Commentary

Work ethic

August 21, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

An interesting quote arrived through one of my news feeds the other day.

“When there is no consequence for poor work ethic and no reward for good work ethic there is no motivation.”

There was no name listed as the one who uttered the quote, but an online check reveals it may have been journalist JD Roberts.

The quote, however, speaks volumes about why people work and how their contribution keeps society as a whole prosperous and thriving.

It doesn’t take an economist with three Master’s Degrees to explain why having a job is an important part of living in our society.

For starters, it’s a way to earn a living. You make money to pay for housing, feed your family, buy a car, and pay for clothes.

Working provides a purpose in your life. Working contributes to the economy and society in general.

When you work, you can pay for other goods and services, and the people who earn money from that, then spend that money somewhere else.

It’s a big economic circle.

When you work, you pay taxes. Do you think those paved roads you drive on, the playgrounds your kids enjoy, and garbage pickup are paid for by someone’s hobby?

This nation was built on its work ethic. Pioneers arrived and worked hard to clear the land and build the towns in which we all live.

In this region, the work ethic is still important and obvious through the many families who still work those original farms and work in the nearby towns.

What would have happened if the pioneers arrived and expected everything to be done for them, and got paid to do nothing?

Several years ago, when there was an immigration crisis and unvetted and undocumented ‘refugees’ were simply walking across the border in Quebec, the federal government smiled and had RCMP officers carry their bags for them.

During an interview with a government minister in the economics department, he was asked if any of the ‘refugees’ had jobs.

His answer was, “Why does that matter?”

Well, it does matter. I was close to sending an email to the PM’s office suggesting I should take over the ministry because I had more knowledge of economics than the current minister did. In fact, just about everyone on my street and all my friends are more qualified and knowledgeable and could have explained to the minister why ‘jobs matter.’

The next video I saw on my news feed was from some guy speaking to his friends in his home country.

I’m not sure if he was some kind of immigration consultant, or what the deal was, because he never explained his part in the process.

However, he was telling his fellow countrymen that when they come here, they should claim to be a refugee.

He tells his friends that the government will pay them, pay for their expenses and food, for a total of over $80,000 in benefits in the first year alone.

“You live here for free,” he told them.

He then explained the real ‘suckers’ were Canadians, because they work for a living, average only $63,000 per year, and have to pay for their own way and pay taxes on top of that.

Is this really the type of person we want arriving on our shores?

It is the hard-working people of this county who pay for those who don’t want to work, and the federal government spends your hard-earned dollars to do it. And they spend your money with a smile.

Successive federal governments have created a situation where we are indeed a ‘sucker nation’ for putting up with this nonsense.

A recent national poll indicated that the majority of Canadians are not happy with the current immigration system. Ontario is especially feeling the heat of inadequate housing, especially for those who were born and grew up here.

We are not alone. Most countries in Western Europe are also facing a crisis situation and becoming increasingly intolerant of boatloads of people showing up on their shores with their hands out.

The exception is Poland, which feels its current population is fine, and makes it known that they don’t want anyone arriving there looking for a free meal.

In a democracy, the government must listen to the will of the people.

Neither Ottawa nor Queen’s Park seems to listen to what their constituents want.

I have personally questioned local politicians about this topic and have never received a straight answer.

Working provides motivation.

Motivation builds nations.

Readers Comments (0)