THE PEOPLE SPEAK THEIR VIEWS ON IMMIGRATION
CASE #1 : G.F.Q.
I recently came upon a piece either on the net or in the press about Toronto mayoral candidate Rob Ford who seems to have been hysterically attacked. After he was questioned on the Tamil refugee issue, he had made some comment Judging by the uproar, I assumed he had made a radical statement such as “Sink their ship” or something similar. But when I read about the issue, I found out that all he had said was something like “Toronto is already very crowded and hardly manageable. Why are we bringing in more people?” Compared to the rest of the Toronto mayor candidates, he said something sensible about Toronto's future.
It just shows again how politicians are pandering to the ethnic vote.
CASE #2: K.D.
If a country does not protect what it has built, then it WILL be taken away. It is not by luck that Canada is a great place to live. You have built it. Do not throw it away.
If potential immigrants have not been able to run their own countries successfully, then what benefit do they bring to Canada? It is the job of the United Nations to assist troubled countries and you are already paying for the UN, so why pay twice?
Canada would probably be better off with zero immigration and by investing in technology.
If Canada takes immigrants, it should be clearly aware that conflict can arise if immigrants remain loyal to the cultures of their original countries. Some people continue to laugh at such statements. But the London bombings of 7th July 2005 are one of hundreds of examples of the conflict.
If anyone in Canada needs convincing, let them watch the UK over the next few years.
CASE #3: L.J.
I am an artisan who sold my work in a craft market in Kelowna and other places. Teresa, the Peruvian cut-throat, did nothing but cause trouble in that market. One day, she got impatient with the attendant who was issuing the permits and yelled at her. “Don't you know I have to go back to work?” —as if that person should have known. She then called the Kelowna mayor's office and claimed she had been a victim of racial discrimination. The result was that the mayor called that office and blasted them for their alleged behaviour. The people in the permit office were judged without trial. To me, it showed that the minute such a claim is made, no one looks into the validity of the claim and the assumed perpetrator doesn't even get the benefit of the doubt.
Teresa caused nothing but trouble in the market. Although she knew that the artisans were allowed to sell only their own work, she was selling imports from her native Peru. She got away with murder because the people who ran that market were scared of her accusations of racism. I actually almost lost my permit myself a few years ago because of her lies. One day, she set up shop between another artisan and myself when there was clearly no space for her. She did that with the purpose of causing a quarrel out of which she would emerge as a victim and perhaps have me evicted. She actually admitted that she had done this to a common Guatemalan friend. The other artisan and I actually had to move our stalls. When I told her I would report her for selling imports, she angrily shouted: “I will charge you for that”. She then phoned and complained about me to the market office, and five minutes later, two security guards came running—-as if someone had been murdered. Next, the market manager arrived and confronted me with hostility, ready, as she admitted later, to immediately revoke my permit. Teresa had called her in tears (which she produces so well at will) claiming that I had called her a dirty immigrant and suggested she return to her country.
She is not at that market anymore. She has managed to secure a disability pension from her personal care assistant job on some (false) permanent injury claim, But that doesn't stop her from pursuing her business in other markets around the Okanagan. She had come to Canada with the help of the Mormon church that she had joined for obvious selfish purposes. She has since been ejected from it, having leeched as much as she could from their generous internal welfare system.
CASE #4 : A.J.
I read on the web that there would be some pro-Tamil demonstrations this week around the country. It was strange to see so many comments that were against the Tamils, but yet the only demonstrations happening are pro-Tamil. They must be organized by the Tamil Congress. How is it that we (mainstream Canadians) are not organized and pro-active like them?. We are the majority, the unfortunately silent majority. Every immigrant group seems to be organized, but not us, the ones who resent the insane immigration policies of this country.
Is it the fear of having the race card played against us? How is it that we don't form voting blocks? As it is, it seems that, in the eyes of politicians, one ethnic vote is worth 2 or 3 of ours.
Our passivity never ceases to astonish me. Just the fact that there are so many Canadians out of work and have run out of EI, but Canada still allows half a million temporary workers and immigrants in every year should constantly make headlines and trigger massive demonstrations. The same applies to the fact that there are high numbers of homeless Canadians—-while subsidized housing (along with a lot of other perks) goes to refugees, .
CASE #5 : E.R.
The immigration advocates often refer to Canada's obligations under the 1951 Charter and yet fail to mention that all asylum seekers must seek sanctuary in the first safe haven. Canada is never that. Why does Canada not use that reason alone to deny the Tamils entry to Canada?
Another important point is that it is impossible to determine who is or who was a Tamil Tiger (TT) activist. ALL Tamils were obliged to support the TT when requested to do so. I worked in Sri Lanka in the 80's. I was very nearly blown up twice by Tamil Tiger bombers. The first incident occurred at Colombo Airport when the TT blew up the plane that followed mine. It was a Lufthansa 747 (from memory) in transit to the Maldives. The second occasion was when the TT's blew up the PTT building in the main square in Colombo. I had been there for meetings a couple of hours before.
CASE # 6 : J.L.W.
Funny that the people who complain about the whiteness of Canada, particularly about those who occupy many jobs, will remain silent about the whiteness of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Why aren't they demanding that they be “represented” in Canada's military?
Regarding another matter : I am convinced that immigrants and refugees are being allowed to jump the queue when it is time to get funding for education, etc. For most of us, our money is sacred. We work so hard for it. We get very angry when we realize that it goes to people other than ourselves, very often to people who, for historical or religious reasons, harbour some hostility toward us. I believe this is a point that should be made strongly when addressing immigration issues.
CASE #7 ; T.R.
I am a born, mainstream Canadian. And I'm finding that immigration to Canada is far too high. It seems that immigrants are cherry picked to fill high-paying jobs (i.e., in government, private sector, etc.) via the “Employment Equity Act” because of the fact they are immigrants. Aren't jobs supposed to be based on merit alone?
It also seems that many immigrants come here (under the Investor or Entrepreneur category) to open up businesses such as convenience stores, etc. which NEVER or rarely pay taxes. They scam the government out of millions in tax money, get citizenship papers, and then claim bankruptcy. Is this really helping the economy??
I agree with immigration when it makes sense. However as unemployment goes up, immigration should go down. That would show that the government cared about its own people.
