Social Democrats have three central values when it comes to society: equality, freedom, and fellowship (Mullaly, 2007, p 122). With social democrats, social integration is tied to the value of equality. As you can imagine, social integration is extremely vital for immigrants and refugee’s because as Mullaly (2007) states, “it ensures reduction in inequalities and feelings of isolation” (p. 123). If you were to move to a new country where you felt like an outsider, wouldn’t you want a government that makes an effort for you to feel like you belong there? That being said it’s fairly easy to get a sense of how the NDP (the political party with a social democratic ideology) feels when it comes to the topic of immigration. They welcome immigrants and make an effort to make them feel welcome in several ways.
With the idea of social integration, the NDP supports the idea of allowing families as whole to immigrate to Canada to avoid the long process of bringing family members separately. The NDP is constantly critiquing the Conservative government on their flawed immigration policies. The NDP released a statement saying “Immigrants in the application queue are waiting longer than ever before to be reunited with their spouses, parents or children in Canada,” (2011). I am not surprised at all by that statement because I know how hard it can be for an immigrant to have to go through the long and stressful process of bringing their family members to Canada. It took a relative of mine around five years to bring her spouse to Canada. Within these five years she visited her spouse two times and even got pregnant the second time in hopes of possibly speeding up the process. I truly do believe that if Canada had an NDP Government over those years more of an effort would have been made by the government to speed up her process along with the processes of many other immigrants in Canada.
When it comes down to it, if you’re an immigrant in Canada you’re going to want a government run by the NDP. Why, you might ask? For the reasons stated above as well as the fact that most immigrants and refugees are interested in a better financial situation than the one they had in their homeland. With social democracy the public would ideally have control of the means of production and distribution as well as equal distribution of income and opportunities says Mullaly (2007, p. 125). This is a perfect set of economic beliefs for a society that integrates immigrants because they’re given the same opportunities financially, as all other Canadians. Now, what kind of immigrant wouldn’t want to live in that type of society?
References:
Mullaly, B. (2007). The New Structural Social Work (3rd ed.). Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press Canada.
Stop tearing loved one’s apart: NDP. (2011, February 14). Retrieved October 24, 2011, from http://www.ndp.ca/press/this-valentine-s-day-stop-tearing-loved-ones-apart-ndp
NDP Canada. (2008, April 30). Jack Layton on immigration [Video File]. Retrieved from
Yodit D.
I know exactly how you feel about the immigration process being way too long. My mom came to Canada first before I did, and it took almost 3 years before I could finally be reunited with her. I also believe that with an NDP government, change for immigrants coming to Canada would be for the better.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Yodit!
- Adrienne
I exactly agree with your points! an NDP government will make immigrant families lives better, just for the fact that there believes and judgments are in fact what immigrant individuals need when coming here, being treated equally and not as an outsider. Very well done post!
ReplyDelete-Hannah
I came to Canada in 1996 as a refugee from Bosnia, and back then the process was fast and easy: it took 6 months for me and my family to arrive to Canada. These days the process is a lot more complicated and strict that it is almost impossible to immigrate to Canada. If we had more of the social democratic ideology shaping the immigration process it would definitively help to reunite many families. Great post.
ReplyDelete-Medina
I could not agree with you more. My mother tells me stories about the difficulties her family had when they immigrated to Canada. There are so many stressors involved, it would be good to have more help from the government in order to make it a smoother transition. A social democratic ideology would need to be implamented in order for this to happen. Great post!
ReplyDelete-Katelyn
I too believe the immigration process is way too long and it is unfair to families who just want to be reunited with their loved ones. The NDP government has some great ideas for improving the immigration process. This will make thing a lot easier and better for immigrants.
ReplyDeleteGood post!
- Michal B.