Close Reading

As someone who was born and spent decades growing up in Toronto who moved to the US years ago and spend time regularly in multiple states, I disagree vehemently with what Aba said about safety. Aba did not recognize that not only is the US like 50 different countries, with each state being somewhat unique unto themselves, but the cities are like an amalgamation of 2 or 3 different cities. What I mean by that is about the safety and security aspect, it all depends on where you live and where you hang out. Undoubtedly, US ghettos and the sketchy clubbing districts are generally worse than Canadian housing projects and such. If you live in the regular or especially good parts of the city, it's totally safe. \nBecause most US towns and cities are built around neighborhoods, security and safety is always a big selling point. As long as you avoid the ghetto and late night 'action' areas, it's generally safer than Toronto. Toronto suffers from an outbreak of car break ins, car thefts, home break ins and recently car jackings all over. Many US neighborhoods and areas have no such thing. On a side note, as a POC, I also have experienced far less racism in the US than I used to in Toronto. Without getting into a can of worms, if you live in a Democrat controlled city vs. Republican one, you are going to experience more crime, more homeless, higher unemployment, etc. You guys are referencing LA, which has become far worse, like San Francisco and New York. \nAnd the cost of living comment is ridiculous. Again maybe LA and NYC which are shadows of what they once were. Canada has far higher tax burden, way higher inflation, prices of food, energy, clothes and homes are off the charts. In Texas, Florida, Tennessee and Washington, we have ZERO income tax as well as lower tax than the HST. No way, Aba and Preach are dead wrong on these issues, because they are using LA or NYC as a reference. There's a reason the movies Escape From New York and it's sequel Escape From LA are such prophetic movies.

I was born and raised in New Brunswick.I love it totally .I miss it as I live in Ontario.

I was born here in Canada and in the last 5 years almost every new person I met was new to Canada. Every time I ask them why they came and it's the same answer every time. They got sold a dream of beautiful life in a clean country, but they don't realize it's all a dream and not realistic.

I Was born in Canada and I agree and disagree with some points you've mentioned. How can you come to Canada and not expect to wear a jacket ? lol... The price of living is going up all over the world, the last 6yrs has become very pricey in all western countries. Hospitals are overrun in major cities in Canada that's very true, but not in smaller locations. Boring (are you crazy ? lolol) I completely disagree. You just don't know where to go lol ... however everything you do in Canada cost money ?. And I completely agree when you mention that Canada won't allow you to become filthy rich (very disappointed about that one) ... There is racism, but not just from the predominant Canadians. There have been many times when the racism is from someone new to Canada. But i also know as a black person i will experience this anywhere in the world. (They're portraying what they normally would towards me while in there own countries) ... anyway nice post, it's nice to hear what it's like from your perspective. Find yourself a good Canadian man (or woman) to show you around ???. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but you still have to find the beauty in order to behold it :).

I was born in canada (Montréal ) and never left this country. I thought about maybe moving to Nigeria or Brésil one day. But I’m way too comfortable living here. This country is awesome. \n\nI think that those 2 woman are just boring period. They probably stay at home and do nothing. \n\nTheir is so much to do in Montréal .\n\nYou got endless festivals during the summer, outdoor activities during the winter. You have to try new things, \n\nTry skiing during the winter. Do some yoga. Learn about other cultures, salsa, meringue class. \n\nWhen you have a regular 9 to 5 you will work hard and have little to enjoy specially if you have kids.\n\nPeople usually enjoy their selves doing activities with their kids. \n\nThese woman look like they stay at home doing absolutely nothing. Waiting on summer watching tv from their home country on roukoo

I was born and raised in Canada. The rat-race was going nowhere for me and my quality of life was even worse, so I decided to move to Africa. Even though I am making minimal money here compared to Canada, I have never been happier. I feel like the Most High gave me a fresh new start.

Canada has always been boring to me the only thing that spice it up is the migrants spice things up , the only thing I like about Canada is cold and this is coming from a person who was born in Trinidad grew up in Jamaica Queens and New York . Da cold keeps my chocolate cool love it LOL ?

I was born and raised in London and loved in US but I have always had this yearning to go back to Nigeria at some point. People in Nigeria will never understand what life is like here they think it's heaven and will solve all their struggles back home. It won't you'll just find yourself with a new set of problems.

