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I really cannot understand why not re-acting to sex crimes or violence out of fear would be good from any point of view. Or forcing children to play with certain toys etc..
Yes I've read a lot of jokes about Canadians saying "I'm sorry" all the time. Of course we should all be polite and respect one another, but that for me is not what PC is about. But if I can live my life peacefully in Canada that would be great.
No, Canada has not had cases like in Sweden where people have hidden sexual assaults because of the origin of the people responsible.
But Canada's government has told its employees to stop using gender specific terms like "sir" (or Monsieur, Madame) when addressing citizens.
It's also maybe the country that's most open to the return of its citizens who fought for ISIS (and their families) to give them a "second chance".
You also occasionally have cases like these in Canada, where the killer of a little girl was transferred to a low-security place with no fences in order that she could "heal" - because the killer had a difficult childhood. (See section "Aftermath at the end of the article.) In my opinion, the decision-making on stuff like this and the government's initial response to the issue is not always acceptable.
So you only have two weeks of vacation per year in Canada? That is nothing. In Europe 4-6 weeks is normal almost everywhere. .
2 weeks is the legal minimum but most everyone in professional jobs gets more than that. At least 3 or maybe 4 weeks to start and then rising to 5-6-7 or more after that. In my opinion it's still not as good as in most of Europe. But it's not like the U.S. or Japan.
A lot of offices close between Christmas and New Year's too, so that's kind of a "bonus" week there. Though the government does not generally do this here.
. Then there is having children. As you guys have expensive child care and almost no parental leave compared to us, how do you do? One parent stays at home? Does that work out in economic terms?
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It depends where you live as social programs are generally run by the provinces and what is offered can vary greatly.
Quebec where I live tends to have the most generous programs and the closest you get to Scandinavian-style services. (We also have higher taxes but that's another story.) We have subsidized fairly cheap child care and enhanced parental leave payments for both parents.
Ontario where Ottawa is located is a bit different. The only subsidized child care is for the very poorest. For the rest of the people it's probably between 40 and 75 CAD per day. It is tax deductible so you get about 25% back.
Maternity and parental leave pay is 55% of your salary for one year up to a certain maximum. It's better than nothing but not even close to what a professional's salary would be. Note that some of the better employers offer "top ups" to cover more than what the government program offers. So you may get up to anywhere between 75% and 95% of your salary as a result.
This is actually a big concern for me. I see that you have real summers but if there are mosquitoes everywhere during those months that would really ruin it for me. I have spent 3 weeks I Calgary during July a few years ago and I don’t recall any bugs bothering me. It should be roughly the same in Ottawa? I’ve also spent time in NYC and Florida during summer months without any concern, so I guess I’ll be fine.
The thing is though, that in northern Sweden it is really really bad. Around 60 % of the area of the country contains just about 10 % of the population. The bugs are one of the main reasons.
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There are bugs of course as it's very warm but in the city itself it's really not that bad. You see more wasps than anything else as opposed to mosquitoes. But not too many wasps either - they're mostly around garbage cans, etc. I live in a suburban area about 10 km north of central Ottawa and even here it's OK for bugs.
Just thinking too there is a difference between the daytime and after dark. In the daytime in the city and suburbs and even in any campgrounds or parks within 30-60 minutes from the city you're fine.
After dark in wooded areas and near water the mosquitoes start to come out a bit, depending on the time of year. Usually the noticeable mosquito season is just a few weeks in late May or early June. And you notice them after dark as I said. But not so much in the city itself.
I have a backyard pool and we swim after dark all the time and it's only very occasionally and only at specific times of the year that mosquitoes bother us. Never during the day.
Also campground, park, cottaging and lake areas to the north of Ottawa (Gatineau Hills) don't generally have "deep woods" insects like black flies, etc. that you find when you go further north in Ontario and Quebec.
2 weeks is the legal minimum but most everyone in professional jobs gets more than that. At least 3 or maybe 4 weeks to start and then rising to 5-6-7 or more after that. In my opinion it's still not as good as in most of Europe. But it's not like the U.S. or Japan.
A lot of offices close between Christmas and New Year's too, so that's kind of a "bonus" week there. Though the government does not generally do this here.
Two weeks is the federal minimum. As you probably know, each province can add to that.
"In British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories, you have to give your employees three weeks paid vacation after their fifth year. "
However you're right, most good jobs offer more. I had 6 weeks, plus 2 more weeks classified as paid time off, not holiday time off, so in effect, 8 weeks paid off per year.
My partner gets 6 weeks paid time off, after 15 years.
My feeling though, is that most businesses are getting stingier in granting that much time.
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