Next time youze wanna gripe about living in Canada, give some thought to tens of millions, even billions, who would give their right thumb for the right to live here. Many Canadians never give a thought to the way we choose our immigrants and whatever we choose, it will be a system that's bound to leave people unhappy.
If the candidate has good education, language skills a young age and so forth, they're likely to be accepted on the point system. But that could be argued to be unethical as we are effectively raiding talent from others countries which invested in these people
If we take refugees, or do some other sort of lottery, then that also has its inherent degree of unfairness.
Some people can get a tourist visa to Canada and decide they like it and then try to stay as refugees. They can work for the two-or-so years until their hearing comes up, or even go on welfare. I know Russian who came here via Israel who bumped into Toronto Mayor David Miller and got public housing until he was kicked out back to Israel.
Of course, one has to get in the country first to get a good crack at doing that and people from many countries simply can't get in. Haitians, for example, have a very hard time getting a visa here, wheras people from some place like St. Lucia or Grenada can come up fairly easily.
And while each individual immigration story might be insignificant for the public, they are massively important to them and their families. Take for example Vernette Emile who was headed towards becoming a citizen by marrying Jason Lesage in the Ottawa area. Alas Jason was stabbed to death in his apartment in 2009 before her papers could come through and her attempts to stay due to a threatening ex-boyfriend named Dale back home were rejected because St. Lucia police arrested Dale. Her attempt to appeal the judgment also failed.
Another interesting example: Roma (aka gypsies) from the Czech Republic had been coming to Canada and getting accepted as refugees under the explanation that they were being targeted by skinheads back home. Canada accepted 94 percent of those who used this excuse until 2009 when the Federal Immigration Minister was quoted as saying that .."it’s hard to believe that the Czech Republic is an island of persecution in Europe.”
After that, the total went down to zero percent and as you could see here, their attempts to appeal those rulings also failed.
Speaking of the Roma, I had recently been told of a father who sends his 10-year-old son to ask people on the street for 50 cents to use the phone to call his parents, a well-dressed guy right in front of the Cote-des-Neiges plaza. In another west end metro station a mother sat on the floor begging with her young daughter for change.
So yeah, Canada is a vast and relatively empty-country which could really use a lot more people to fill up all that space, especially Manitoba. However there needs to be a better public dialogue on exactly how this can be most effectively done.
If the candidate has good education, language skills a young age and so forth, they're likely to be accepted on the point system. But that could be argued to be unethical as we are effectively raiding talent from others countries which invested in these people
If we take refugees, or do some other sort of lottery, then that also has its inherent degree of unfairness.
Some people can get a tourist visa to Canada and decide they like it and then try to stay as refugees. They can work for the two-or-so years until their hearing comes up, or even go on welfare. I know Russian who came here via Israel who bumped into Toronto Mayor David Miller and got public housing until he was kicked out back to Israel.
Of course, one has to get in the country first to get a good crack at doing that and people from many countries simply can't get in. Haitians, for example, have a very hard time getting a visa here, wheras people from some place like St. Lucia or Grenada can come up fairly easily.
And while each individual immigration story might be insignificant for the public, they are massively important to them and their families. Take for example Vernette Emile who was headed towards becoming a citizen by marrying Jason Lesage in the Ottawa area. Alas Jason was stabbed to death in his apartment in 2009 before her papers could come through and her attempts to stay due to a threatening ex-boyfriend named Dale back home were rejected because St. Lucia police arrested Dale. Her attempt to appeal the judgment also failed.
Another interesting example: Roma (aka gypsies) from the Czech Republic had been coming to Canada and getting accepted as refugees under the explanation that they were being targeted by skinheads back home. Canada accepted 94 percent of those who used this excuse until 2009 when the Federal Immigration Minister was quoted as saying that .."it’s hard to believe that the Czech Republic is an island of persecution in Europe.”
After that, the total went down to zero percent and as you could see here, their attempts to appeal those rulings also failed.
Speaking of the Roma, I had recently been told of a father who sends his 10-year-old son to ask people on the street for 50 cents to use the phone to call his parents, a well-dressed guy right in front of the Cote-des-Neiges plaza. In another west end metro station a mother sat on the floor begging with her young daughter for change.
So yeah, Canada is a vast and relatively empty-country which could really use a lot more people to fill up all that space, especially Manitoba. However there needs to be a better public dialogue on exactly how this can be most effectively done.
"However there needs to be a better public dialogue on exactly how this can be most effectively done."