Why Nigerians don't love their country, iam South African and I love my country I would never live in any country, I have been to New York, London, Amsterdam, Italy ,Rio Brazil, Germany, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Sydney Australia, Hong Kong,Istanbul and many other countries ,SA is the best and I was born n bred in SA

I feel that with Keanu Reeves, it's a bit of a trick question: his parents are American and English, he was born in Lebanon, and he briefly lived in New York before his family moved to Toronto.

Quebec...get right. I was born in that hell-hole and as an English kid growing up in the highly separatist east end of Montreal my childhood was miserable. The french are so bent on having their own little country they treated anglos like dirt. Try driving east towards New Brunswick and stopping anywhere to get food or whatever, you better parlez the francais or you'll be looked at like you a criminal. How dare you speak the hinglich au Quebec. Best province my ass. They don't even consider themselves a part of Canada. Take the once named St. Jean Baptiste holiday on June 24th, it's now la fete nationale. Sure sounds Canadian right! You got your list upside down, this video is garbage.

Hello and thank you for sharing your experience living here in the United States. I was born and raised here. It looks to me as if you live in a north eastern state. I do too, Michigan. And to be fair it can be very boring living here in the winter unless you like being outside in the cold. If you do there are so many fun things to do like skiing, sledding, snow shoeing skating ect.. But in the summer months everyone has fun and socializes where I live in my town. We have a lot of kids . 4 parks all different to enjoy. We have 4 or 5 lakes to enjoy and a large river that runs through our town. People are always walking, running, riding bikes and playing sports all around here everyday all summer. There are also many different clubs and groups you can join with people of like interests all year round. I would say if you are the type who likes a lot of interaction then get out and look around. Not everyone is sitting in the house all day. Also maybe try another neighborhood or state if your not happy where you are. Also if you feel disconnected from your neighbor's then may I suggest having a BBQ and inviting everyone to come and bring a dish to pass to get to know everyone. We have one in our neighborhood every summer and it started with one new neighbor who moved in and wanted to get know everyone. I hope you will receive my suggestions in love as I feel sad that you feel so lonely here and I hope it gets better. You could be the one to change everything for your neighborhood. ?

Everyone's opinion will be different. I am black American. What u see now doesn't mean it's always been that way. When I was growing up in the suburbs of long Island, everyone was outside every chance they got. We kids made up games, jumped rope played in the parks went to the beach concerts etc. The adults, if lived in apartments including housing, sat outside and interacted. Neighbors in houses had block parties, new neighbor welcoming, and so on. One of the reasons at least in my community was that a lot of folks were from the south. Everyone spoke, knew each other in their villages. As time went on and more foreign born moved in things changed mainly because of difference in culture then in some places crime is bad. There's no one shoe fits all. It's different all over this big country.

