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| *Travel Tips>>>General - Canada Travel Tips |
Is canada really a rich country? If so why the widespread poverty among immigrants and native born canadians? |
Travel Info Is canada really a rich country? If so why the widespread poverty among immigrants and native born canadians? Travel Tips I know for a lot of Immigrants companies here can be bad - they are many times dismissive of overseas experience and qualifications. But that being said, it's a similar problem that new grads have, I know when I finished school everywhere I went I was being told that I needed two years experience. All it means is that you have to knock on a bunch of doors. Eventually you will find someone willing to take a chance on you. I think many immigrants here experience the same problem. They may have been in high demand in their home countries but now they need to start over again. They have little or no professional network here so that makes it harder for sure. For Natives, not sure but they do get a lot of assistance, from free post secondary education, dental care, tax exemptions and so on. In some cases that may have led to a dependency. Also, in some cases I'm sure they have to over come some stereotyping and prejudice too. They certainly did in the past. One thing about social assistance/welfare or whatever you want to call it. It tends to be hereditary, if parents or grand parents were deigned jobs and careers then there is a much greater tendency for children and grand children never to get started as well. A cycle of social assistance is sometimes hard to break regardless of what your nationality/heritage. Canada is rich, there are lost of opportunities, some people need to try much harder than others to have access to them though. Others Some people just want a free ride. They think Canada gives out free money to anyone. The truth is, they are now deporting people so we dont end up like America. Canada is a rich country full of opportunity, but getting tough on abusers. Nice place too There are two schools of thought when it comes to the Native born Canadians: One is that they are lazy and just destroy everything that is "given" to them. Well, just like every culture, be it green, yellow, red, black or white....there are bad apples in every barrel. The second school of thought is the more truthful one, and I will relate my personal experience to you. In Ontario, there are 39 fly-in only reserves. This means that there are no roads, except for the ice roads in the winter time. With global warming, these ice roads are failing more often than not. I must let you know, that to travel 110 km (65 miles) on an "ice road" takes about 5 or more hours...this is from personal experience...it is like driving on a ski hill what with all the moguls....a terrible experience. In trying to exist in the North, the First Nations people are, at best, hanging on. To purchase a bag of milk (4 litres) is $14. A package of cigarettes is $13. A package of fig newtons is $10. A can of klik is $7.50 A chocolate bar is $3 and a can of pop is $2.50. Forget about fresh lettuce or bread..the bread comes in and is frozen...and only the cheapest bread is bought, so that more slices per loaf can be had. The problem is freight and fresh goods. The only way to get fresh goods into these communities is to fly it in..and that costs a lot of money. Many people believe that Indians get a bunch of treaty money every month. THis is a blatant lie. Those who work at the Band Office or for the Government do so....those who have no job are on welfare....and it is the same $ amount as if you live in the south. A single person gets $572 per month to live on. When milk is $14, how do you do it?....not very well, I can tell you. Hunting and fishing are a means of survival, not a sport. And of course, there are the drug problems, since unscrupulous small airline operators bootleg booze and sell drugs....a fifth of whiskey goes for $125.... Couple all of this with the bureaucratic nightmare of the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) which "runs" the ministry ...and you have an absolute disaster. In order to get a project of any size or assistance going on reserve, it can take up to two years. The problem is not that the paperwork is not done from the Reserve standpoint,,,the problem is the amount of people within the Ministry that have to LOOK at it in order to approve it. All of these big numbers that INAC and the GOvernments announce as assistance to the First Nations are just a bunch of bunk in that it is almost impossible to get a project approved. Why not fix the problem?..how?...how do you get rid of a government worker in Canada?...you have to promote them....stupid as that sounds, their union elements are so strong and the contract language so strong that they basically have tenure. In order for a check to be issued, once the paperwork is completed, it must pass through 19 hands in order to get issued...and even then, it is issued at the far Eastern part of the Country in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and mailed. This process can take up to 4 months. Yup,,they're really fast there, aren't they? Enough of my complaining, what you really need is an answer to the first part of your question... Yes, Canada is a rich country, but as in most Western or Developed countries, we do have our problems. But all in all, with the exception of how our Government has treated our First Nations people, we are really not all that bad....at least there are programs that do put money onto reserves, unlike any other country...there IS some good in what is done, I have only highlighted some of the bad. I hope this answers some of your question. How many times are you gonna ask this question? Where is this wide spread poverty among immigrants? Native born Canadians? Are you speaking about the ones that live on reserves with a beer in one hand sittin in a tee pee? Your not being fair at all with this line of questioning. Canada can make things happens for those who want it, period. First, there is poverty in various countries in the world, and Canada is no exception. I have been to five different countries around the world, and I do not see Canada as any different. The transients and poor are present in various US cities, the UK, South Africa. The worst cases I saw were in Los Angeles, with hundreds of homeless asking for change, and lots of rundown neighborhoods. Second, I don't think it is just the immigrants and native people that are in the position of being poor. Where I live (in Montreal, Quebec) the beggars on the street are almost all white males. The problem I see is that some (not all) of the immigrants are arriving here with almost nothing but the shirt on their backs. They are fleeing persecution in their country, but when they arrive here, they do not always get a job right away, and either have to be sponsored by a family or supported by the government. With costs being what they are for real estate, food, gas, and such, it is very difficult for someone who does not have a nest egg saved up to actually build and save up any money. It takes a concious effort to put aside a few dollars each month and do without certain extras. For example, if the person is poor but is a pack-a-day smoker, just quitting that habit will save at least $2500 a year. Use coupons when buying groceries. Eat out on rare occasions. Pack a lunch instead of buying a sandwich somewhere. I feel I can say this, as my family was poor and came close to living on the streets at one point in our lives. For six months, my mom and I lived at her parents house while my father lived in a camping trailer trying to find a new job after he was laid off. He is such a proud man, he refused to accept unemployment insurance at the time, even though he was entitled to it. |
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