Mainer Abroad Column

By Stephen Roberts

Ottawa is the most diverse city I have ever seen. Nearly every person I pass while walking downtown is speaking a different language: English, French, Arabic and Mandarin are all intermixed with Portuguese, Spanish and occasionally Italian. This is not to mention the countless dialects of English: especially those accents from the sub-continent of India, and the plethora of French accents that range from Outaouais to that spoken in Québec City.

Maine was 95.2 percent “white, alone” at the time of the last census. I read a fascinating statistic yesterday in the local newspaper, The Ottawa Metro, that 1 in 6 Canadians speak French as their mother tongue. One in six Canadians speak a language other than English or French as their mother tongue. Just over 19 percent of the population is a visible minority, and 20.6 percent of the population is considered foreign-born immigrants. according to Statistics Canada. That is astounding, and perhaps even earth-shattering when put next to the touted fact that the State of Maine is the most homogenous state in the United States.

A miniscule 3.4 percent of the Maine population is foreign-born. The Province of Ontario is growing in no small part because of its fresh immigrant faces. The Premier of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne, has challenged the Federal Government to bring an additional 5,000 Syrian immigrants to the province by the end of the year. An article dating back to 2011 and published in LeDevoir, one of the lead newspapers of Montréal, Québec, states matter-of-factly that without immigrants the economy of the region will suffer.  The official stance of the conservative Government of Canada is pro-immigration. The three political parties vying for control of Parliament, equitable to both the presidency and the legislative branch, are all pro-immigration. They acknowledge that, without immigrants, Canada does not have a future.

All of this is in stark contrast to Gov. Paul LePage suggesting earlier this year that immigrants are a threat.

Gov. LePage suggested specifically that undocumented immigrants could bring Ebola and hepatitis C with them to our fair state. A well-regarded former state economist released a report in 2013 stating that we need 60,000 immigrants over the next 20 years to stay economically viable. Our entire region is aware that, if we want to remain relevant, immigrants are a necessity.

We stand at the cusp of failure and success. We need immigrants. The children are not staying, and there are not enough of them. The state should consider the economic and humanitarian aspects of accepting Syrian refugees. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees there are just over 4 million registered refugees. These human beings need more than aid. They need a safe place to go so that they in turn can start businesses, pay taxes and employ other people. More than 11 million Syrians have been displaced by the Syrian Civil War and the affronts by terror groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). This humanitarian disaster and its subsequent refugee crisis are  opportunities for the State of Maine to do the right thing while also looking out for our own self-interest.

The State’s motto is “Dirigo” or “I lead.” It is about time we put our money where our mouth is and we show the rest of the country we are not afraid to accept these immigrants.