Most of the mainstream media, including Ibbotson, tend to conflate questions about the number of immigrants with questions about the nature of immigrants, as in "there are elements in the Conservative Party who want to reduce immigration levels and compel some Muslim Canadians to abandon their religious garb". That quote links two unrelated issues.

I, for instance, do not care one bit what religion, race, ethnicity or culture immigrants come from, and don't think that anybody should be subject to coercion in their choice of garb. I do care about how many immigrants there are. My view is that Canada has ENOUGH people. We should be aiming for stable to slowly declining population. Instead, we're admitting enough immigrants to maintain a 1% a yea growth rate.