on immigration and intolerance
even though vancouver isn’t the canadian city with the highest population of immigrated hong kong chinese, it is still known as "van kong" or "hongcouver".
before i launch into this post, these are just my thoughts. i believe the world was once one continent, and that no man is an island. my beliefs. i know very little of what it is like to have my family’s life or safety affected by a flood of immigration, and if i did, i would possibly have a very different viewpoint than the one i have now.
many people are unhappy about how the chinese (and other racial groups, but mainly asians, because little italy’s and portugals have been established long enough to be cool and they’re english speaking…) are now the main residents of some of vancouver’s suburbs. (i can hear the brahmins trembling in their shoes…being lumped with and accepting the irish and italians because there is a greater evi!)
major complaints? the numbers of people crammed into a house ruining the neighbourhood, how asians in their 30-40’s come to canada, bring their parents over, get them into the local healthcare system, and then head back to hong kong to work, leaving taxpaying canadians to pay for the medicare. chinese speaking schools built with taxpayer money. pregnant hong kong women flying over to canada at 36 weeks, giving birth and therefore giving their child a canadian passport, then heading back to hong kong three days later. people are unhappy about this. i am not a canadian taxpayer, but if i were, chances are i would be unhappy as well.
but should we be unhappy with the asians, or the government that hasn’t created approprate laws?
canadian immigrants are the hardest working lot i have seen. they get accused of "stealing all the jobs". lots of people say, "look at the vancouver airport, there’s only immigrants working there." oh, okay, do you think the people who are cleaning the toilets and scraping gum off the floors beat out thousands of other applicants, or do you think the have the job because they’re the only people who applied for it? according to airport stats, it is the latter.
i am caucausian. by the grace of God i have been born into the cultural and skin group that is highest in most countries hierarchy. the only language i speak is the language everyone currently wants to know. i was born into a country offering free healthcare and no obstacles to success for those who are willing to work hard. my parents won’t disappear in the middle of the night, i don’t have to worry about government sponsored violence, i can practise the religion i choose.
once when a friend of mine was grousing to my dad about immigration into canada, frugal blake responded, "you’re not parents yet, but one day you will be. and you will want your child to have a better life than you had. canadian politicians aren’t perfect, but the corruption is nothing compared to what so many of the immigrants encountered, and they can build a better life for their children. if i were in their shoes, i would immigrate as well. thank god i am not."
the canadian government isn’t perfect, and a lot could be done to prepare immigrants arriving into canada about what life in canada is like. and patrolling to see if people are taking advantage of the system. without a doubt. something needs to be done, and that is for elected officials to do. yet it is easier and faster to take out frustration on the immigrants, instead of the people who took them into the country. how can people know that queuing is the way of life, that tipping in restaurants is appropriate, that public nosepicking isn’t accepted, unless someone tells them? (then there are others who when i make this point say, "but who are we to change them? that’s not what canada is all about!" – which is another argument althogether). as for the racial gang violence…that’s a huge one….what is the government doing about it?
if charles and i were chinese, we would be trying to come to canada, to give our children a future with options and hope. if we were living here, we would be making sure our elected officials were doing something about the situation.
