"That Canada is a land of
opportunity is a hard sell for most immigrants who have had to bite and
claw their way up. This is not just an expression of my bitterness at
being told I’m not good enough, but the stark reality that almost all
newcomers have had to face. While the Canadian experience card has
shoved most out the employment door (the few who have made it are too
insignificant number compared to the many who have not) or down the
ladder that is not the only department in which the newcomers have been
forced to eat humble pie. Talent is another one. "
Bottomline:
"It’s time to stand up for and with newcomers to help them truly
integrate and contribute to the progress of the country. Perhaps the
government ought to insist (or provide incentives for) companies and
employers hire a certain number of immigrants each year. Starting with
government services. We’re more than just a vote bank!" Read the article
On the same shelf by Doug:
"Today, people like me are there, and the non-white, non-wealthy and
foreign-born are on the edges, without much chance of grabbing the
bottom rung of the housing ladder. (This is the division that led to the
2010 election of Rob Ford in Toronto: His backers, the non-white,
non-wealthy, non-homeowning suburbanites, expressed their frustration
with their ballots.)
If we don’t want the Canadian dream to be ruined by people like me, we’ll need to turn those inner-suburban districts into the sort of arrival cities we used to see downtown. We should take lessons from Surrey, B.C., which has allowed affordable basement and backyard “infill” apartments to flourish, or Toronto’s “tower renewal” zoning, which allows dense, high-intensity, multiuse districts to flourish between suburban apartment blocks."
globeandmail
See also: Job availability now determines career path, not ability or interest,
Sabrina Almeida
