Public Letter to PM Stephen Harper

Schoolgirl's World Reviews has recently received a public letter from a young girl addressed to Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper. This young girl, who we cannot name, has been concerned by the Canadian government's plans to mine in Colombia, South America, for precious gems and minerals, and the immigration program. This letter was written a year ago, so circumstances may have changed.

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

I strongly disagree with your  thoughts and decisions about immigration and people from other countries visiting. Remember that you were elected only because you were the majority out of the minority, which means that really, you were elected, but not because the  majority of Canada's citizens voted for you. You are destroying Canada's values. You believe in economy, but only the economy of the richer. One by one, you are taking away what makes Canada Canada. Canada is known for its welcoming of immigrators, people who want to visit Canada, but you are closing Canada from the world. Yes, you are making Canada popular by hosting important events such as the Olympics, and  a Royal Tour by Her Majesty Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, and that is excellent, because tourists will want to come and see Canada, which will improve the economy, which is your top priority. However, you are not allowing much tourists to come, and therefore you are blocking tourism, which does not help the economy. Canada is fortunately excluded out of the European economic crisis, and will if the economy thrives, but you are only helping the economy for certain people. Tourism brings much money, and will continue, but you are asking for too much, in my point of view. In my experience, as a Canadian citizen, I know people in Bogota, Colombia, who wanted to come and visit Canada for only a week or so. Unfortunately, the decisions made by you about tourism and immigration made it very hard for the people I know to come. For example, they returned my acquaintance's passports, but only returned it to one of them, and held on to the other one for weeks. What if an emergency had happened where the passport was needed?  How can people communicate if they can't share a language? All of the workers at immigration and tourism should capable of speaking the language needed to communicate with the people. I thought you were doing your best, but this is hastily done work that obviously was not given the proper attention. Then, the questions asked were not necessary. Some were very personal and extremely random, such as, do you do drugs, or do you traffic drugs, which no one would say yes to. Then, they had an excuse: one of the people I know would suddenly decide to move to Canada and live there as an illegal. People who fill out the tourism sheet are specifically saying they want to visit, not move to Canada. Anyway, people who visit Canada obviously have the ways and money to go to Canada,  and how can a person who has the ways to visit Canada want to live there, if they are content where they are. Finally, the people, following your orders, asked so many questions and held on to a passport for so much time, and found that many excuses, that the people I know where finally so exasperated, that they changed their minds about going to Canada. One of Canada's values is that it welcomes immigrants and people from other countries, and they bugged these people so much and did not welcome them, that they changed their minds. I am 100% sure that these are not the only people that have changed their minds. This is certainly not good for the economy. So please, all I am asking you, is to try to dedicate some more time to this subject and try to improve it instead of leaving it messed up. Then, mining is another problem. You are taking Colombia with your team and taking precious stones, semi-precious stones, and minerals from Colombia. Colombia is home to 10 percent of the world's species, with more than 1,821 species of birds, 623 species of amphibians, 467 species of mammals, 518 species of reptiles, and 3,200 species of fish living  in Colombia. About 18 percent of these are endemic to the country. Colombia has 51,220 species of plants, of which nearly 30 percent are endemic. This mining is destroying the habitats, and causes global warming, which is one of the causes of why the 2012 winter was short and warm, and which is why the festivals had to buy snow. Mining causes pollution, habitat destruction, and forces natives to go somewhere else, thanks to you. Natives and Indians have lived in Colombia for decades, keeping a low profile and living honestly, and have never done anything to you, who, with your mining, are destroying Colombia's lush rainforests and biodiversity. You are forcing Colombians out of their homes, which really, is like when war forces people out of their homes. Canada's economy is flourishing, and it looks like you wants it to be as good as it can be, even if it means destroying rainforests, killing species, forcing people out of their homes, and increasing global warming. I believe Canada's economy for everybody should be at its peak, but not because some of it has a dark history. By doing all of these things, Colombians are suffering now, are breathing toxic air, animals are dying, global warming is continuing, and now where a rainforest once stood is a desert, or rows and rows of stumps of trees, where it will take maybe a century or more for the rainforest to return, if at all. If you want economy to thrive, like I do, you should find better ways to make it so, such as tourism, welcoming immigrators, finding sources that have no risk of being wiped out or come with grisly side effects to sell. Canada should not mine in other countries and ignore protests, Canada should be content with what it has and not steal. Like Severn Suzuki said, "We have more than enough, and yet we are not happy." Canada is winning a bad reputation, and I'm hearing it everywhere. You can choose not to listen to my warnings and words, because I am only a child, but if you do, you will help Canada's reputation, you will help save our crashing world, and you will protect a country. This is a noble act, and you will be remembered for it. Thank you for reading this and I hope you will consider my words.

Sincerely,

A Canadian Citizen