Close Reading

Canadian here. I want to make one thing clear: *WE ARE A REAL COUNTRY WITH VERY STRICT IMMIGRATION LAWS!* I myself am an immigrant, although I came here as a baby. People seem to be under the impression that Canada is some sort of utopia that welcomes every single immigrant with open arms and sings “Hakuna Matata” with them. No, we are an actual country with stricter immigration laws than the US. Yes, we love diversity. Yes, it is our strength. But that doesn’t mean everyone is fair game. I’m not even specifically referring to this man here. All so-called refugees who already had made it to the US. If you were a refugee in the US and then come to Canada, OF COURSE we’re not gonna automatically grant you refugee status. Jesus Christ.\n\nTrudeau is not being a hypocrite. Of course we appreciate and welcome immigrants. But We. Have. Laws. End of discussion.\n\nEdit: I want to make it clear that I support immigrants. I voted Liberal and I will again. Either them or NDP. I’m just so sick of people thinking they can waltz into Canada and become a resident. “If Trump gets elected again, I’m moving to Canada!” Please ?

Stop portraying illegal immigrants as victims. I have friends who waited more than 10 years, some even 20, just to migrate to the US. They came from poor countries too, but they still followed the law. And these types of people should stop using their length of stay in the US an excuse not to get deported when they entered illegally in the first place. Also, 15 years in the US and still no English? Immigration should be a a win-win on both the country and the applying immigrant.

I'll lay it out for you: Me: typical middle of the road liberal oriented Canadian. Non white, immigrant (I wasnt born here) I worked in a Refugee housing for over 4 years in Ontario. Most were not war areas refugees (Yes I know there are other types of refugees). I only encountered few refugees from war areas. ONLY 1 person from Iraq, about 2 families were from Afghanistan, 1 couple from Pakistan(I doubt they were real refugees they spoke fluent English, maybe political refugee), and a most from African countries. Its too far for real refugees to get here. Its Easier for them to go to other countries nearby or Europe. MOST SEEM TO BE ECONOMIC REFUGEES. Most were coming from Africa. Some are coming from Latin America, which shouldn't be happening. Once they showed up at our doorstep and we processed them into the system, they were immediately in the same class as a Canadian resident homeless person if they were making a refugee claim. We get money to house and feed them (from the government), and they are given a stipend for basics from the government processed through the Social Assistance/ Welfare system (they get less than a resident/citizen I think.). They then have to get their case processed by the refugee board, and most seem to get in. I've only heard of few getting sent back. One person I know at our facility, was given a subsided social housing apartment after a year in our facility. So they went straight from a shelter to a government/city owned subsidized apartment. (Didn't seem like it was a issue for the housing worker...they didn't report it (if they were not the ones that helped the person to get it), they were white, the housed person was Latin. This refugee claimant, and then month or two new Canadian resident person was given an apartment in a prime area of the city, instead of the 1000's of Canadians, those who came before them, and born Canadian citizens on an extremely long waiting list. How this was allowed to happen I don't know. The person was probably sucking on someone's straw. I'm just trying to think the barriers these people have to go through to get a job here. We are far removed from the time of the 80's and 90's., and housing and jobs are so hard to get. Lol the "Canadian government asks them to repay the traveling cost to Canada if they are sent back"....I wonder how much the government recoups?.....more like 0 probably. What a bunch of crap. How do you demand someone to repay their flight cost when they get back to their country?

She made cultural remarks to defend herself from immigrants who still haven't adapted to the Canadian Culture. Her boss fired her because he or she is an idiot. She is right! If you want to live in a country, you must adapt to the customs and rules of that country. If you insist on behaving according to your original culture, you should catch your bags and go back to where you came from. I entered Canada as an immigrant and have always toed the line. Kudos to Kelly Pocha, for her courage to defend herself and the Canadian lifestyle.