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COMMENT

If you were in council chambers two weeks ago, you would have heard impassioned speeches from many councillors across the political spectrum on the issue of whether undocumented workers should have access to critical city services.

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After council voted 37-3 to reaffirm its commitment to ensuring such access, reaction was mixed, with some congratulating us for acknowledging the plight of marginalized residents and others criticizing the perceived waste of resources on “illegal” immigrants.

During the debate, I said the narrative around undocumented workers should not be about “who is a good immigrant and who is a bad immigrant.” If we are engaging in a debate about immigration and access to services, we cannot do so honestly without first acknowledging Canada’s own history of colonialism.

My remarks resulted in some interesting criticism from certain columnists.

The National Post’s Chris Selley — citing my assertion that “every single one of us, and our ancestors, arrived to this country at some point in time as undocumented workers” — responded with comments devoid of any recognition that had the British not colonized Canada, he would not have arrived “at Women’s College Hospital as a wee Canadian citizen,” nor would his father have arrived “by plane from Britain with a job lined up.”