Editor:
Executive Director of the Christian Heritage Party Vicki Gunn and her colleagues’ opinions reek of racism and Islamophobia in their “us” vs. “them” categorizations and their assertions that Muslim immigrants are not integrating well here in Canada is simply not supported by fact.
According to a recent report in the Toronto Star, a study by the London-based British Council and Migration Policy Group in Brussels ranked Canada third best in integrating newcomers. Furthermore, according to Michael Adams, the president of the Environics Research Group, who conducted a groundbreaking study of Muslims in Canada, “…seven in ten Canadian Muslims believe that their fellow Muslims are interested in integrating into the ‘Canadian way of life’”.
Comparing the European to the Canadian experience is like comparing apples and oranges. Where Europe has, undeniably, had difficulties with integrating immigrants Canada has, for the most part, been successful. Can more be done to help newcomers integrate? Absolutely, but slamming the door does not further that goal.
Ihsaan Gardee
Executive Director
Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations