Former prime minister Justin Trudeau defended high immigration rates at a recent talk in Finland, calling it essential and saying that integration depends not on common ancestry, but “shared values.” Trudeau discussed immigration with Finnish journalist Jaako Loikanna on Thursday at the annual SuomiAreena public forum in Pori, Finland.
Trudeau's Remarks on Integration and Shared Values
“The key on immigration is the capacity to integrate people into your society,” Trudeau said. He added that the first generation of immigrants will always find it difficult to integrate, and it’s important for the country to support them, but the second generation will feel fully part of the nation. “Increasingly, in a very different world, defining what a country is through shared values and not through shared ancestry is the most important thing,” Trudeau stated.
Loikanna challenged Trudeau during the talk, saying that his administration allowed immigration to get out of hand to make up for a post-pandemic labour shortfall. Following a now famous social media post in 2017 that said, “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada,” Trudeau opened the immigration floodgates.
Immigration Statistics and Criticism
In 2015, Canada took in 579,000 people in a year. By 2024, that number had reached 1.36 million. That number is declining a bit, but not by much. An auditor general report said the current plan still calls for permanent residence numbers to fall within a range of 350,000 to 420,000 from now until 2028. The report added there aren’t enough guardrails or oversight for the overwhelming number of newcomers and support for immigration was falling across the country.
The high immigration numbers have come amid higher rates of crime, violence and antisemitism. Immigration lawyer Sergio Karas pointed to the case of Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 21, who pleaded guilty in connection to an attempt to carry out a mass shooting against Jews in New York City. The Pakistani national entered Canada through Toronto Pearson International Airport in 2023 on a student visa and lived in Mississauga until September 2024, when he was arrested. Karas told the Sun the case highlights critical flaws in how Canada vets immigrants.
Justice System Leniency and Conservative Reforms
Conservatives have made legislative pushes to reform immigration policy so foreign criminals can’t exploit the system’s loopholes, but with little success. Judges are increasingly taking into consideration a criminal’s immigration status during sentencing, treating immigrant criminals with leniency if a stiff sentence means deportation, while citizens face the full force of the law if they’re convicted of a crime. Critics have said that practice is creating a “two-tier” sentencing system, resulting in immigrants and non-residents getting lighter sentences for heinous crimes to avoid deportation.
Trudeau Challenged on Policy and Popularity
High immigration was a keystone of Trudeau’s “post-national” vision for Canada, but many Canadians didn’t share the sentiment while he was in power, which Loikannen noted, citing the former prime minister’s plummeting popularity over 10 years. Trudeau dismissed the declining approval ratings, saying they were only useful for gaining power. “I mean, if it’s just about feeling really good about yourself, then maybe you’re in the wrong line of work because best-case scenario in politics, one-third of people like you, one-third of people hate you, one-third of people don’t even know your name,” he said. Trudeau noted that he made mistakes, but he always stayed true to his values while establishing policy. “I didn’t lose trust in my core,” he said.
