quote:

Originally posted by jchung52 i think young people are the visible minority in Guv

Fixed.

My first experience at the guv... clicky

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won't be forever immune from the kind of social disruption

I just dont see that happening anytime soon, toronto is a pussy town, riots will never happen here.

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Originally posted by dEsidEL but it does differ from person to person. Some would say that they are simply Canadian and the discussion ends there.

Ive very rarely had the discussion end there, im always asked where from originally. (I'm white for those that dont know)

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Originally posted by jchung52 i think white people are the visible minority in Guv

yup proud of it too!

it isn't any visible minorities anymore in toronto
were just all mixed up, sure there might be a slightly higher percentage of white people now but that wont be for to much longer.

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Originally posted by yeahyeahyeah no surprise here. the problem, is that Canada offers its immigrants way too much freedom, in terms of maintaining the culture of their homeland. most immigrants dont even have to learn to speak english and can live in neighbourhoods where they are completely surrounded by only those who have immigrated from the same country as them. the result has been a country where much of its population doesnt even acknowledge itself as canadian, and the effects are so bad that its even proliferated through to people who were born in Canada, but whos parents may have immigrated as children. thats bullshit, and thats why so many people would prefer to wave a flag thats not Canadian, even though though many of those people should be identified as Canadian.

The freedom to express and maintain one's culture, and where one chooses to live is part of Canada's constitutional rights. You can't force someone to live somewhere against their will, at least not in a democratic country like ours. I do agree however that there has to be some requirement that new immigrants have a grasp of the English language prior to granting citizenship. I have no doubt that someone who has a difficulty speaking English will likely find it difficult to adapt to the culture here.

I think what the government can do, is promote immigration in areas where it is lacking. Perhaps providing subsidies, tax incentives, out-reach-programs, and having Canadians act as ambassadors to new immigrants in predomindantly low immigrant communities might help. I think I've actually seen ads on the subway offering such programs.

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Originally posted by yeahyeahyeah no surprise here. the problem, is that Canada offers its immigrants way too much freedom..

yeah as long as they get to do all the crap jobs that no one else wants to do.

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Originally posted by dEsidEL I do agree however that there has to be some requirement that new immigrants have a grasp of the English language prior to granting citizenship. I have no doubt that someone who has a difficulty speaking English will likely find it difficult to adapt to the culture here.

Exactly, my coworker is Portuguese, she's moved here since she was very young, and I think her family has been here for like 15 years. Now here's the shocking part, her parents don't speak A WORD of English. Portuguese only. When they just came here they moved to a Portuguese area where everyone spoke Portuguese, and when she grew up, she would do the speaking of English for them (like whenever they have to use the phone, she talks for them, or when they go to the bank she goes with them and translates). That just isn't right.

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Originally posted by Cosmic Fur Exactly, my coworker is Portuguese, she's moved here since she was very young, and I think her family has been here for like 15 years. Now here's the shocking part, her parents don't speak A WORD of English. Portuguese only. When they just came here they moved to a Portuguese area where everyone spoke Portuguese, and when she grew up, she would do the speaking of English for them (like whenever they have to use the phone, she talks for them, or when they go to the bank she goes with them and translates). That just isn't right.

yeah that is ridiculous

I moved here in 1996 and my parents have learned to speak English. Yeah they have a huge accent but they know way more than enough to get around.

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Originally posted by Cosmic Fur Exactly, my coworker is Portuguese, she's moved here since she was very young, and I think her family has been here for like 15 years. Now here's the shocking part, her parents don't speak A WORD of English. Portuguese only. When they just came here they moved to a Portuguese area where everyone spoke Portuguese, and when she grew up, she would do the speaking of English for them (like whenever they have to use the phone, she talks for them, or when they go to the bank she goes with them and translates). That just isn't right.

