With Canada's pressing need for skilled, productive and self-sufficient
immigrants, it seems strange that you should publish a lengthy article
on the plight of ethnic Germans in the Soviet Union without mentioning
the prospects for their resettlement in Canada ("Soviet Germans hear
call of ancestral home," May 28, 1990).
Despite the anti-German hate propaganda which still pervades the media,
most traditional Canadians would welcome an influx of ethnic Germans, as
they welcomed Vietnamese and Ugandans etc. only more so, since they would
be seen as more readily assimilable.
Unfortunately for both Canada and the Germans, the Immigration Department
has made no attempt to attract these valuable workers who continue to be
rejected in favor of Third World "refugees" many of whom are
less qualified. If there is an explanation for this perverse policy it
is probably that the Government sees the grateful Third World immigrant
as more politically pliable than his European counterpart.
If so, there are indications that the Government may be in for a rude awakening.
Sincerely,
Ian Macdonald
May 30, 1990