4 - Friday, November 20, 1987 - North Shore News DEAR DOUG: Re: immigration. The question is whether people from other countries bring their civil wars with them. If that was the case — if that was the rule — this country would have been torn apart into a hundred frag- ments years ago. By and large, the New World — the Canadian portion of it — has not let down the original ideal that much. If refugees and remittance men and mail-order brides and discharged soldiers and indentured laborers and evangelists and hustlers and just plain opportunists had not at least melted into a racial leftovers stewing pol, ‘this country really would be like modern Great Bri- tain, where the ghettos are aflame. Canada has its ghettos too. They’re called Indian reserves. But they’re conveniently located out in the bush, for the most Deen ae aed The: Bob Hunter ®@ strictly personal ® part, out of sight and out of mind, and mainly out of rock- throwing range. And, unlike Britain’s, our ghettos are inhabited by in- digenous people. Avery different situation, Doug. To compare Canada and Great Britain in terms of the im- pact of immigration is not just comparing apples with oranges, it is a matter of talking about utter- ly opposite inter-racial realities. Here, the vast majority of the current population is made up of immigrants, what second-, third- and fourth-generation Canucks used to like to call DPs. With each successive wave of immigrants to these shores, there has been internal displacement. Change. Realignments of power structures. Redefinition- of na- tional policy. The country kept growing and changing. That’s what gave it dynamic energy. For most immigrants, and cer- tainly for all refugees, coming to Canada is like dying and going to heaven. Once they get here, they want to learn the ropes, buy a big car, and play. Sure, the fact that ve have such a peaceful and stable politi- cal environment — current histrionics about free trade not- withstanding —- owes just about everything to our inherited British parliamentary system. But Canada is truly one of the elder democracies in the world. We are not quite the banana republic you suggest by compar- ing the situation in Canada to the situation in Fiji. In fact, if there is a parallel with Fiji it is with British Col- umbia’s own relatively recent his- tory, when a minority of recently-landed immigrants from Europe held a vote among themselves to jein Canada, without so much as asking the PEON IAIN peste Jeader. in’ est cH roo Sh ~ COLUMBIA A lower priced ‘Walk - ' the Deg’ shell with zippered pockets, velcro sleeves and a full drawstring hood. Men's and women’s styles and colors. FarlJest cone-rex- - KOOTENAL CRUISER / SONAQUA Take on any weather with this parka-length functional classic! 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In other words, he wants to go on aping the motherland ad_ infinitum, while continuing to keep the natives buried alive in red tape. Give me a break. I think Canada is a different and ultimately much more inter- esting case than Britain. The in- fusion of bloodlines from hither and yon doesn’t have to get ugly. For the most part, life in this mixed-up stew-pot land is as peaceful and free of tribal vio- lence as any country on earth. It is also, 1 am told by observers who have travelled to many countries, one of the least- bigoted places anywhere. You don’t hear of Irishmen kneecapping each other over here. The Scots and the English have mostly patched it up. Everybody seems to have forgiven the Danes for their Vik- ing phase. Frenchmen and Ger- mans and Italians seldom war among themselves on Canadian soil. Europe’s ancient enemies dwell side-by-side here, over- whelmingly for the most part, without relapsing. By and large, life in Canada appears to have an excellent calming effect on old tribal hostilities. As for the others — the non- European stock — “taking over”’ and running the show, they can scarcely agree on the price of coffee. I think the national pattern is well-established, and it is one of large-scale integration. Basically, they all learn how to quack like a Canuck. Look. at the kids of first-generation immigrants. They flash about in the same half-tied running shoes and groove to the same musical markets as the mainstream suburban kids. I just see 2 lot of positive energy out of the process of more people arriving from distant lands. I like seeing kids from all races mixed together. I blush to say this, but I get a feeling of something greater than itself being created here in Canada. 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