Brown-John: Canada, built by immigrants, remains the dream of many

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I am proudly Canadian.

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Born and raised in British Columbia of immigrant stock I’ve resided in three Ontario cities and eight countries worldwide. I’ve dipped my toes in all three of Canada’s oceans and wandered in all 10 provinces and two of our three territories.

Never homesick, I have looked at Canada from afar many times and often wondered why I have such strong feelings for this country despite its political and historical warts.

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In part, the answer can be found in a comment reported in the Star this week by Scott D’Amore and his business partner Davide Petretta when discussing their $200-million commercial development in LaSalle.

“We’re both first-generation Canadians and our fathers came to this country from Italy chasing the Canadian dream.”

Canadians live beneath the shadow of an American dream so a comment by D’Amore and Petretta triggered my own sense of realization that most of us are of immigrant origin, pursuing that often vague notion of a Canadian dream.

Thank you, gentlemen, for that reminder and all the best to the town and residents of LaSalle for facilitating your commercial development. Look around Windsor and Essex County and you will find massive and successful businesses founded by second-generation immigrants to Canada.

Applaud names such as the Zekelman family in industry or Mastronardi families in greenhouses, and so many more. The Windsor area is rich in jobs and future as an extended consequence of so many immigrants seeking their Canadian dream of prosperity.

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But seeking that dream often did not come easily. Few brought any great personal wealth. Many arrived in Canada with not much more than a few dollars. So many took menial jobs until they could accumulate enough cash to launch a business, from dry cleaners in Essex, to tool and die companies in Windsor, or greenhouses in Essex County.

Many took enormous risks and many endured unnumbered bumpy roads.
Yet if you look at the array of businesses and agribusiness in Windsor and Essex County, the successes of so many of immigrant origin are abundant.

Irrespective of race, religion or skin tone, immigrants have made this country rich, economically and culturally. Many continue to pursue the Canadian Dream.

However, I readily acknowledge that often we react adversely to perceived differences. An often posed question I received while at the University of Windsor was to the effect, ‘Why do some of these foreigners wear their strange clothes?’

The answer I invariably offered was: “they are still linked to the traditions of their homeland. That will change with future generations.”

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A recent issue of Canada’s History magazine contains a fascinating article about the Chin family of Lucknow, Ontario. While the family operated a Chinese restaurant, three sons practiced hockey in the basement.

Those three sons became known as “the Chin Line” — a formidable forward scoring line of hockey players. One Chin brother played with the Windsor Spitfires. All three had some time with Toronto’s Maple Leafs. And they spoke Chinese at home.

According to a Nov. 26 report in the New York Times, “U.S. border agents made more than 23,000 arrests at the northern border from October 2023 through September 2024.” By contrast, “illegal crossings at the southern border hit record highs late last year when nearly 250,000 arrests were made in December alone.”

The article continues: “Canadian officials and experts believe that the jump in illegal crossings has been fuelled primarily by immigrants arriving in Canada from India on tourism or other temporary visas and heading straight to the United States border, effectively using Canada as a stepping stone.”

It is unfortunate that many seeking entry to the U.S. overlook endless opportunities readily available in Canada.

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I concede that “too many immigrants” is in all probability a hot pending federal election issue. And certainly restraint is in order.

But this country needs immigrants because immigrants can invigorate Canada in the future as they have done in the past.

Thanks, D’Amore and Petretta, for reminding me why I love this country.

Lloyd Brown-John is a University of Windsor professor emeritus of political science and director of Canterbury ElderCollege. He can be reached at lbj@uwindsor.ca.

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