ReplyDeleteHere is a strange thought, allow the citizens who deal with the immigrants on a day to day basis some input on who we want to share our workplaces and neighbouhooods with. I love how politicians/judges make these decisions for us the public, yet because of there lofty positions these politicians etc. are only exposed to the majority of immigrants on there turf. "That nice colored chap at the club who washes my mercedes." or " That friendly asian couple at my drycleaner"
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteThe citizens who care about this issue generally don't want to see anybody come to this country.
I have to moderate comments as part of my day job. The average person who comments on immigrant issues comes across as being one step away from starting a lynch mob to round up everyone who came to Canada after (or in some cases, before) their ancestors and either forcibly deporting them or just shooting them outright.
In a province where huge swathes of the population have never encountered a non-Catholic Francophone, even discussing the issue exposes all sorts of ignorance and hate.
-Kevin
original anon (sorry just too lazy to register)
ReplyDeleteAgreed! and I hope my comment didnt come off too prejudiced. I am not against immigration, I am simply for a controlled system with proper checks and balances, so as not to diminish quality of life be that for the native or immigrant population. This issue should never be about color but about the character of the applicants. Those who wish to come here and embrace our cultures and values I respect. The others I take issue with. I think alot of middle and lower class all the way down the line have the sentiment that if there own needs are not all being met, how can we take care of the needs of others? we are the first generation to have lesser prospects than our parents did.
As an immigrant to Canada myself I think the process is fair but mercilessly slow. It can take over a year just to find out you had an error on your application.
ReplyDeleteI think Canada should allow the possibility of paying to fast track your application. They could use the funds they raise to shorten the waiting time for everyone. I would have gladly paid $5000.00 just to sit down with someone, fill out the paperwork and get an answer in weeks rather than a year.
We also found it nearly impossible to find clear instructions on what to do. The fact that Quebec has it's own separate process makes this even more difficult. Government websites often contradicted each other and none of the relevant agencies can be reached by phone or email. When I went through the process, Immigration Canada only took questions submitted by fax! The lack of clear information is what leads vulnerable people to sleazebag immigration attorneys.
I do think a country like Canada with socialized healthcare and other generous social benefits does need to be extremely careful about whom it allows in. I don't see anything wrong with limiting tourist visas to people from countries whose "tourist" rarely return home.
Excellent comments, thanks.
ReplyDeleteI used to think that it was unethical for Canadians to reject any applicant because we ourselves had been welcomed, but now I see it instead as sort of like a private school which accepted us so we have the right to weed through our applicants in that same manner...I suppose then that means that we have now become the governing force that chooses who will be chosen and why, so we've got to have a higher consciousness about this process because we're the ones doing it.
Hey Kevin Fully understand your your concerns on this issue. Having grown up in NDG , I fully embraced the diversity of my neighbourhood , and appreciate what I learned firsthand of many recent immigrants in the late 60's early 70's. They came to start a new life , & to help build our community & country. What should be a concern is the Canadians of convenience , like the 15,000 "Canadians" that were rescued from Lebanon , of a total of 40,00 "Canadians" in 2006 at a cost of over 100mil. This only undermines the people who truly want to be contributing members to our society.
ReplyDeleteI’m really torn on immigration.
ReplyDeleteOf course, we benefit tremenduously from all those people who come from all over the world as they enrich our culture and heritage, and it’s really great to have friends coming from all over the world because life would get quickly boring if there were only white people around.
However, those skilled people are depriving their own countries of their expertise and skills that could help them to improve their general level of life.
@Jean Well said. I work 4-5 months a year in Costa Rica , where a Project Manager makes $2500 per month. Very well compensated for CR , but they know their skills are worth upwards of $8000 in North America. What they don't understand is the cost of living ,taxes ,which is a foreign concept in CR , the loss of extended family , which is very important to Ticos , unlike North Americans. One winter , they will be yearning for rice & beans & plantain & the climate of home.
ReplyDeleteAllowing some immigrants from a particular unnamed country to live and work in Canada as "nannies" is, in my opinion, patently ludicrous as most of them already have small children of their own where they came from.
ReplyDeleteSo what is more important? Taking care of your own kids, or someone else's?
In addition, to me it seems somewhat degrading to bring in hundreds of Haitians to drive taxis. Is that the best they can do?
In the final analysis, charity begins at home--which is how it should be.
Foreign students sneaking into Canada or the U.S., and then never returning to their homelands will obviously keep said homelands less productive and usually less-democratic than they might otherwise become if said students went back home and used their presumed earned skills to help their own people progress.