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Conversely, if you're the sort of person mostly interested in making money and being able to freely spend or invest your money, America is vastly superior, and it's America's economy that attracts the most immigrants here.
So, to say that it's easier to make money in America, isn't necessarily going to dissuade someone like myself who's not particularly interested in wealth, and vice-versa.
I like the idea of being able to buy fireworks year-round, guns without much hassle, beer in a gas station, BBQ restaurants, country/chicken fried steak, biscuits for breakfast at fast food restaurants, biscuits with sausage gravy etc. You pretty much can't do any of that in Canada. Most people have never even heard of those menu items.
While wealth would be nice, it's almost irrelevant to me.
Right now it's the middle of March and it's still 32 F outside; I'd rather it be at least 62 F right now.
I prefer Canada's health care systems; I don't make a lot of money and don't think I could afford to take full advantage of the American medical system. But reasonable health care alone doesn't make it enjoyable to live here.
Last edited by ColdCanadian; 03-19-2007 at 01:37 PM..
The "perception" of Canada being more "environmentally" conscious than the USA is a well marketed myth. Canadian environmentalism stops when it's in their financial interest to be in extractive industries like petroleum or minerals, or to log forests for timber products (which are only as renewable there as trees grown in the USA). Fact: Canada drills for and extracts natural gas and crude oil in places where the US regulations would not allow. Fact: Canada supplies a large portion of the global zinc market from a mine that would rank as a "Superfund" site in the USA and be shut down due to pollution, acid rain, etc.
The medical debate forum here will never be resolvable. Those who think that a government is more efficient delivering service than a private health care provided system will prefer Canada.
But they don't appreciate the devastation that the US government interference has wrought upon our health care system costs. Much of the spiraling health care costs in the USA are due to private providers having to give services at a total loss to people who won't get insurance or pay for their medical services they demand (fact: USA hospitals are shutting down due to the number of unpaid clients that the government tells them they must provide service for). "Cost shifting" to those with assets (read: people with resources or insurance companies funded by people with resources) is not fair or just because it increases my insurance without giving me more product/services for my fees.
The Canadian medical care system is not "free". It's paid for by taxes upon everyone, and just like private insurance, must take in more money than it pays out. OK, so a USA private insurance company has salaries and profits ... and the Canadian system has overhead, salaries and costs. At least with a private system, I can invest in it and get a return on my investment. Money sent to the government just seems to disappear without much accountability.
I've mentioned earlier on this forum my contact with Canadians obtaining medical services in Seattle USA for cancer treatment which they were unable to obtain at home in a timely manner. I was discussing this recently with a neighbor, who is from Vancouver, and she said that her sister had to wait almost 22 months before she could get a knee replacement there, badly needed and very painful. The delay caused enough stress on her otherwise good leg that she then needed the other knee replaced, which again required an extended delay and more needless pain for a year. IMO, that's not quality medical care. In the USA, she would have obtained the first knee replacement promptly ... even if it was at greater cost, it would have been worth it to avoid all the pain and subsequent damage.
As far as "wealth" goes ... I've lived with almost no money and with a middle-class income and been very happy both ways. But it's been a lot nicer having the security and independence that a few extra bucks bring.
The "perception" of Canada being more "environmentally" conscious than the USA is a well marketed myth. Canadian environmentalism stops when it's in their financial interest to be in extractive industries like petroleum or minerals, or to log forests for timber products (which are only as renewable there as trees grown in the USA). Fact: Canada drills for and extracts natural gas and crude oil in places where the US regulations would not allow. Fact: Canada supplies a large portion of the global zinc market from a mine that would rank as a "Superfund" site in the USA and be shut down due to pollution, acid rain, etc.
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Actually, you're right about the environmental stats. Environment Canada points out that the belief by Canadians that southern Ontario's smog is 50% U.S. emissions from the Ohio River Valley is false. I just read their report not long ago and they pointed out that Canada's most prolific polluter, Nanticoke on the north shore of Lake Erie sends 80% of it's emissions to New York and New England!!! They also showed how it cannot be true that the Ohio Valley coal plants are polluting Ontario as the prevailing wind patterns blow 9 months of the year from the northwest to the southeast, not from the south to the north. In other words, the wind blows from Canada to the U.S. over New York most of the year.
