CANADA'S LACK OF POPULATION.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3141, 30 October 1922, Page 7

CANADA'S LACK OF POPULATION.

Considerable disappointment has been expressed throughout Canada at the marked reduction shown by the Government immigration returns just issued, the total immigration for the four months ending July 30. being loss than 33,000, compared with 50,000 during the same period last year, which was then considered small, as thin period generally gives the highest immigration returns for the year. The returns are issued at a time when the labor unions and other bodies are clamouring for increased immigration, especially British, in order to increase the Dominion's population and help to bear the heavy burdens of debt taxation. The demand generally is for agricultural immigrants. The disappointing returns are not explained, but thev are probbaly due to a combination of heavy taxation, enormous national debt, and continued labor unrest, coupled with the severe immigration restrictions enforced for a number of years - past and the failure of the Canadian authorities to follow the example of Australia and other British Dominions, and take advantage of the British Government's immigration scheme; while the severe winters and the reports of an impending coal shortage are probably tending to deter emigrants, both British and foreign, from selecting Canada, despite the excellent reports of every kind of crop during the present year. The Trades and Labor Congress of Canada, lately in session at Montreal, adopted a resolution urging the Government to take every possible step to increase desirable' immigration, although the view prevailing, owing to unemployment, is opposed to all immigration except that of agricultural settlers. The publication of the Government report synchronises with the issue of vigorous complaints by the Imperial Veterans of Canada —who comprise the Imperial veterans who have immigrated to the Dominion since the war, and who have settled in the Western lands —that they are not receiving fair treatment from the Federal Government. Lieut.-Col-Ambrose Smith, of Winnipeg, president of the Imperial Veterans' Association of Canada, has stated that many Imperial veterans of Western Canada have been side-tracked, and do not intend to put up with such treatment any longer. He has complained to the Minister of the interior regarding this Government neglect, and ha:s demanded fair treatment for these settlers. He also states that the Government are not doing enough for these new arrivals, and has asked for more sympathetic treatment. It is asserted that mamy Imperial veterans are suffering; that they have been thrown on their own resources, and have found themselves strangers in a strange land. An inquiry into the matter has been instituted by the Government, and hopes are expressed that the matters complained of will lie rectified.