Canada, you need to get firmer.

I had this friend in high school who was from montreal, and his dad was from argentina. So he looked white and was fluent in french, spanish, and english.

It was great watching him make an ass of the latin people that would be talking shit about us gringos in lines and shit.

And I know about this frustration, I just dont really care anymore. A funny thing to do is when asked if you habla espanol, say "sprechen sie deutsche?"

The blank looks are priceless.

 

EMBRACE the change. it's awesome and fun.

 

Malia, you say you speak Italian right? well, you'll get a job where they need someone who speaks English and Italian.
Someone else would get that job at the cellphone place who speaks English and Spanish. Every job has their requirements, speaking more than one languange is often one of them.
There were also jobs in DR were you need to speak French, my French is bad, I didnt apply for those jobs. It's quite simple

 

I KNOW America benefits from immigration...and if I had to go to DR for an extended period of time, you bet your ass I'd learn the language.

In America, though, it's not only what I've mentioned about the languages...illegal immigrants have more rights and get more things handed to them then the citizens of the country do! A guy from Mexico is going to a state university for free when I'm paying however-many THOUSANDS of dollars? Fuck that bullshit! All it takes for them to get work is a desire to work hard and a dead mans social security number. My best friends husband just lost his job as a carpenter because a mexican illegal immigrant could do the job for less money. It drives me insane! And now our governor is trying to pass an actual law that allows these immigrants to pay less then state residents to attend state universities?!

 

Or you can just say what my brother says every time someone asks if he habla espanol...."el bano es en fuego?" haha

 

It's clearly a give and take situation. Immigration is encouraged because of the positive effects it has on countries. There are a lot of them, like increasing commerce. Canadas mostly a vast empty land. by filling up some of that space with more communities the culture will thrive, and the economy will grow.

Canada and the US invite people in. And then some WASP's in gated communities get so offended when it takes them a bit of work to integrate. These are usually the kinds of people who benifit most from foreign labor irnoically.

It's a bunch of xenophobic crap.

 

well, all the schools here are starting spanish from kindergarten. smart stuff, right there.

but yes, the greatest aggravation EVER is seeing illegal immigrants get more benefits than legal, tax paying citizens. and please, for god's sake, DON'T SAY they pay sales tax. we need fresh blood, good people, an infusion of life and change, i LOVE that. but abusing the system? are you wanting to do better, or are you just a leach?

 

Yeah, thank god that idea has never been pushed that far. I believe it was only floated in some report that was made for the government of Ontario and it was never adopted.

 

I completely forgot about the tax thing. Good point KC!

A girl I used to work with was with an illegal immigrant from Brazil...he was able to steal a dead mans social security number, work, get a pay check, and not pay taxes!

Some of these people are here to legitimately make a difference in their lives and they're taking the right steps to become a citizen...but there are some that are coming here just to suck up every ounce of stupidity that the government has by not catching what they're doing. And what does the government do to react? Grab the kid at his graduation ceremony that is a German immigrant whose greencard ran out less than 48 hours beforehand...c'mon!

 

Yeah, you know what the obvious solution to that is right?

tax firms which use immigrant labor. Pays for itself right there. It's also a discouragment from outsourcing jobs to foreign labor.

And how about making a few more immigrants legal? I dunno if you think America is hospitabal enough to immigrants where their getting an easy ride working for $4 an hour cleaning houses.

But theres nothing lecherous about that.

Of course there are bad apples in any bunch. But that's such an irrelevant argument to immigration as a whole. Legal immigrants don't cause any more crime than US citizens. Illegal immigrants do.

Perhaps shunning them to the side while benifiting their labor isn't the best idea.

 

i would love to see the amnesty and instant citizenship of the laborers. hell, they are contributing, and they're a wonderful addition to our society. they need our protection, AS WELL AS our benefits. it seems such a cold bargain. and then, they would be making decent wages by LAW, they would be paying taxes, they could legally set up a home here. i don't want them to go home. i want them to stay and become entrenched in our society.

 

when i worked for a contruction company, i had to run social security checks all the time, you know, check the eligibility to work for loads of the laborers. they were skinny, they were tired, they were determined and afraid, and all those times i had to tell the boss that such and such couldn't work i felt so bad. WHY CAN'T WE ASSIMILATE THEM? i don't mean, borg style, i mean, paperwork style. they're people, working hard, getting by, yeah, my mom's house was utterly trashed by a crew of illegals and we have a picture of them joyfully destroying what my mom and sister rebuilt themselves, but whatever. what matters is that when you have a stake in a place, you are more likely to treat it better.

 

I know plenty of legal immigrants who are serious about citizenship and making sure they are doing everything legally-taking courses on the US government, etc.

The kid who got my friends job is getting $12/hr. A lot of them are doing the work cheaper...however, 90% of it is under the table...so they are getting a free ride.

Illegal immigrants are just that...illegal. My boyfriend worked with an illegal immigrant who tried becoming a citizen. After a few failed attempts, he turned to terrorism threats...great, huh?

If they are illegal and trying to make something of themselves as an American citizen-all the more power. However, an illegal immigrant is an ILLEGAL immigrant. No two ways about it...every state in America, every country in the world...

 

I am afraid it is more to do with exploitation in this case. Very similar to what is going on in the USA.

Both countries have opened their boarders to select kinds of people.

Usually from developing or under developed countries.

Cheap labor is where it is at! It increases the tax base and lowers the wages large business have to pay their workers.

So the socialist politicians get what they want while appeasing the people who are really in control- Big global corporations and family dynasty's that have always controlled the world.

It is not going to change any time soon.

Meanwhile I will build my power base in South America.

Learn Spanish if you live in America. If you don't you will not be able to get a job in 5 to 10 years from now.

Don't get mad at me! It is not my rules. I just exploit them for my own good.

 

in all seriousness, I think anyone who wants to become a citizen should be able to. and I wouldn't care if less than half the country spoke the language that I'm used to. I'd probably like it more...

 

I respect all ethnicities...hell, call me unamerican because I'm Italian and come from a serious italian family.

Taking legal steps to become a citizen can be tough and can be long and tedious. However, it is worth it BECAUSE they will be getting something better here than they would be at home...which is more than likely why they're here in the first place. I just hate the ones that are too lazy to actually take the initiative to do something.

I heard it all in a pizza shop about a year ago. Two guys were talking...one Mexican, who was apparently illegal when they were talking about pay. The guy said he loved getting paid under the table because it was easier than going to the office to file for citizenship.

 

I have no problem taking people in at all, the reason I began this thread is because moments before I was in a frustrating conversation about it.

I just think its frustrating when people think already established rules and traditions should bend to the culture they bring over. I love to celebrate culture, but we should also celebrate the Canadian identity at the same time. Otherwise, Im happy.

 

no identity stays static. canadian identity is about to go the way of american identity.

 

what's Canadian identity? you mean like hockey and Molson?

 

Absolutely not. We have a clear different way of life than alot of countries people are immigrating from. That was absolutely ignorant of you to say.