Immigrant communities are often socially conservative and pro-business, values that align with conservative parties. However, Roy Ratneville argues they frequently vote for liberal parties out of fear, fueled by media portrayals of conservatives as anti-immigrant. This perception overrides their natural policy alignment.
Roy Ratneville attributes his rapid career ascent to embracing socially uncomfortable situations, like learning corporate etiquette at dinners or traveling to small towns where he was an outsider. By not retreating to familiarity, he quickly learned the unwritten rules of Canadian business culture, accelerating his integration and success.
Guest Roy Ratneville observes that while ethnic enclaves provide comfort, they can prevent immigrants from integrating, learning the language, and developing skills needed for broader success. He contrasts his own forced integration with an Italian colleague who barely spoke English after 30 years in Canada.
Roy Ratneville vehemently opposes corporate DEI initiatives because they mirror the "standardization" policies in 1970s Sri Lanka. These policies used quotas to favor the majority Sinhalese over minority Tamils in university admissions, a system he views as discriminatory. This personal history frames his rejection of modern race-based preferences.
Roy Ratneville, who became a vice chairman at a major asset management firm, notes he wouldn't have qualified for Canada's modern, skills-based immigration system. He entered on a compassionate visa as a teenage refugee and started in a mailroom, proving that potential and drive can't always be measured by points systems.
The Canadian Tamil community, once defined by the Sri Lankan civil war, is now shifting focus. Roy Ratneville describes a deliberate effort to engage Canadian politicians on domestic issues like economic policy, rather than solely on historical grievances. This marks a critical evolution from a refugee diaspora to an integrated political constituency.