroys communities and poisons trust.

Real enforcement focuses on genuine criminals. It targets child traffickers, gang members, fraud networks, and those who prey on vulnerable people. It does not chase the very workers who keep industries alive. A healthy country creates an earned path to citizenship for long term workers who pay taxes and live responsibly. That approach stabilizes families, strengthens the economy, and creates citizens who invest in their communities.

“Immigration becomes an engine of prosperity when it is guided by discipline, capacity, and compassion.”

Immigration becomes an engine of prosperity when it is guided by discipline, capacity, and compassion. It becomes a fire when leaders foment chaos for nefarious purposes, or when law enforcement loses its moral bearings. Immigration is not inherently good, or bad, but it is a tool that can build or destroy depending on the choices made by those in power.

Canada can reclaim the engine and avoid the fire. It requires honest leadership, a clear plan for housing and infrastructure, and the courage to enforce the law in a way that respects human dignity. Immigration has and will shape our future. The only question is whether we choose competence or chaos.