The Random Ranter

speaker

144 appearances 3 recordings 1 series first heard Jun 2026 last heard 6d ago

The Random Ranter’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 3 in all, peaking in Sep 2026 with 2.

Appearances

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The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge · Your Turn - June's Ask Me Anything · 18 Jun 2026 podcast

I mean, we're hyper-focused on the separation question in the upcoming Alberta referendum, but of the 10 questions on that ballot, five of them have to do with immigration.

Now, on a certain level, I understand the backlash.

It's nothing new.

Immigrants throughout history have been targeted as convenient scapegoats for the troubles of the day.

So why should what's happening now be any different?

I mean, I know we like to think of ourselves as evolved, but sometimes you really have to question to what degree.

Now, as far as I'm concerned, there's no understating or denying it.

Immigration has made Canada what it is today.

It's how this country was built and how this country thrives.

Immigration has always fueled our economy, and there's no reason it shouldn't continue to work the same way in the future.

I mean, it wasn't long ago that provinces and businesses, including Alberta, including Daniel Smith, were clamoring for more immigration, more temporary foreign workers, and more foreign students.

Industry needed them to drive their trucks, work their drive-thrus, and slaughter their meat.

Chronically underfunded colleges and universities needed their tuitions to survive.

And with immigration accounting for 25% of registered nurses and 42% of nurses' aides, would we even have a functioning healthcare system without immigrants?

I somehow doubt it.

But you know, if you take the emotion out of it, if you put aside the nativism, the unconscious biases, and all the unstated, underlying, very real racism, the argument for immigration is pretty simple.

It goes something like this.

If you want to grow your economy, you need to grow your population.

And without immigration, Canada's population growth is actually negative.

That's right.

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