Close Reading

Very well done video & Thank YOU for showcasing the point of view from "real Canadians". As an immigrant who came to this country & fell in love with its culture 40 years ago, it's appalling to see how our beautiful first world country is quickly becoming a gutter. The newcomers these days are the privileged ones. All of us need to speak up, especially those of us immigrants who retain our original accents &/ non-white because our white fellow Canadians are accused of being racist whenever they do (though many could learn to be more eloquent. ie. go back to your country does NOT help)! I see it as my Canadian duty to remind "misbehaving" newcomers the reason they left their country in the first place. ie. You chose Canada for a better life, so why try to change it into the one you left? ie. Help me understand your logic? Why not leave your hate & war at the border; just like normal folks won't bring stinky garbage into their new homes. Life is challenging enough when you uprooted to a new country (especially our unforgiving cold Winter). So, just focus on the positive things in your new country & leave all your miseries behind... ie. Learn to adapt & enjoy your new country. Canada is a great country because of the love & effort of those before you, so now you are the beneficiary. Join the legacy by enhancing this beautiful country & its culture, so you can pass on this century old legacy for later newcomers to enjoy, like you do now. What dignity do you have & what kind of life lessons to your children by bullying your culture & religion into Canada at the expense of other Canadians? This will fracture Canada if everyone does that. Do you want this country to become so fractured & terrible that your descendants have to leave for a better country, like you did? Is that what your religion teaches you? Does it state it's perfectly fine to satisfy all your whims & wishes at the expense of others? Are you striving for Canadians to think badly of your race/culture? Are you being a good ambassador to your race/community/culture/religion? Canadians are so friendly & helpful, if you need help, just ask, please don't demand. Learn the language & it's ok to speak broken/pigeon English with gestures to communicate. No one expects you to be an English scholar; you gain respect for trying. Apply some basic Canadians manners, which goes a long way... Please & Thank You, Smile doesn't cost you anything, besides it's good exercise for your facial muscles. I worked my entire career with the public, I very seldom encounter negative feedback when I do the above. If they get nasty, I tell them that's definitely not the Canadian way to make friends & wish them Good Luck! I also make a point in telling the wealthy ones "Tax Avoidance is legal (I'm more than happy to show them), but Tax Evasion is not! Then reminding them....Canada will be bankrupt eventually if everyone don't pay their fair share of taxes. ie. You may not suffer, but your children/grandchildren will. Worst Case scenario, you didn't get the necessary medical care when you most needed it!!! We should lobby for a mandatory course that all newcomers have to take & PASS a test about Canadian culture & expectations. If they fail, no citizenship for sure! But that would be another hornets nest because our parliament will debate over definition of "Canadian Culture" for decades. Welcome to Canada!😂

We can all thank most boomers for another Liberal term. I've seen them talk about how they'd leave Canada and live somewhere else if Carney didn't win. Must be nice to have that kind of privilege when they force this hellscape on the rest of us.

Um so tired of going to a store all immigrants working. Make a phone call it's answered by an immigrant. You can't understand them . I love on ccpd I don't get old age pension yet. I'm too old to get the child tax credit and I'm on a Canada pension disability. I get 713.00 a min to live on. Period. That's it. 😢😢😢 I struggle every day. I live in a seniors housing complex..so my rent is adjusted to fit my income. Thank God for housing I'd be homeless if it wasn't for them. 😢😢 But the immigrants have money. Have jobs. Drive new cars. Get free rent for a year. I waited 9.5 hours at the emergency😢😢 not the Indians they have Indian drs that work there for them. How in the hell is this ok. I ended up leaving the emergency I couldn't wait any longer. I sat there in pain all that time and two Indian families came in during that time and within 20 min at the most they were in and out. They even have an advertisement in the emergency room in their language with all the Indian drs working there. Wtf is going on. I'm tired of seeing these people. They are opening businesses here. Everything you see now is written in English, French and Indian. They call it our third language now. There are building going up that have only immigrants in them. A d I live in a small town but the city. Come on. They stopped saying the Lord's prayer in schools. They can't say Merry Christmas. Christmas concerts are called Holliday concerts now. Our kids don't know the national a them they stopped that. They don't know the Lord's prayer they stopped that. The schools are changed to not make other nationalities feel bad. They get their Holliday's off and our Holliday's off..why? We don't get their off. Yeah I'm just a plain white person who lived in Canada all my life. 64 years. I've never seen this in my days. Never. Everything is destroyed. This feels like India 😢😢😢. We have to stop this. They need to leave. They are not here because of war or danger for their lives. They are here to take the jobs, take over our culture and country. Now we have to be careful what we say or were called racist. I'm white I lived in the hood all my life. With black people. I have alot of black friends even family but this is so damn reducilous. Who are they a d why are they here. Canada doesn't take care of us any more. Or help us people who need it. We are homeless in the streets you don't see Indians homeless, hell no. So Carney step up a x fix what Trudeau ruined. Please. This is not the country I'm used to it's India. Not Canada. I have friends from Ukraine. Now they are brought here because of the war. I get it. But they have their own immigration dr. And they've been here 2.5 years if that and bought their own home a year ago. How is this possible? The first year Canada paid their rent for a year. I live on 713.00 a month. He's a month. I live in seniors housing. I can't get enough to live on. I struggle every day😢😢😢 no one will help me. I'm alone and have nothing while Canada is supporting these immigrants and saying to hell with you if your Canadian . Yes I said it. How can someone live in what I get a month. I don't get anything else and like I said if it wasn't for housing I'd be in the street while Canada brings over immigrants from India that are not here because of war. Just to make more money to send home and take everything from us. They are laughing at us everyone is. Wake up people. We are the minority in our own country😢😢😢😢😢 I'm so done

