Close Reading

All big department stores in London , Ont are now staffed by more than 90 percent with only Indians , where are the previous employees ?? are they laid off , it all happened in just few years , unbelievable !! why no inquiry about replacing all other hard working Canadians and legal immigrants by new arrivals from only one country ,India and who are those workers , most of them are students , many came with fake documents and many many of them have absolutely no intention to finish their education in Canada but to use these loopholes to get into Canada and never leave , India is one of the most corrupt countries in the world ( look at the origin of most of the scam calls ! ), you can get a PHD degree there with money, ( the most scary part is hiring nurses or doctors with maybe fake degrees ) now corruption and loopholes in our immigration system allowed this influx of cheaters while hundred of thousands of Canadians cant find jobs and honest people from everywhere who try to immigrate through the front door face all the difficulties, this is not racism, it is the truth ...

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.

It is NOT just race. Depending on the bag or backpack you carry, you get followed, which I hate. And I'm not black. My mother also gets followed everywhere in every Macy's store. It drives me crazy. It's really annoying, because I think it's because my mom has big purses and I usually have my art backpack. \n\nWhen I'm in a different town, I get followed in Walmart all the time. If I forget my shopping bags, I will empty my backpack so I can use that to put all my items in at the end of the purchase.\n\n In Best Buy, I'm lucky to get anyone to help me at all!!! I have to hunt someone down, and most of the time, they don't know anything anyway. Target: I have a hard time finding anyone to help me as well. I haven't really done a social experiment, but sometimes I just have my shopping bags and fill them as I shop and I won't carry a purse.\n\nLocally, I don't get followed because my family and me are known in that town. We know a lot of people and my face is everywhere. I never get followed. But out of town Walmart, I get followed in certain stores. It irritates me immensely, especially since I buy a lot of make up and the make up department is cramped they way they block the end of the aisles. It makes it really hard to turn your cart around when other people are in the same aisle. Then they close the make up aisle even though they have tons of cameras all over!! \n\nOverall, I don't know WHERE these backhanded compliments are coming from. I normally hear stuff about my weight. Nothing about race ever. Nor do I ever hear others talking about race. Weight seems to be the hot topic always.\n\nI also find it weird that the one guy feels like he needs to apologize!