Canada measured by how we treat immigrants

TORONTO - If Scripture is a guide, the measure of Canada as a Christian country may be the nation’s immigration and refugee policies, the Very Rev. Lois Wilson told a couple dozen people gathered at the University of Toronto’s Newman Centre chapel Feb. 1.

Wilson was lecturing as part of the Jesuit-sponsored Naming the Holy series at the Newman Centre. Under the title “Who is my neighbour? Immigration, citizenship and refugees,” Wilson pointed out how “the alien, the orphan and the widow” are “just all over the Scriptures.”

Old Testament law regarding treatment of aliens, orphans and widows establishes the importance of the individual in Western culture and law, said Wilson. In the New Testament Jesus Himself is an outsider who scandalously communicates with other outsiders — Samaritans, women, lepers, etc.

While Canadians pride themselves on a history of building the country through immigration, it doesn’t mean we have been equally welcoming to all people. The lives of Filipina nannies, Mexican migrant farm labourers and others who come on temporary work visas can be harsh with few protections under the law, she said.

“It’s not a popular topic. But people of faith and people of good will should address it,” she said.

When Canadian immigration policy is unjust it’s often because we view immigration through an economic lens, said Wilson.

“Economic gain for Canada is the bottom line,” she said.

The picture isn’t entirely bleak, said Wilson.

“I think there’s a great deal of hope, and a lot of the people who come here are the hope.”

Wilson is a retired Senator, former moderator of the United Church of Canada, a former co-president of the World Council of Churches and winner of the 2010 Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Award.