I know that most everyone I know thinks Trump is the complete worst thing to happen to the US ever. His narcissistic and delusional actions are ruining our country and making the US a terrible place to live right now. We are a laughing stock because of him. I hope the congress can get him, JD and Musk sentenced to jail for all the constitutional laws and rights they have broken and ignored. Thank you for speaking to the Orange Smurf directly.

I’m in tears. Mr. Trudeau, thank you for supporting the US citizens as we try to figure out what we can do to get our friends back. I’d give anything to be a Maple Leaf if I can’t have my country back. I love Canada because they’ve always welcomed me. The people are freaking amazing and kind. I love our allies because we look out for each other. Canada, Mexico, Europe, Ukraine, etc., the American people love you and don’t want this insanity - not just liberal-minded people like me, but most all of us. Love to you all!

The ChiComs, working with their Liberal minions, have made sure that any election will be rigged. Trump is trying to save Canada because he will send Troops into Canada to eject the Chinese military. He wants to do it with laws by getting Canada to join the USA. If that does not happen, he will use the military to do it, and Canada will be seen as the enemy of the USA allied with China. Trudeau admitted that without the welfare the USA has been providing to Canada, your economy will collapse. The Bank of Canada is bankrupt. The Canadian dollar is about to collapse. How will you feel next year when you need two dollars to buy what one dollar buys now? And plan on having fewer dollars to start with because your carbon tax, your sales tax, your income tax are all going up. WAY up. This is what happens when you decide to compete with a USA that is unshackled. The USA can produce more of our own oil than we can use, and we will sell the extra to YOUR foreign customers cheaper than you can produce it. Then you will be BEGGING for a pipeline. So Trump invited Canada to become a member of the most successful and powerful union of sovereign states in history, something that even our own territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and all the others do not have. An invitation to be a bona fide member. Why do you think that is? Minerals? The USA has all the minerals we need. We have more oil, coal, and natural gas than any nation also, and we can produce and refine it cheaper than any country can. So Canada was invited to become a state so Trump could peacefully eject the ChiComs from North America. And did you accept? No. Did you say no thank you? No. You gave us the finger and said f&$k you to Trump. We hear you Canada. But now is not the time for pain, that comes later.

Prime Minister Trudeau, thank you for showing the world how a true gentleman and leader talks to the leaders of another country in spite of the irrational, immoral and turncoat actions from a former Ally; our (?) new MAGA President Donald Trump. It's so surreal that this narcissistic, psychopathic person actually won the Presidential election (again). All I can say is I am sorry, embarrassed, and ashamed of my broken country's politicians in Washington, D.C. at present. Many more Americans support the democratic policies than the anti-democratic that Trump's regime is spouting all around the world. Just know this isn't what most Americans believe and we don't support his thoughts and actions. We are trapped in this nightmare that makes no sense. We hope this is just a temporary change. These new policies benefit no one but the oligarchs of America (and world). I guess we are just going to have to take our punishment for the few years for not being able to prove that these people in Washington care NOTHING for anyone, including their own constituent, and are hell bent on taking down and destroying our American, Democratic way of life and we, the people, are helpless to stopping it dissolve and crumble. Thank you Canada for always being such great neighbors. Good luck, peace out!

