Close Reading

Immigrated from Haiti to Montreal in 2001, I was 22. it was impossible getting work in what I studied but worked odd jobs for a few months. Then I went back to university and got a Masters. Husband went back to university as well and got an accounting degree. I have to say the diplomas worked. We ended getting good jobs in our field and now have very good careers. We have some Haitians friends and after years of effort they are all doing relatively well here in Montreal. So can’t complain work wise as long as you are patient, do what you have to do you should make it. For me the biggest drawbacks are the harsh climate and the difficulty to make Canadian friends but plenty of immigrants to befriend so. Also as an immigrant you need to adapt and a lot of people cannot adapt to a new country and want to have what they had back home here that is not realistic. Immigration is not for everyone. But no regrets.

I totally agree with your video.\n\nI am European, and l have been living in Canada for 7 years, including 4 years in Toronto 2 years Ottawa and now In Montreal.\n\nWhen l arrived in Canada l started from the scratch in order to get Canadian experiences and improve my Eng, undestanble and l accept as new comer.\n\nI come back to college in order to get Canadian Educatiom post graduate program. \n\nI got my Canadian Citizenship, l am improving my French, as we know its important to be Bilingual in Canada.\n\nSo far after all this steps l didn't find my perfect and dreaming job, harder to find well paid job and stable.\n\nSometime l feel l loose my time here. I learned the well paid job need strong connection, no well paid or low income for new comers. That why Canadian Gov. need new immigrant .\n\nCanada its not country for opportunity for every one, and it is not well being city, cost the life its extremely hight, renting in Toronto and Vancouver are impossible to manage specially like me single, social life a little boring and trashy compare Europe.\nHigh cost to travel domestically and internationally are crazy, compare euro and USA, so sometime l feel stocks here.\n\nProbaly someone after read my comments, they think why you here? Come back you home country? \n\nWell l could but l have to start again from scratch in my country, l say l am in the limbo now.....

Hard to believe that an Immigrant, with no Canadian Qualification and no Canadian Experience, is offered a position of VP in a reputable company. I was there in Toronto for 5 years as Canadian Citizen. I, as a graduate of bio-medical sciences with 37 years research experience, 31 research publications, applied in various institutions, never got reply from any for any job I applied for.

Canadian immigration sucks. There is no control. I came as an immigrant and I witnessed many heart wrenching situations. Ghost immigrants and non resident Canadian citizens living in India, Dubai, Russia, Lebanon, USA, Israel, Turkey, HongKong etc. They barely lived in Canada, yet they have same rights like us, take child support subsidies, welfare, CPP, Old Age while we bust our a....s in the cold to pay taxes and build the Canadian system. Wake up.

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 ?

As a Canadian we are more open to immigtation . There are still laws. I myself am an immigrant. This piece shows one story out of thousands yearly. Without knowing specific details it is tough to judge. I know and have met quite a few refugees that have gained legal status within the past few years. We are not perfect by any means but the government does a good job, in my opinion. There must still be a vetting process. I hope this family has found stability

My problem with women covering their faces is that that men are not allowed by law to cover their faces, so why would a certain group of women have this right. Women SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN A HIGHER STATUS because we should be EQUAL to men. People easily use freedom of choice as an argument to defend every single thing they do. I WISH, I WISH, I WISH they would advocate for freedom of choice in their country of origin. I wish they would fight for human rights the way they do when they come to the Western World. And saying that covering your face doesn't define you is complete bulls*** because when we ask you to take it off suddenly it becomes who you are as a person. As a Canadian Christian woman of Lebanese origin (second-generation immigrant), I love everyone... jews, muslims, hindus, ... you name it. But what I don't like is HYPOCRITES.

Is that supposed to be a scandal?\n\nWe accept illegal immigrant crossing the border from USA and we put them in hotels, give them even more money than we give to people who paid the government all their life.\n\nWe put an immigrant as the immigration minister.\n\nAnd after that we are supposed to be surprised about something like that?\n\nI would send Ahmed Hussen back in his original country. \n\nI would send those who cross the border illegally directly in prison in shackles and leave their belonging where they stand. I would give them a treatment similar the country they come from, not a five star hotel treatment. Then send every illegal immigrant in their country. Strip immigrant, facilitating illegal immigration, from the citizenship and ban them from entering Canada for 10 years and ban them from ever getting citizenship.\n\nBut we don't ever strip someone of his Canadian citizenship if they committed crimes.\n\nBUT COMMON SENSE IS NOT THE STRENGTH OF THE LIBERALS. \nWE HAVE A CRIMINAL AS A PRIME MINISTER.

