Hello All,
I just saw this interesting website and thought I should add my comments about Canada based on my own experience with that country.
First of all, let me say that I went to Toronto, Canada as a landed immigrant in Sept. 2004. I found it to be the worst city that I have ever visited. Being in Canada was a truly HORRIBLE experience for me and I left your country with all my heavy luggage after spending just 3 weeks there.
My view of Canadians and Canada:
(1) I encountered several obnoxious people there on the streets, in offices and shops. I was told that the Canadians are a very courteous people (and I did encounter some as well) but I didn't expect to see such behaviour. I have lived in Europe for about 28 years, and Europeans aren't exactly renowned for their openness towards newcomers, but even there I have never met so many uncouth people in such a short time-span.
(2) I saw lots of poverty in my three weeks in Toronto. You see drunkards sleeping on the streets and roaming about in the neighbourhoods. I saw one young man sprawled on the pavement at a busy intersection and when I approached him thought that he had had been killed or stabbed or something. I have never seen something like this before.
(3) My experience with searching for an accommodation was a nightmare. The many appartments I saw in downtown and suburban Toronto are crappy and uncomfortable. Moreover, they cost almost double what you pay for a similar facility in European cities. This is outrageous since you cannot compare a city like Toronto with fabulous European cities like London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Rome etc. Toronto is, comparatively speaking, second rate at best!
Not only is accommodation in Toronto frightfully expensive, but on top of all that you are expected to rent the places for one year in advance and you must fill out very long rental application forms which also require you to give the name, address and signature of a "guarantor" who will pay the rent if you can't!!! One rental office even had the gall to ask me to deposit 12 post-dated checks in advance. I have never been asked to supply such information or undergo such treatment in Europe, and I doubt it is even allowed under EU-law (privacy considerations etc.).
In one appartment building, I was told that if you have come to Canada as a landed immigrant and don't know anyone in Canada, then we can't offer you any appartment! I was told that in the US renting is easier but in Canada people don't like to accept certifications etc. from outside countries when renting accommodation. I found this downright insulting. It is pure discrimination against newcomers and, what's worse, the Canadian federal and provincial legislatures have not taken any action whatsoever to ban such outrageous discriminatory practices.
Canada and human rights! Remember when Canadian soldiers roasted Somali children alive over the fire. I hear that Canada lectures the world on human rights and discrimination, but itself apparently is one of the worst violators itself. Didn't the UN human rights body or some other organization like Amnesty International say this recently?
(4) In Toronto I couldn't even open a bank account because to do that you must have an accommodation and landline telephone number (no cell phone numbers!). But, you don't get an accmmodation if you don't have a bank account (and guarantor) to start with! I asked the bank manager if, as a foreigner I could open a bank account by giving my foreign address. I was told in Canada foreigners cannot open bank accounts - only Canadian nationals and landed immigrants can! What happened to mobility of capital I asked in reply? In Germany, I know several people residing outside the EU who came on a visit and opened bank accounts in German banks without any fuss whatsoever. There is no such stupid law there like in Canada.
I don't know what criteria people and organizations use to come up with statements like "Canada is the best place in the world in which to live etc." Obviously, they haven't seen Canada from the angle I have otherwise they wouldn't talk such rubbish. I found Canada to be an over-hyped country with an over-hyped standard of living, which I consider to be way behind Europe. I spent my three weeks at the Days Inn Hotel in Carlton Street in downtown Toronto and spent hours each evening walking kilometers either way down your Yonge Street, which is supposed to be the main thoroughfare in Toronto. I did not see any shops which interested me except for a few selling DVDs and CDs, and the hot dog stands at College Park. The quality of shopping in Toronto is vastly inferior to what I've seen in London or German cities. In one German city I lived in (Speyer, pop. 50,000), I have seen much higher quality goods (including speciality items) selling in the shops than I saw in the whole of your Toronto of 4 million souls, including its big shopping mall. I went to your China Town and couldn't believe what crap was being sold there and neither could I believe my eyes when I saw what junk was being sold at your Dr. Flea's Market.
All in all, I'd say that Canada is, at the very best, a truly second rate country for truly second rate people. It is nowhere near what is depicted in the media and by the hordes of immigration consultants desperate to make it rich quickly and easily by talking gullible immigrants into moving to Canada. I hear all the time that 200,000-250,000 people are migrating to Canada each year. I ask myself, how many would move if they knew what they're getting themselves into! I live in Pakistan now and I know many people here who have returned back to this country because of their disappointment with Canada. They learned it the hard way. I often wonder that, out of the 200,000-250,000 newcomers to Canada each year, how many would have opted not to go had they been better informed and how many return after going. I'm sure the number would be huge.
The worst thing Canada is doing is enticing people to come and live in that country with false promises of a better, more productive life which it doesn't intend to honour. You Canadians as a people should be ashamed of yourselves. You lure to your country the money and human resources which is needed by poor countries in order to facilitate their development, yet, you discriminate in the worst possible way against these unfortunate people once they get to your country. You refuse to acknowledge their professional qualifications and work experience, look down on them and make them feel like they have been accorded a great privilege to come and live in Canada.
I hope there is a special place in hell for your parasitical Canada and Canadian people.