I am so sorry, as a native Canadian, that Indians are feeling attacked. It is difficult, no matter your ethnic background, if you are not Indian to even acknowledge these issues because people are afraid of being labelled as racist so I thank you for bringing this topic up. Please understand this is the result of runaway immigrations with no real screening. The government quadrupled immigration, hundreds of percents increase in students, asylum seekers, and illegal entries, even though there was already a housing crisis, and a completely predictable doctor shortage due to aging out. Covid was just starting to get under control but many still needed treatment and BOOM, the population went from 30 million in 2014 to over 40 million in a decade, most of it in the last 3 years. We native Canadians are scratching our heads, we don't understand what the Liberals are trying to accomplish but to create suspicion and racism between groups of people -- divide and conquer? Maybe...but ultimately it is a complete lack of planning! Still 99 percent of Canadian born do not blame Iindividual ndians for this. I've lived and worked with Indians my entire life of over 60 years. There are now Indian gangs, particularly Punjabi gangs because of lack of oversight, and while they are small they are constantly committing crimes, selling drugs, shooting people all in the last few years. I hear gun shots nightly in my ethnically mixed neighbourhood, and we are all afraid to walk at night. Unfortunately the people arrested are mostly from continental India. Some have a political agenda that has to do more with India than Canada, so they recruit young Indo-Canadian children from good families and tell them they are being oppressed, and next thing these kids are acting as drug mules and enforcers, being told that they are fighting systemic racism. As for dancing and music, I love the cultural events, we are happy to see and even take part in Indian cultural events. IWhen I do hear people blaming India and Indians it breaks my heart too! Hopefully together we can fix this. Our governments are at odds, and I hate this -- they need to respectfully talk and work this out. You are good neighbours, good people, you are welcome here and have helped build Canada in so many positive ways. ?

As a Filipino watching the economy of USA from afar, I think that no other politician has shown significant concern to help its economy except for Trump. He's pretty bold and not scared to voice out issues that make the democrats uncomfortable. It is not for me to decide who others will vote. However, I see a leader in Trump and he's not afraid to fight back. It's only a matter of time for the Chinese to create its own microchips that are of novelty and prestige. Their economy is of course stagnant as of the moment because many foreign companies pulled out from China. Nevertheless, do you think it's going to be forever? They will cope and soon establish theirs given their population and government financial backing. Trump was right to put trade war against them to regulate foreign trade as it did with Japan. All countries will suffer when the dollar loses the international prestige. It is fastly losing it's international reputation as of these days. If this won't halt, imagine a future where the Chinese RMB will be the basis of international trade. You don't know the real plan of the Silk Road guys. Americans are conquerors and we have adjusted with their ways already. And, the Chinese are conquerors as well. Their goal is to really surpass the USA. The rise of China has benefited every ASEAN member, but greatly the former than the latter. We can adjust with their ways. However, America and Europe may not be that ready to adjust their ways for them should they surpass USA. The USA has become complacent and too liberal where individual rights, although important, have gone too far-fetched. This has created entitled individuals who think they own the world. Now, look at the Chinese. While most young Americans are busy dancing in TikTok and the likes of wasting time for entertainment, most young Chinese are studying hard and upskilling. Let's remember that America became great because of its inventions and extremely the nuclear power. Without great minds, minds that are feebled by drugs and misguided philosophies, a society will crumble. USA can use its weapons and influences against other countries, but can it hold the progress of it's rival economy for the rest of the years? You guys need a leader who is competitive and won't back down from a fight. As of these days, given only two political candidates to choose for presidency, I dare say that Trump has a higher bidding for the goodness of USA. Of course he wasn't able to accomplish his plan before after you guys impeached him. How the hell can a leader complete its plan after being halted unprecedentedly amid his administration? Kamala Harris looks promising but not convincing. Aura, although unquantifiable, do speak something. Choose your leader and it will choose your fate. Let's hear what the two sides will share this upcoming debate. If I'm American, whoever wins that debate, wins my heart. As easy as that. You see, if someone can be defeated so easily in his or her country through debate, do you think that whoever that someone who wins will be able to compete globally? Think of the likes of Putin and Xi Jinping. Think of a leader who can communicate with them effectively. That's all for me. Thank you

With your gun culture, politics and health care system in no way would I ever move to the US. There are way to many mass shootings happening all over the US and I can't see your gun culture ever changing to lower and make it safer to live in most parts of the US. Our Canadian political system may not be perfect but it's WAY Better then the US, how in HELL can Donald ever be allowed to run again for President after what he has done and have people still support him ??? \nJust a little over 20 years ago I met and became good friends with a young woman while we were playing an MMORPG. We spent most of our free time playing different RPGs over the years together. Around 9 years ago she came down with some kind of a illness and thank goodness she had healthcare through her job. The thing is though the system couldn't/wouldn't identify what was causing her decline in health. She went through all kinds of tests but became sicker and sicker in years to come. She died in October of 2021 but before she died we both wondered if the health care system was just milking her insurance and not really taking proper care of her. BTW she lived in SLC Utah. Going back to your gun culture though she felt safe living in SLC the mall she went too had a mass shooting and she also carried a pistol in her purse. ( she had a permit ) I have never known any woman in Canada who felt that she needed to carry a gun in her purse for safety.

