Quote:
Originally Posted by hipster duck
Why?
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I guess there's two broad reasons.
One is more consequential in nature -- I think immigration and a higher population in general can help develop Canada's institutions, make Canada more economically competitive, help Canada secure international relations objectives, and overall improve the standard of living in Canada.
The other is more to do with what I think is right from a moral standpoint. I think as a default that humans should be allowed to live and work where they please. This isn't an alien notion -- most OECD countries guarantee freedom of mobility within their country, and supranational entities like the EU hold the same dearly. Greater freedom of mobility also helps support values like equality of opportunity. The birth lottery is one of the biggest things beyond anyone's control that dramatically affects your fate. You didn't choose where you were born or to whom you were born or whether you should be born. There's no merit to be ascribed to the neonate for being born in Canada, and no fault to be ascribed to the neonate for being born in Yemen. Nevertheless, such occurrences, which are of no merit or fault of the neonate, control to a significant extent his or her fate in life.
A dramatic overnight overhaul of the current geopolitical order will likely result in chaos, but I think we should gradually move in the direction of being less restrictive in this respect.