Canada is what you make of it. You can arrive rich and end up poor and you can arrive poor and end up rich. In between that, you can have a great life that balances your needs. I’ve seen immigrants succeed simply because they see the opportunity in front of them . They worked hard in their own counties to stay just above the poverty line ,but when they apply that same effort here it pays off ten times greater. I feel that compared to a lot of immigrants, natural born Canadians come across as spoiled and a little lazy…we are. We haven’t had to struggle the same way someone from a poorer country might have. I’ve talked to people who’ve worked ten to twelve hours a day just to stay afloat. If you did that here you could make plenty of money to live and have some left over. As far as owning a house goes,yes it’s expensive . I feel that homeownership in any country is relatively expensive. Here is a tip; use that soaring home prices to your advantage. Houses are expensive but you can make a lot of money buying and selling. I recommend putting together a buyers group and share the house for a few years, then sell at a profit, buy a bigger house or two smaller houses.try to buy the worst house in the best neighbourhood and fix it up slowly . That house could double in value in five or six years in the Toronto market. This is nothing new of course ,the people from India and China seem to do this a lot here ,it drives up prices and profits. On the downside to this ,you are now part of the problem. As the housing prices are driven up the non wealthy can no longer afford to own a house . They are at the mercy of high rents with no rewards of ownership. They are caught in a cycle of hard work and (relative)poverty. This could also be you if you can’t keep up the house payments and are forced to rent.\nHow well you speak English is important but your native language is also useful here because Canada is half immigrants . As a Canadian that speaks only english (Irish descent)I have to say to all newcomers that I’m very impressed that you have learned a new language and that you may even speak more than two! Don’t be embarrassed about your abilities . I find that in my experience , Canadians do not look down on people just because they don’t know English. In fact ,I’ve known people that have lived here for decades and still know very little English. They are comfortable in their communities and they function just fine. Learn as much English as suits your needs and be proud of any gains you make.\nOutside of Toronto are other cities that you might consider when looking at southern Ontario.From my experience,most are generally the same, just not as big . There are large immigrant communities in London Ontario, Hamilton and just outside of Toronto where housing is just a little bit less expensive but the commute to work is probably longer. This is just my opinion but in the small towns there are less people of colour , (which is what people of no colour call everyone else . I wonder if I’m called a person of no colour in some other culture ? LoL ). That might make it harder for you to feel integrated ,if that’s what you want. I’m not saying that people from other cultures can’t make it in a small town , I’m just saying that it’s definitely not Toronto . Here, people of any nationality can feel like they have a place where they can belong . It seems that no matter where you are from ,there is a community already here that’s set up restaurants and stores and clothing shops and newcomer support systems. And if your from Portugal or China or India or Africa or the Middle East, there are large groups of your kin here that have established roots for generations and you probably know this already.\nToronto means meeting place and that becomes evident quickly. I was born here and it’s one of the things I love the most about my city. I’m not going to say that there isn’t systemic racism here ,the people of no colour still kind of keep the top position , but as we become a minority in a decade or so ,I hope that will shift to a broader spectrum. It’s certainly happening already. One good thing is that the police department tries to hire people of colour so that racialism may play a smaller role. We’re getting used to seeing our politicians more and more reflect their constituents.\nI have to talk about the weather. Because I’m from here I’m used to the extremes of minus thirty and plus thirty . Eventually you get used to it (somewhat). Dressing in the right clothes is important. Summer is easy , but winter is different. It’s trying to kill you. Spend the most that you can afford on winter cloths . If you can afford a quality parka you should get one. The hood can be drawn around the face and stay out of the wind.\nIf not ,think of layers with a outer layer that blocks the wind. We have things called long Johns that are basically full length thick cotton or nylon pants that go on under your pants and a pair of extra thick socks. Buy your boots to fit your thick socks. Try to get the best boots you can afford ,it’s something that you might spend a little extra for but never regret.\nAll in all we are a fairly organized and peaceful society. Most people are friendly and will give you a chance . We have a good social safety net here and you don’t have to be homeless or starving if you don’t want to. There are people and organizations set up to help ,that truly try to get people back on their feet. It’s a good investment that pays off in ways that matter for the quality of life in a big city. I’m not putting my American neighbours down when I say they do things differently. They have their ways ,we have ours. This is just something that we do because we’re trying to learn how to help those that society has discarded or can’t find their place. Sure we have one or two areas where the homeless have pitched tents and we have some resources for them if they want. Unfortunately The mayor recently forced a small camp to move from a very visible place to more scattered locations. There were social workers involved as well as protesters trying to protect them. I didn’t like that happening and I want to see even more resources dedicated to them ,but on the other hand ,we are trying to avoid something like what happens on the streets when it’s just ignored. When I see YouTube videos of the streets of Philadelphia I’m extremely saddened. I thank the lucky stars that I was born in Toronto Canada.\nFor all it’s pollution and expense and crowds ,I think it’s a great place to do almost anything your heart desires . For every ugly building there is a beautiful park ,for every honked horn there is a birds call , for every cold and dark day there is beautiful sunny one around the corner.

Great video, I'm glad you are willing to take off the rosy glasses to talk about Canadian reality. I'm a Canadian born myself and everything that was mentioned in the video is accurate in term of the struggles immigrants face. Canada is a very quiet, safe country and crime rate as well as violence in general is low. But Canada can still be as harsh as its climate so don't be fools, Canada is not Disneyland and it's not for everybody. Cities like Vancouver and Toronto are the most expensive cities in North America (Canada + USA) even more expensive than Los Angeles and Montreal is as expensive as New York. Therefore think twice, prepare yourself and do your research before applying. Using John F. Kennedy's famous quote I might add to conclude: \nDon't ask what CANADA can do for you but what YOU can do for Canada.

I wish the United States would face this issue. I've been attacked in a store for unfair, and unfounded suspension. I am treated differently in no less than 75% of stores I go into. The employees stare me down, follow me... I'm going to start filming these people. It's not fair to be harrassed for S.W.B. It's sad, I was born this color, yet I am less than, or just plain bad before I even speak, or act in the minds of many, especially law enforcement. It's sad. It's depressing. It makes everything in life that I do in public, down to using the bathroom, getting to know new people, applying for work, buying food, or just walking down any street, so much harder. Like the world is mad I exist, and the people want me to go away.