Seriously? McDonalds and Starbucks? We don't have McDonalds and Starbucks? News to me bro! We have amusement parks too and FYI, healthcare is totally free, we don't have to pay for it, not ever, not any procedure, period. Gun violence, need I say more. I like that there is the second amendment and that you can carry firearms BUT there has t be a better way of implementing it, too much gun violence, school shootings, mass shootings, it's just too scary to live there. I go to the US and I am always shocked by how people treat the service industry, waiters, waitresses, anyone that is in a position of service are treated like CRAP (for the most part), customers don't say please or thank you, they are not polite ay all, never got that, entitled people everywhere. The attitude that America is the greatest country in the world, where do they get off? America is the only free country? I think not. Abortion issue, the new bullcrap happening with TRANS and LGTBQXYZ and I have to play along with their mental disorders and fantasies, no thank you. I do not want to walk down the street in fear of my life, why in GOD's name would I want to live in a country that is the equivalent of a school bully.

First, I want to thank you for making this video. The health of a country, or the health of an individual which are clearly linked, is dependent on our ability to see ourselves and each other, and make necessary changes to improve in the areas that we lack personally, and as communities in our beautiful country of Canada and other countries as well. Well, it’s a work in progress. I appreciate how you’ve inspired us to speak about things that aren’t necessarily spoken about. At least not where I live and have lived in Canada. Thank you so much for that opportunity. It doesn’t matter about my opinion. What matters is sharing our own thoughts, feelings, and experiences because they aren’t debatable. \n\nWe are in violation of Multiple Human Rights violations against Inuit , Indigenous and Métis people by the United Nations. Most have no water to drink—not even boiled water and bottled water is available sometimes when it’s brought to reservations . Children don’t have the same access to books. So many thousands of bodies of children taken to residential schools from their parents arms and community for over 160 years yet the deep wounds aren’t given compassion by most people anymore and systemic abuse actively impacts them and therefore all of Us . We are all one whether we see people as other’ or not. We’re humans. \n They’re not seen in media unless it’s a bad story yet we’re only now teaching one mandatory class by non indigenous people. Solution: elders teach their grandchildren languages that weren’t erased by genocide and environmental /spiritual cultural practices and lifestyles before they’re gone by paying first people elders and streaming it into all Canadian classrooms so the children can see a future where they’re valued and all Canadian kids can get a full education and learn accurate history. Making canoes, baskets, sacred ceremonies, food growing (that they taught to pilgrims so they’d survive here), etc. No, I’m not indigenous. I’m an immigrant like all but the first people. They’ve an amazing culture that’s been all but lost . When we don’t see ourselves represented in any media, any careers, and start our lives in extended poverty based on our race, and all that was taken still today, it’s no wonder the teen suicide rate for indigenous youth is more than double / triple all non - indigenous youth. The numbers are growing. \nI live in Care due to my physical disabilities . An international nursing student worked for me providing personal care like showers, meal prep etc and over that year, she said she wouldn’t have moved here specifically because of a few things I’ve mentioned. She told me Canada was sold to people in her country of origin as a ‘multicultural’ safe haven without extreme racism still prevalent today and within our history. \n\nI’m ashamed of Canadian government promises for over 100 years that aren’t fulfilled. All children deserve healthy drinking Water and an education. Period. Especially, the ambassadors of this amazing land that they see as themselves without separation. That’s accurate. We will have nothing to stand upon if we don’t protect the earth. It will go on without us. \n\nI see many things in the comments I’ve seen or experienced, unfortunately. This is a beautiful country for so many reasons. It’s important that from such abundance we listen to your video, look at ourselves honestly and i feel, be the change we want to see in the world like Gandhi said.\n\nMuch love and healing from an All inclusive advocate. All life matters.

Unfortunately we can thank Biden for this! When most of us can't even find affordable housing I wonder where all of these people are actually going to sleep? People are out in their cars their campers their vans and some are on bicycles sleeping under the stars. So I wish the migrants good luck most Americans are not happy about the situation we will see what kind of reception they get.