Good thing My Parents and I never had the chance to move into a "German" neighborhood since we did not want to move to Kitchener so that was never a problem. I think knowing English should be a pure requirement when Immigrating to Canada. Although I think it is now (so I heard). Someone told me when she did her Canadian Citizenship exam they had to tell people not to open the workbook until they were told to. Half the room opened it up and they all did not speak a word of English. Made her shake her head that is just wrong. The funny thing is these people pass somehow and I totally do not get that.

But as controversial as it is I do believe when immigrating to Canada one should "fit in" and not appear like they have just gotten off the boat. There are time where I do want to tell people "Hey! This ain't !!!! Fit in for god's sake or go home!". You don;t see me walking around in a white shirt and Lederhosen with my Alpenhorn just because I want to feel like I am home or something. I left West Germany for a reason and appreciate being here by fitting in and celebrating all the traditions Canada has. I still do celebrate the things and the culture I came from but I always keep in mind that this is Canada and not Germany.

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According to this article, the whites are least discriminated? This statement is absurd. Canada is filling up with Asians and the percentage of whites has been diminishing.

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quote:

Originally posted by yeahyeahyeah no surprise here. the problem, is that Canada offers its immigrants way too much freedom, in terms of maintaining the culture of their homeland. most immigrants dont even have to learn to speak english and can live in neighbourhoods where they are completely surrounded by only those who have immigrated from the same country as them. the result has been a country where much of its population doesnt even acknowledge itself as canadian, and the effects are so bad that its even proliferated through to people who were born in Canada, but whos parents may have immigrated as children. thats bullshit, and thats why so many people would prefer to wave a flag thats not Canadian, even though though many of those people should be identified as Canadian.

I feel the same way. An immigrant to Canada should have to either speak English or French. I think immigrants feel outcast partially because they don't speak these languages and primarily don't venture out of their comfort zone (like people with like backgrounds). If they don't interact with the "natives" then obviously they are going to feel that they are not part of that group. In essence they are alienating themselves. That is just my 2c.

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I'm an American now living in Canada, and the whole multiculturalism thing never really existed where I grew up. We had mostly white kids, then a small handful of Arabs and Asians where I grew up. When I was growing up I was friends with this chinese kid and this saudi kid in my neighbourhood and ate the kind of food they had when I was over their house, and would didn't really think much of their other language and customs, like praying throughout the day and what have you. But I don't think anyone ever taught me that it was wrong or right for them to have their religion/customs (except at this one Christian camp I went to once). It was generally held that everyone would be allowed to keep and absorb what they wanted of their and American culture.

As far as I'm concerned, I think forcing someone to change their ideals to those more generally held is racist, because it implies that one group's lifestyle is better than another's. Putting so much emphasis on multiculturalism actually kind of seems to have strained things here, because the majority is getting resentful of the minorities (much like affirmative action in the US).

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Originally posted by Masonious you win again dude - and nice move shoving the whole i figured out how to order pizza thing in my face. i tried that 4 and a half months ago and woke up with a Taiwanese transvestite but to Ygrene it's just, "anoother day in the life, noooo biggieee".

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Originally posted by dEsidEL The freedom to express and maintain one's culture, and where one chooses to live is part of Canada's constitutional rights. You can't force someone to live somewhere against their will, at least not in a democratic country like ours. I do agree however that there has to be some requirement that new immigrants have a grasp of the English language prior to granting citizenship. I have no doubt that someone who has a difficulty speaking English will likely find it difficult to adapt to the culture here. I think what the government can do, is promote immigration in areas where it is lacking. Perhaps providing subsidies, tax incentives, out-reach-programs, and having Canadians act as ambassadors to new immigrants in predomindantly low immigrant communities might help. I think I've actually seen ads on the subway offering such programs.

its an issue thats hard to navigate. and one of the best and worst thigns about canada is that it promotes multiculturalism. and i cant really offer any sort of solutions, nor do i try to in my post. but ive observed it, and there is no denying it.

in the US though, people who dont assimilate are heavily discriminate against and they dont have the problem of people not identifying with the nation. im just saying.