It’s not what you say...

Julie Dutton is from England. She was educated there.

She worked there. She speaks fluent English.

When she applied to work as a nurse in Australia she was told she must take an English language test before her application would be considered.

Politically correct officials in Sydney told her that unless she took the test, proving she understood and could speak English, she couldn’t be considered for the job, The Daily Mail reported.

They said: "There are no exemptions from this now as of the 1st of January."

Like Australia, Canada’s immigration minister Jason Kenney is pushing for new rules for immigrants who want Canadian citizenship.

They should learn French or English first, the Canadian immigration minister said at a conference in Calgary last week.

"Someone who has been here 15 years and can’t speak English or French is basically locking themselves out of the vast majority of jobs and is isolating themselves socially," he said. "That’s a tragedy."

Kenney said that the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper is almost moving away from promoting diversity to focus on bringing immigrants into Canadian society.

On the surface, this sounds like plain common sense.

A recent survey released in Toronto found that a vast majority of employers turn down foreign-trained professionals for jobs because their English isn’t good enough.

The Compas Research survey found 87 per cent of senior executives said inadequate language skills stopped them from hiring foreign-trained professionals, but very few of those newcomers saw their language as inadequate.

Kenney’s plan is on the right track. But the devil is in the details.

First off, what is the definition of today’s English?

Many immigrants learn English in schools and have better grammar than those born speaking it. But rote learning many a time does not translate into the expressions used in everyday conversations here.

For instance, the term ‘the winningest goalie in NHL history’ is a vile corruption of the English language, but it is perfectly acceptable in Canada. Use ‘winningest’ in an English test at an Asian school and you will come away with a failing grade.

Another issue around mandatory language tests is accent, and the variations in pronunciation which have been affected by regional tongues – i.e. it’s not what they say, but how they say it.

The Spanish-speaking hotel guest has no problem ordering room service by saying, "I want santos" (I want some toast). The South Asian feeling hot may say, "open the air conditioner" instead of "turn on the air conditioner." The Filipino arranging a meeting will say, "I will bone you" (I will phone you).

While we agree that learning the languages of your adopted land is a valuable tool to build a new life in Canada, Kenney needs to ensure that there is a common sense approach to these proposed linguistic requirements for prospective immigrants.

The language rules must be constructed to balance diversity and integration and not be viewed as another impediment to immigration.

Immigration lawyers are already predicting that the tests if made mandatory for everyone have the potential to discourage the 17,000 Americans and Britons who come to Canada each year in search of a job and a new home.

Further, the requirement to pass the language tests will have a tremendous impact, especially in India, The Philippines and China, where prospective immigrants have to travel far to sit for such tests.

If Canada moves to make language testing mandatory, it must take into account the type of lives and jobs the immigrant is seeking in Canada.

The one standard language test for all prospective immigrants will not work.

We don’t need to be wasting time, money or effort testing the truck driver from England who grew up speaking English, nor the French-speaking immigrant seeking a new life in Quebec.

Most importantly, we have to be cognisant of the fact that immigration has been and will be the lifeblood of this nation.

If we had demanded English or French of all immigrants, Canada may still be a logging camp.