Thank the Democrats for letting this happen. We cannot support the people we have now so how are these people going to get the help they need? I guess these liberal cities can keep taking them in since it's their policies letting it happen. I guess if these cities get tired of footing the bill maybe they will stand up and say something to their leaders and tell them enough is enough. They don't want the wall they don't want to give the ice agents and border patrol the help they need and they keep blaming Americans for their stupid policies but they sure will bring in hundreds of IRS agents to take your money and arrest you if they don't think you're paying what they deem acceptable. I think most Americans are sick of this administration and want it gone. Their giving more rights to illegals and other countries than the people who live here. This administration is going after the rights and freedoms of all Americans and trying to turn the Constitution into some old document that doesn't have any relevance in today's world. They're pushing more and more communistic laws through our government to strip Americans of their rights. People need to wake up and see that this administration doesn't give a damn about you or this country.

How Dirty immigrants can help United State. I don’t care too much about them, but I want to share what we can get from these immigrants and how we can exploit everything and take advantage. \n \n1. Cheaper Tacos. \nI’m seeing some crazy Taco prices in my area. But We can lower the cost of tacos by bringing in more immigrants. More immigrants mean taco shops, taco shops make hot tacos and more tacos in the supply chain is all we need to bring Taco prices down. which means we can eat more tacos. Immigrant = Taco shop = Cheap Tacos = happy tummy \n \n2. Your precious time! \nWhy clean your own Cars, or your pets which take hours and hours. Your time is precious. You can save so much time for so little money and with that time you can work for even more money or go have a great time. Let’s all live like KING! Apply this to everything thing in your life you majestic being. \nCheap Labor + Little Money = More Money and Time \n \n3. Be a Great person without doing anything! \nWe want to be good neighbors, but my room is just too comfy. I know that feeling but you don't get many chances in life to help someone, this is our chance! Also, they are doing all the work. Let us all pretend that we did something and let them in. After this we can go back to playing video games or watching our favorite shows. \n \nYes. In the beginning They will need help since they came here so poor. But don’t you lift a finger. There are Church groups and Organization and if they are lucky, they might have family member. Our government could also pitch in if they really want as they can think of them as a small investment. A seed for the bigger picture, and we think big. We have abandoned neighborhoods and empty buildings and I would rather have hard-working people take over instead of all these crack-up druggies calling themselves homeless. This will build and strengthen our neighborhoods and trickle into a stronger country. \n \n4.Can’t own Slaves anymore, but we got the next best thing. \nCheap labor. We need to have our own Giant Factories and more Labor force and Health care worker relief. Let them in but they must work hard and cheaply and take Jobs most Americans don't want as they are starting from the bottom. Until they master English, they are not a threat to any jobs that you might want, and most don't even bother to learn which is good for us. \n \nHealthcare workers are working too hard. Let’s use migrants and help them out, immigrants can do all the labor-intensive and poop work so our healthcare workers can focus more on the health of the patients. This will reduce hospital bills since labor is a major cost to any business. We will also all receive better care at the hospital. \n \nUS companies and foreign companies are building factories in India or in Mexico when the same workers are at our doors. Let's build them here in the USA and we English speakers will have to manage them unfortunately since that’s the language of the Country. If you speak Spanish and English, you are going to have many jobs. \nEverything important should be made in America with all these workers. We can all have our own factories and business and exploit cheap labor flocking to our Great Country. We must use this to our advantage while it lasts. \nCheap labor we can Build houses that are affordable. Fix all the infrastructure we have been crying about. \n \n5. If War we're ready! \nIf we ever have another World War first one to go are minorities and poor people so, not only does it provide us with a bigger army, but you might not be first to get drafted. Not only that but because we have immigrants we would have stronger ties to those immigrant countries which can come in handy later. You never know which country will become the next global leader and we can always use military support. \n \nIf there are other legal exploitation, we can benefit from having immigrants into our Great nation please share! Thank you!

An important factor as always been for me the different of murders, mugging, rapes, theft, people killed by firearms each year up to 38 000 a year in the US, add other types of weapons, and many more. In Canada we have clean water, lakes everywhere, we have so much more good timber for building, land for farming etc. The cost of health care in the US and schools can easily ruin them, their parents and families. Canada health care is mostly free for everyone, although seemed slow by many, but is it slow or are they worried to see a doctor to realize nothing is wrong with them ?? Going to see a doctor for a cold, a bad night sleep etc are not really worth a doctors time or theirs. The education system in Canada educate their citizens, watching Youtube videos about Americans being asked common questions like : Which 2 countries border the USA?? Sadly most are morons and think it is Europe and France LOL Parents and children's have a way better time when they give birth and spending time with their families ;-) You might get better pay in the US, but then you have to worry about getting shot, robbed or killed, get your car or stolen, house broken into etc. Plus add all the scammers and scams in the USA, that citizens, non citizens and politicians and city officials and even cops do, no thank you.

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.