As a legal immigrant and proud Canadian citizen, I'm appalled at such a soft punishment for such a crime. \nThe guy should have gotten at least 20 years behind bars.

As a Canadian, I have to say that I'm very proud that we are able to take so many immigrants. Our first Prime Minister was an immigrant. Our country was built on immigration. Ask yourself who built this country? Immigrants did. But with every wave of immigration comes prejudice. Irish, Ukrainians, Polish have all seen there share of prejudice. Now its brown people from Syria that escaped with the cloths off their back. Maybe you should be thankful for what you have, that you are able to live in a country where you dont have to worry about your fundamental freedoms.

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.

RE: Canadian healthcare, my wife broke both her hips in 2017 in two separate falls, she was admitted immediately to hospital without delay and operated on the next day (half hip replacement), after physio and occupational therapy she was discharged and provided Homecare, 16 times per week plus weekly Day Hospital. Our cost for both operations was roughly $160.00 for parking spots for me so I could visit her and about $140 in Tim Horton doughnuts for staff. The system does not have enough of certain types of specialists thus wait times for those specialists, and there are wait times for elective surgery. The system has not really been reviewed since its inception in the 1960s but making significant changes is the third rail of Canadian politics and a hard look is justified after 70 years. Re: illegal crossings; The gentleman in the video has a problem in that the US and Canada have signed a “safe country” agreement and neither will accept refugees from the other as both Canada and the US are deemed “safe havens”. He crossed illegally, if he had crossed legally he would have been immediately turned back at the border but he clearly entered the country between border crossings and was likely arrested and released on recognizance but not returned immediately as the agreement is silent on illegal entries (yes, seems a touch strange). As many people are leaving the US for Canada the system is overwhelmed. Tent cities have been set up in Quebec and public housing used in Manitoba to house illegal immigrant pending processing - those with criminal records are held for deportation. Canada has accepted roughly 25,000 Syrian refugees from camps in that part of the world. These refugees were first vetted by the UN then Canada. These refugees are completely different from the people crossing the border illegally from the United States. This pales to the 75,000 boat people accepted after the fall of Saigon. Canadians have been generally accepting of refugees but wants the process guided by the rule of law. Immigrants are a separate from refugees and the rules governing their entries into Canada are different.

So let me get this straight, an immigrant claims to be a refugee even though he isn't, skirted Canadian immigration officials and moved his family to evade the immigration hearing and now acts as if Canada owes it to him to stay.

We need the same approach when it comes to Syrians in Canada. Every immigrant takes work from a Canadian. Unlike Canadians who help out everyone when it comes to employment. East Indians for example only hire east indians from my experience alot of foreigners only hire their own. Say for example when Alberta was busy the government flooded the market with tfw(temporary foreign workers)to support the trades, but then let them all stay. Now it's slow and there are foreigners working when Canadians need jobs. Cause unlike Canadians they refer all their foreign friends for work. We need to curb this shit in Canada and stop being so kind! Atleast most Mexicans have similar traditional values as most generational Canadians. Unlike most middle eastern countries.

There are many problems with anti-immigrant rhetoric and one of them is the classification who is and who isn't an immigrant and the question of when does a person stop becoming an immigrant and become a Canadian? A significant portion of people living in Canada are first/second/third generation Canadians and so, how do we classify these people, are they immigrants or are they not? And what of their parents/grandparents who immigrated, are they? It's very important to note that without their ancestor parents, all these first/second/third gen Canadians will not be here and they are now 'Canadians' today because we had pro-immigration laws. Also, the idea of accessing services is by itself, very problematic. I spent the first 4 years of my life here paying high tuition fees as well as tax that are used to subsidize fellow Canadians' tuition fees yet I'm not able to access any government services. Following graduation, I worked as a worker on visa where my tax was no less than an average Canadian yet government services were very much inaccessible to me. It was only after I became permanent resident, that somehow everything suddenly became available to me. I have been tax paying 6-7 years before I became a PR here yet all those years, I wasn't able to access a single thing yet somehow, after I became PR, I'm eligible for everything? The tax argument doesn't make sense at all. I will be eligible to apply for citizenship in like a year and does that mean now I am one of you, Canadians?

+Joe Smith explain? When you join a new country it's generally to start a better life. The moment an immigrant comes here they're as Canadian as I am. I'm no Native so what does the time matter? Immigrants sacrifice leisure time for work/school and other opportunities. People born in western countries do t appreciate what they have whereas immigrants can make magic happen with minimum wage. They work so much harder than an average westerner born and raised. No question.