Canada of 100m people could be 'powerful' player
We should do it :thumbsup: Quote:
Increasing Canada's population from 34 million to 100 million would make the country 'a serious force to be reckoned with,' says Irvin Studin of the University of Toronto.
Increasing Canada's population from 34 million to 100 million would make the country 'a serious force to be reckoned with,' says Irvin Studin of the University of Toronto.
Photograph by: Arlen Redekop, File -- PNG, Canwest News Service
Canada should increase immigration rates to become a country of 100 million people and a proper world power, according to a rising star on public policy.
In a provocative essay to be published Tuesday in the international affairs magazine Global Brief, the University of Toronto's Irvin Studin explores the strategic power that could be wielded by 100 million Canadians occupying a vast territory rich in natural resources, technology and strong national institutions.
"Grow the population variable significantly, and watch the overall strategic power of the country multiply," writes Studin, who is with the School of Public Policy and Governance.
The former Privy Council Office staffer co-authored Canada's National Security Policy and is founding editor and publisher of the nascent Global Brief magazine and globalbrief.ca.
Studin calculates an aggressive immigration push to roughly triple Canada's current population of 34 million would, over a few generations, produce a pincerlike effect.
"First, a far larger demographic base to build strong national institutions and structures across the vast territory of Canada -- institutions that, while today are often absent or weak, would eventually serve as a bulwark for international strategic influence."
Second, a far larger talent pool to populate the strategic arms of the state -- the military, diplomatic, civil service and political branches of government, as well as business, cultural, educational and scientific sectors.
There'd be more generals, Nobel Laureates, international virtuosos and a more muscular national vitality to counter the cultural influences of the United States, with its 309 million citizens.
"In the process, the Canada of
100 million . . . becomes a serious force to be reckoned with."
Studin acknowledges there will be opposition to his ideas.
"Regarded as radically absurd on the economic logic (for where are the jobs?), it may be regarded as wholly irresponsible and reckless by others, for how is a country to absorb or integrate immigration waves that, over time, outstrip even the total current incumbent population?"
A Canada of 100 million would go a long way toward addressing the difficulty of building across the country's vast geography, Studin writes.
"The Canada of 100 million has a far larger national market and the attendant economies of scale and scope -- for ideas, for debate, for books, for newspapers, for magazines, for all species of goods and services.
"It has many large, dynamic, global cities . . . [to] serve as incubators and competitive arenas for innovation, productivity and creative ambition -- all derivatives, as it were, of humans rubbing up against humans.
"There are sufficient numbers across the country to populate substantial, applied research institutions; to aid the generation of policy ideas; to create bona fide national institutions of higher culture in the musical, visual and theatrical arts; to justify national sports leagues where today, in Canada, there is, to many outside observers' surprise, perhaps one at most."
At 100 million, he continues, "Canada has cutting-edge, world-beating companies that are far larger and more numerous across the sectors."
Statistics Canada's highest projected growth rates put the population at 47,686,000 by 2036 and 63,755,900 by 2061.
Canada's population has roughly tripled every 65 or so years and Studin says the country could arguably make a policy push to reach the 100-million mark within a few generations, approximately 2080, largely through increased, "although not radically increased" immigration.
"At 100 million, this is among the most powerful and important countries in the world. And the world will take good note."
© Copyright (c) The Province
Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Cana...#ixzz0quwe7Kf1
| His full essay: http://globalbrief.ca/blog/2010/06/1...n-100-million/ |
