the CanadaVisa Team - 22 July, 2015
As part of a year-end review with The Canadian Press, Prime Minister Stephen Harper praised the country's record for helping immigrants settle in Canada. He addressed the issues of how Canadians accommodate new cultures and to what extent immigrants assume Canadian values.
"Notwithstanding the debate in Quebec and some of the debate during the Ontario election campaign, I first of all think immigrants come to this country to belong to this country," he stated. "I also think that the Canadian approach to this, which is a mixture of integration and accommodation, for lack of a better term, is the right approach."
Mr. Harper's Conservative government has been working on building bridges with various ethnic communities over the past few years. His cabinet has also been discussing issues of Canadian identity and ways to promote a sense of Canadian values.
"I know there's a popular expressed view that immigrants come here and they should change to suit the country. I think overwhelmingly they do," said Mr. Harper. "But I think the fact is our country also consciously changes somewhat for new immigrants and new cultures, and I think that's a successful model. I think if you look around the world for issues of immigration and cultural integration, Canada is as successful as any other country in this regard."