Does criticism of Islam amount to racism? Why is it OK criticize communism, nazism and other supremacist ideologies, but as soon as you attach the word divine to the same ideas, then they're off limit? I am Iranian. I was born in a Muslim family. I have been educated in Islam and experienced Islamic, sharia based rule for most of my life. And I have the same concerns as this man. Islam is a brutal supremacist ideology that is incompatible with critical thought, personal freedoms, democracy, rule of law and pretty much everything else that we take for granted in the modern world, that came out of Western Enlightenment. Once muslims become the majority, they will do the same thing as they have done everywhere else where they've taken control. Look at what they're doing in England and France in Majority Muslim areas. Look around the world today and see what Islam leads to. You will put your head in the sand at your own peril. I left my home in my own beautiful and ancient country. I will not do it again in my new home...

Moving to Vancouver was a great experience tbh, I'm of nigerian heritage but was born in Finchley, North London...\nCanadians are friendly and extremely welcoming ( Coming from the UK i found this so off-putting ) lol. Ironically its non-white Canadians i had funny experiences with.... from dating to renting its weird\n\n\nAsians under 27 always asking some crazy questions ( Are you an NBA player ) lol it's cute at first but after a while when little koreans walk up to me talking about ( You look like will smith ) it makes you think... To be fair these are not inherent negatives, But asian canadians alone did treat me weird i found, Indian girls i met all wanted to be with me but where also very ashamed to say so or let their family know, but thats a cultural thing so i understood.\n\n\n Of all the demographics White canadian and native men where the most welcoming and open to me, in my experience.. White women of-course where cool too but that does not really count, especially as a good looking black guy with an accent LOOL you know how that goes!! My Tinder and Bumble were obscene LMAO\n\nRenting from asians while black and Male!? is almost impossible!!! Except they think you have rich parents!! Its impossible in Van unless you are an Arab exchange student lol \nArab and Persian students studying english have no issues renting in Vancouver, for some reason!!\n\nI lived out the St. Regis downtown for a month, Looking for places to rent, i had seen so many places online and filled out applications but never got call backs, asides from 2 group showings i went to, i could not even set up a viewing with the apartment building i wanted... \n\nTill i met an african girl in school, and she told me something i found completely crazy.\nShe told me to make a new e-mail addy and to use my English name when i e-mail, then set up a viewing but to show up with a white friend preferably a girl and that if the owner is asian, i should look around, and offer to pay 6months upfront before they get a chance to ask what i did for work or whether i was a student or not LOL. Needless to say, i did what she said and It worked the asian lady asked me to come get the keys later that day. Its just life, as a property owner they really just wanna size you up, not fair and kind of pathetic but its not inherently evil...

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?

PRESIDENT OBAMA's VISIT TO MOSQUE.\nHE WROTE ON HIS TIMELINE.\nToday, I had the privilege of visiting the Islamic Society of Baltimore, a mosque that serves thousands of Muslim\nAmerican families. Like houses of worship across our country, it's a place where neighbors come together to pray, a school\nwhere students learn, and a health clinic where volunteers serve their community. My visit was a chance to celebrate the\ncontributions that Muslim Americans make to our country every day and to reaffirm the founding ideals that keep our nation strong, including the freedom of religion.\nGenerations of Muslim Americans have helped build our country as farmers, merchants and workers on Henry Ford's assembly line. They're the teachers who inspire our kids, and the nurses and doctors whom we trust with our health. They're scientists who win Nobel Prizes and young entrepreneurs creating new technologies. They're the champions we cheer for – from Muhammad Ali to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. They're the police and firefighters who keep us safe, and the men and women in uniform who have fought and bled and died for our freedom.\nRight now, though, many Muslim Americans are worried because threats and harassment against their community, their families and their children are on the rise. But we are one American family, and an attack on one faith is an attack on all our faiths. When any religious group is targeted, we all have a responsibility to speak up. We need to reject any politics that targets people because of race or religion. At a time when others are trying to divide us along religious lines, we have to\nreaffirm that most fundamental truth – that we are all God's children, all born equal with inherent dignity.\nI want every Muslim American who may be wondering where they fit in to know that you're right where you belong - right\nhere, because you're part of America, too. You are not Muslim or American. You are Muslim AND American. I want every American to know that Muslim communities are standing up for peace and justice as well. That's the spirit I felt on my visit today. And I'm absolutely confident that if we stay true to the values and ideals that bind us as one people, we're going to\nremain strong and united.