They also point out that Canadian coal plants expel twice as much air pollution as American plants of the same capacity as American plants use legally required filters.
There is no mandatory Clean Air Act in Canada, compliance is voluntary not mandatory as it is in the U.S. and, greenhouse gas emissions rose almost twice as much between 1998 and 2001 in Canada over the U.S., even though Canada signed Kyoto and the U.S. did not. They have improved cutting mercury emissions and are now launching an effort to clean up sites around the Great Lakes.
The U.S. does a better job on the environment no doubt, but at least the Canadians are waking up it seems, though they're throwing their support behind programs like Kyoto which are already proven to be inaccurate and false assumptions which used faulty projection models to come to their conclusions. This move to carbon trading is a dead issue as well, though Canadian politicians want to force it through, and it's already starting to be disgarded in Europe as unworkable and because the credits have declined so much in trading value. It's nothing more than a transfer of wealth from rich countries to poor countries and completely unproven science.
It's issues like these that make me wonder if Canadian politicians go through lobotomies before they take office. There's a lot of intentional inefficiency.
I think Alberta needs to be aware of the damage to the environment that the extraction of oil from the oil sands is causing. If you ever saw the land movers they use....they're not just gigantic, they're unbelievably ginormous and they scar the land for miles in all directions, damage that most likely cannot be easily corrected.
I like the Albertan free enterprise system though. They are rated the third freest economy in North America and they do things much differently than the rest of Canada, which may explain a lot of their success and wealth beyond the oil bonanza.
Alberta produces the largest winter wheat crops, cattle for beef exports, etc. It's a province I admire.
I must say, the friendliest people I have ever met in my life lived in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
A friend and I, both Tennesseans, spent over a week traveling throughout both provinces. We could NOT get over how welcoming and kind people were everywhere we went! People were constantly striking up conversations with us and bending over backwards to help us. It was unbelievable to us... you guys really put Southerners to shame!!
My dad is Metis (or a mixed blood person of Aboriginal and Scottish descent). He looks very Aboriginal. My mother is from a Swedish family, and is very fair. My siblings and I all look very different, some more Aboriginal than others. I am very fair skinned but I have heard more than my fair share of comments about Aboriginal people.
My Dad was a very hard-working person and he expected all of us to work and get an education. My Dad has 9 brothers and sisters and none of them have ever collected welfare. Because we are not treaty (reserve Indians), we were responsible for our own educations and all other costs associated with everyday living. We do not get any of the benefits associated with reserve Aboriginal people. (Although there are lots of Canadians who do think we benefit simply by being acknowledged as Aboriginal peoples by virtue of the Canadian Constitution). I think that not being treaty really helped our family alot in terms of forcing us to be self-sufficient instead of taking handouts which were readily available.
Yes, Aboriginal Canadians have faced and continure to deal with many serious problems. Various governments have poured billions into Aboriginal Issues without much success. I lived in northern communities (Thompson, Manitoba) for one, which was built by Inco.
Aboriginal people who choose to stay on a reserve pay no income taxes, and their children can be educated at the highest educational level without cost. They also receive free medical treatment and many other benefits. I lived in many communities where there is substandard housing. I also lived in communities where new housing was provided, and then destroyed by the people. Some reserves have starting banning their own people from the reserve if they create too many problems. There is also lots of 5th or 6th generational welfare, where not a single person has ever held employment within a family. This is increasing in the non-Aboriginal community as well. In cities such as Winnipeg and Saskatoon there are lots of problems because of these folks have moved without having any education or work experience. There are also lots of issues with fetal alcohol spectrum,drugs, gangs, etc. Incarceration rates
are very high, and some provincial governments have told Judges' that they must take into account whether the accused is Aboriginal before sentencing--so that also is a very contentious issue in communities with a high Aboriginal popuation. Child welfare issues are an epidemic in some of these communities.
