New statistics are sparking debate over whether Canada is ready to handle the coming influx of Muslim immigrants into the country over the next few years.
A new report called The Future of The Global Muslim Population estimates that, by 2030, there will be about 2.7 million Muslims living in Canada, and they will make up approximately 6.6. percent of the population. Currently, Muslims make up about 2.8. percent of the country’s population.
These new estimates are causing debate among analysts over whether Canada will be able to handle the more extremist members of the Muslim community.
“[What] is different from other immigrant groups is there is a subgroup among Muslims, I call Islamists, who come here with the intention of destroying the social fabric of the country,” said Tarek Fatah, founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress. “That is very unusual for an immigrant group and will be more of a problem in the future.”
Fatah argues that the Canadian educational system is particularly unequipped to deal with extremist views, nor is it equipped to counteract strong perspectives that will be instilled in many children at home.
“If a child is raised to believe that Canadian society is corrupt it is going to be hard to change them by the time they turn 20,” said Fatah. “It has to start with the schools making it clear to little children that certain ways of thinking are wrong in Canada.”
Other experts, however, are playing down the role of extremist members of the Muslim community, saying that there are often many more examples of Muslim immigrants integrating and contributing to Canadian society.
Source: National Post