I just saw this interesting website and thought I should add my comments about Canada based on my own experience with that country.
First of all, let me say that I went to Toronto, Canada as a landed immigrant in Sept. 2004. I found it to be the worst city that I have ever visited. Being in Canada was a truly HORRIBLE experience for me and I left your country with all my heavy luggage after spending just 3 weeks there.
My view of Canadians and Canada:
(1) I encountered several obnoxious people there on the streets, in offices and shops. I was told that the Canadians are a very courteous people (and I did encounter some as well) but I didn't expect to see such behaviour. I have lived in Europe for about 28 years, and Europeans aren't exactly renowned for their openness towards newcomers, but even there I have never met so many uncouth people in such a short time-span.
(2) I saw lots of poverty in my three weeks in Toronto. You see drunkards sleeping on the streets and roaming about in the neighbourhoods. I saw one young man sprawled on the pavement at a busy intersection and when I approached him thought that he had had been killed or stabbed or something. I have never seen something like this before.
(3) My experience with searching for an accommodation was a nightmare. The many appartments I saw in downtown and suburban Toronto are crappy and uncomfortable. Moreover, they cost almost double what you pay for a similar facility in European cities. This is outrageous since you cannot compare a city like Toronto with fabulous European cities like London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Rome etc. Toronto is, comparatively speaking, second rate at best!
Not only is accommodation in Toronto frightfully expensive, but on top of all that you are expected to rent the places for one year in advance and you must fill out very long rental application forms which also require you to give the name, address and signature of a "guarantor" who will pay the rent if you can't!!! One rental office even had the gall to ask me to deposit 12 post-dated checks in advance. I have never been asked to supply such information or undergo such treatment in Europe, and I doubt it is even allowed under EU-law (privacy considerations etc.).
In one appartment building, I was told that if you have come to Canada as a landed immigrant and don't know anyone in Canada, then we can't offer you any appartment! I was told that in the US renting is easier but in Canada people don't like to accept certifications etc. from outside countries when renting accommodation. I found this downright insulting. It is pure discrimination against newcomers and, what's worse, the Canadian federal and provincial legislatures have not taken any action whatsoever to ban such outrageous discriminatory practices.
Canada and human rights! Remember when Canadian soldiers roasted Somali children alive over the fire. I hear that Canada lectures the world on human rights and discrimination, but itself apparently is one of the worst violators itself. Didn't the UN human rights body or some other organization like Amnesty International say this recently?
(4) In Toronto I couldn't even open a bank account because to do that you must have an accommodation and landline telephone number (no cell phone numbers!). But, you don't get an accmmodation if you don't have a bank account (and guarantor) to start with! I asked the bank manager if, as a foreigner I could open a bank account by giving my foreign address. I was told in Canada foreigners cannot open bank accounts - only Canadian nationals and landed immigrants can! What happened to mobility of capital I asked in reply? In Germany, I know several people residing outside the EU who came on a visit and opened bank accounts in German banks without any fuss whatsoever. There is no such stupid law there like in Canada.
I don't know what criteria people and organizations use to come up with statements like "Canada is the best place in the world in which to live etc." Obviously, they haven't seen Canada from the angle I have otherwise they wouldn't talk such rubbish. I found Canada to be an over-hyped country with an over-hyped standard of living, which I consider to be way behind Europe. I spent my three weeks at the Days Inn Hotel in Carlton Street in downtown Toronto and spent hours each evening walking kilometers either way down your Yonge Street, which is supposed to be the main thoroughfare in Toronto. I did not see any shops which interested me except for a few selling DVDs and CDs, and the hot dog stands at College Park. The quality of shopping in Toronto is vastly inferior to what I've seen in London or German cities. In one German city I lived in (Speyer, pop. 50,000), I have seen much higher quality goods (including speciality items) selling in the shops than I saw in the whole of your Toronto of 4 million souls, including its big shopping mall. I went to your China Town and couldn't believe what crap was being sold there and neither could I believe my eyes when I saw what junk was being sold at your Dr. Flea's Market.
All in all, I'd say that Canada is, at the very best, a truly second rate country for truly second rate people. It is nowhere near what is depicted in the media and by the hordes of immigration consultants desperate to make it rich quickly and easily by talking gullible immigrants into moving to Canada. I hear all the time that 200,000-250,000 people are migrating to Canada each year. I ask myself, how many would move if they knew what they're getting themselves into! I live in Pakistan now and I know many people here who have returned back to this country because of their disappointment with Canada. They learned it the hard way. I often wonder that, out of the 200,000-250,000 newcomers to Canada each year, how many would have opted not to go had they been better informed and how many return after going. I'm sure the number would be huge.
The worst thing Canada is doing is enticing people to come and live in that country with false promises of a better, more productive life which it doesn't intend to honour. You Canadians as a people should be ashamed of yourselves. You lure to your country the money and human resources which is needed by poor countries in order to facilitate their development, yet, you discriminate in the worst possible way against these unfortunate people once they get to your country. You refuse to acknowledge their professional qualifications and work experience, look down on them and make them feel like they have been accorded a great privilege to come and live in Canada.
I hope there is a special place in hell for your parasitical Canada and Canadian people.