The Aboriginal issue is an issue that Canadians who live close to Aboriginal communities talk about lots. The Aboriginal people I know who have become educated cannot stay on their reserves because some of their own people make it so difficult for them. There own people call them "Apples". Red on the outside, but white on the inside.
My family are ordinary every day Canadians. They get really mad at people who do not try to better themselves----believe me it was not easy for us, because we faced racism from First Nations, and the non-Aboriginal community. And honestly I have met many Aboriginal people who have never had a working member of society since the government started doling out welfare. They have an instilled believe that welfare is their right. Many Canadians who are self-made through whatever venue, are basically fed-up. Overtaxed to the max., they just want to see some resolution to some of our issues.
Because so much of the Canadian west was settled shortly before the 1st World War and then the second World War, it is hard for these immigrants who came from war-torn Europe to understand how this group of society cannot move forward by taking advantage of free post-secondary education and other benefits that are provided to them. Also, because we have had so many European immigrants who have been through two wars, the succeeding generations have been more cautious about running around and getting into wars. Canada entered WW 1 in 1914 as a member of the British Commonwealth, and WW2 in 1939 for the same reason. Per capita, our losses were very high in both wars.
In my own experience some reserves are ruled very much like 3rd world dictatorships. When things get really bad for average reserve resident, the federal government will step in as third party managers, or appoint a company to manage the reserve's finances (Usually a Chartered Accounting firm). They will also order new elections if there are serious allegations made. Those in power give to their relatives and friends generously, those without power have nothing but the bare minimum. The reserves that seem to be doing the best now have young Chiefs who have been university educated and they are much more open to working with the community around them, and getting people off welfare programs. These younger people face sometimes face extreme criticism from some of their own people because they challenge the status quo.
Most of the people who are making some negative comments here are doing so because they are so frustrated with our system. I am frustrated too. Lots of people in Quebec are frustrated by ongiong language debates, talk of referendums, etc. One of the problems with our multi-cultural society has been that so many people have come here to seek residency and citizenship but are not willing to adapt to being Canadian first, and acknowledging they have certain rights and responsibilities as new Canadians (ie paying income tax, respecting other's forms of worship, breaking serious laws and then crying about deportation).
If I moved within Canada it would be to the interior of British Columbia. If I moved out of Canada, I'd move to Australia.
Last edited by taigagirl; 04-05-2007 at 10:58 PM..
Reason: spelling, sentence structure.
That show is a comedy, and it is to be taken lightly...
It's not a parody on Little House on the Prairie, it's just a quirky name for a funny modern sitcom.
Apparently the email notification system is not working properly as I just read your comment today.
Is that show still on the air by the way? My feeling was that they were,like the u.s. trying to make the muslims more acceptable to us so we wouldn't think twice about them moving in and eventually taking over our countries.
Apparently the email notification system is not working properly as I just read your comment today.
Is that show still on the air by the way?
My feeling was that they were,like the u.s. trying to make the muslims more acceptable to us so we wouldn't think twice about them moving in and eventually taking over our countries.
yes it is utopia if you are not black in Calgary, or Chinese in BC or First Nations in Quebec,
I don't understand this statement.....since a HUGE chunk of the Canadian population are immigrants, this really doesn't make any sense.
Updated Tue. Mar. 13 2007 11:00 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
New census data released today shows Canada has the fastest population growth of any Group of Eight industrialized country. And most of that is coming from immigrants.
The 2006 census data, released Tuesday by Statistics Canada, finds that newcomers made up fully two-thirds of Canada's robust increase over the last five years. Canada's native-born population, meanwhile, grew by only a fraction between 2001 and 2006.
If current trends continue, Canada could get to the point where immigration will become the only source of growth.
That likely won't happen until after 2030 when the peak of the baby boomers reach the end of their lifespans.
Canada saw its native-born populace climb by just 400,000 people between 2001 and 2006. In contrast, there were 1.2 million immigrants who arrived during the last five years.
I know personally, I am hard pressed to find many born and raised Canadians in Canada anymore. This leads me to believe this statement was made out of anger for a particular bad experience.
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About Aboriginal Canadians and Other Stuff
