I refer this committee to the writings of Dr. David Foot, a renowned demographics expert, who has reiterated in his writings that current and future predicted demographic trends indicate we have an aging population and will continue to have one for the foreseeable future. He further suggested we currently do not have a mechanism to take care of these seniors, either socially or economically.
Dr. Foot concluded that the best remedy is to target source countries, places where large families are still predominant, places where working families consist of large groups whose psyche is family-oriented and committed to the elderly, which will assist Canada in a new demographic reality.
Our conclusion is this. Given current and future demographic trends, we strongly feel that the immigration focus should not be on the economic class, but rather on family-related applicants, large educated working families who move to Canada, will be loyal to Canada, and will resolve the impending aging population dilemma. We must ask ourselves who is going to pay for the cost of our seniors and assist them. Predicted demographic trends by Dr. David Foot suggest that we will soon arrive at a point where we will not be able to care for or afford our most vulnerable. Allowing large families under family-related unification versus concentrating on economic class immigrants will build a stronger Canada.
And I'll give you a specific point. Many years ago, in 1896 to 1905, the Minister of the Interior at that time focused on immigrants whose families were large and had a longstanding tradition of farming. The agenda at that time was to ensure we would have a class of new Canadians who could work the land in the prairie provinces and become self-sufficient. Using that underpinning or underlying philosophy, we now need to focus on current and future population trends and learn from our experiences. Adjusting our immigration policies to include countries that still have large working families willing to emigrate is the most optimal solution to our immigration woes.
Thank you very much.