The whole world today is very much concerned about the growing population. The resources of nature and the country are limited, and as the population grows, they are under a lot of pressure; they are overused. China is on the top and followed by India ranks second in the world in terms of population, but some reports fear that India will overtake China in the next few years.
The world’s population grows by 80 million every year, of which India alone contributes 20 million, meaning that India alone accounts for a quarter of the world’s population growth. India is the second-largest country in the world in terms of population, but India ranks seventh in the world regarding land space.
Canada has had a fairly consistent growth rate for the past 70yrs of about 365k people per year. Based on that, they’d still be < 40M people in the next decade.
According to United Nations data, Canada’s mid-2020 population is about 37,742,154. The Canadian population is equivalent to 0.48% of the world’s total population.
Present population is between 35 and 36 million, immigration is quite restrictive, illegals can’t work so they don’t stay, and Canadians aren’t having babies at a rate that would triple the population.
So, there’s no realistic scenario in which Canada’s population will reach 100M in the next decade.
For the worldwide Population growth causes many problems. With overpopulation, there is a lack of housing, people in villages and cities are forced to live in small houses, even living in slums. Water and air pollution increases due to overpopulation. As the population grows, so do the industries to meet the needs of the people, which in turn spreads water and pollution. Deforestation is used to solve the housing problem, and villages and towns are built for human habitation.
Trees are cut down to meet the needs of the people from which wood is obtained and used in human life.
Deforestation damages our natural resources and has a detrimental effect on nature, with dire consequences.
Due to the growing population, the number of vehicles is also increasing, increasing the emissions of greenhouse gases, and our atmosphere is being badly affected. In the process of photosynthesis, trees absorb carbon dioxide and expel oxygen, which is the lifeblood of living things. Cutting down trees will increase the amount of carbon dioxide, which is very harmful to humans.
As the population grows, so does the earth’s temperature and sea level. Rising sea levels also pose a threat to coastal countries and coastal areas. With the increase in population, the size used for agriculture also decreases, which leads to the food crisis. Overpopulation creates an imbalance between demand and supply, which leads to inflation as less resources meet demand.
The smaller the family, the more comfortable the members will be. Children will be given a good education, good morals and a good upbringing. The smaller the country’s population, the more jobs and government amenities will be available. Citizens of less populous countries have more opportunities to get a good education and a good lifestyle. With a large population, the number of criminals in the country also increases because when people do not have a job, they will try to make money the wrong way. Therefore, a country should have a small population for good education, health, and lifestyle.
Canada has a high number of young generations among its citizens. The advantage may be that this young generation population can boost the country’s economy but with a lack of quality education and limited employment. Given the opportunity, this young population will also remain a burden mostly immigrants and students. This means that due to lack of necessary resources, most of the youth get higher education degrees. Still, they cannot get the training to develop the skills related to a significant field of work, which results in higher education. They remain unemployed.
The government and every citizen of the country have to worry about this and implement the small family policy. Even governments are reluctant to take a firm decision and legislate on this because of their political advantage. We leave the subject alone only by holding talks and seminars. But now we have to be very aware and take appropriate steps to stop population growth.
Due to population growth, there are significant problems like poverty, hunger, and unemployment today.
Canada’s Trudeau Liberal government must follow the world uniform civil code and population control law to curb this arbitrariness. Also, the Canada government needs to take steps in this direction. It is hoped that all the state governments will bring such laws in their respective provinces and pave the way for the country’s progress, development, and prosperity in the future.
Surjit Singh Flora is a veteran journalist and freelance writer based in Brampton.
