Close Reading

@AbhiandNiyu : I’m a Canadian citizen of Indian descent. I agree with the issues you have highlighted but I disagree with the narrative you have presented. Here are my reasons why - \n\n1. Canada has always been a peaceful, prosperous, progressive and a good governance oriented nation. In the recent decade, too much of woke, radical left wing ideology has penetrated into policy and public institutions that have led to Canada’s current day crisis. \n\n2. This country has always welcomed talented immigrants who are willing to integrate with the Canadian society, embrace its values, traditions and culture. However, in the last 10 years, too many refugees and reckless mass immigration has put an incredible pressure on the economy, infrastructure and social cohesion. \n\n3. The political leadership has allowed reckless mass immigration without caring to boost the economy/infrastructure to handle the volume and hence the sorry state of affairs. \n\n4. Too many immigration consultants of Indian origin engage in outright VISA frauds (yes, this is unfortunately true) leading to ppl coming in as a tourist and then seeking asylum or converting their visa into a student visa (55 year olds from Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat coming here as students).\n\n5. A significant chunk of people coming from India (esp. Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat) seeking a permanent residency in Canada are using student visas as a back door to claim eligibility for PR/citizenship. This is downright abusive and was never intended to be used like this. This has fueled a fake college diploma industry into Canada where “2-room” colleges have sprung up along the highways giving out fake diplomas and certifications for easy cash. Thus, the students, the immigration consultants and the fake diploma issuing colleges are all getting benefited from this scam. The internet is filled with such sting operations by Canadian officials exposing Indian students/immigration consultants. Do check them out. \n\n6. Unlike the past, the recent batch of immigrants in the last 3 years or so, make no effort at all to integrate into Canadian society and abuse the system, create law and order problem, drive recklessly, talk loudly in public spaces, litter everywhere, cross railway tracks like they do in India, steal liquor from stores, shamelessly collect food from food banks (as a way to save on groceries) that are meant for the elderly, disabled or those that are in utter poverty. It wasn’t like this ever before. In cities like Mississauga, Brampton and Surrey, the Khalistan movement + gangs involved in theft, drugs and human trafficking are from Punjab/Haryana and they have mushroomed here like crazy. A good 30-40% criminals in prison or on bail in these cities are of India ethnicity. \n\nIt is behaviours like these by Indians in the recent few years that has thoroughly infuriated native Canadians and now they hate the rest of us that have lived here peacefully and have been good citizens. There is a very serious, very real anti-immigrant (anti-Indian too) sentiment building up here. \n\n7. Lastly, the student protests that you have highlighted here is absolutely ridiculous! These students from India came to Canada under a student visa knowing fully well that they are supposed to go back after the completion of their studies, and now they are DEMANDING that they be issued extensions in work permits and be considered for PR. This is insane! This is because they never intended to return to India in the first place and were abusing the system as a back door entry. They are threatening to go on hunger strikes and what not. Legally, on a student visa, they are NOT allowed to participate in any sort of activism. \n\nNOBODY that comes to our country on a temporary visa (student, tourist etc.) has the right to dictate terms to us and demand that we change our immigration policies based on their preferences. No, that will not happen. \n\nCanada, like every country, has the sole right and privilege to decide who gets to become a permanent resident or a citizen based on our national priorities and strategic interests. I see nothing wrong in this principle.\n\nThanks for the video and I hope you will consider the other side of this argument as well. Canada alone is NOT at fault here. Immigrants and temporary visitors from India have some soul searching to do as well.

Why would people vote for deceivers for leadership. Corruption should be a crime. They are wasting money on war and soon they won't have any money and resources for real natural disasters ?

Same problems as in the US. Until we get real leadership these crooked immigrants will continue to walk over us.

Some of the stats cited here are straight up wrong or... creatively employed, and there's a lot of contradictory information and the typical conservative 'the sky is falling' sensationalism and misattribution. That said, the bas supposition isn't wrong. The bubble we've been sitting on for 20 or so years has completely burst. As someone born and raised in the Toronto area, it's impossible for me to afford to own a house or apartment here on a teacher's salary. Even rent pushes me to the limit unless I want to live in a... less than nice area. I'm living hand to mouth and enjoying the benefits of living in a 'developed' country less. Here's why:\n\n1. Wages aren't really even close to keeping up with the cost of living. The first tick upwards a bit. The second just keeps rising on the back of housing, food, amenities, and inflation: the four horsemen.\n\n2. Our grocery cabal ruthlessly raise prices whenever we look away, and their lobbyists are all ensconced within the leadership of our three major parties, particularly the Conservatives (so if anyone thinks that electing them will help, they're in for a nasty surprise).\n\n3. We're experiencing 'labour shrinkflation': increasing duties are downloaded onto workers and more is expected: more productivity, more availability (almost 24/7 in some jobs), and higher qualifications. Meanwhile, real wages are decreasing relative to living cost, more positions are 'contract', which is basically a way for employers to not have to give you benefits, and job security is tenuous for a lot of people.\n\n4. Houses are being bought by investors and not owners. Foreign entities are money laundering. The wealthy upper crust of high population countries are moving here and buying property because Canada is (still) more safe and stable and less repressive than their home countries in most cases. \n\n5. There's a cycle beginning: as people are squeezed and forced to spend more on 'needs', they spend less on eating out, entertainment, and other 'wants'. These are significant drivers of the service economy and they're being hit hard. So, what can they do? They can let go of workers or lower product costs to remain profitable, but they their quality declines and, in a market where people are pinching every penny and looking for quality for their dollar, they're less likely to go back. They can raise their prices, of course, but then they price people out completely and their profits still tank. I went to a decent steakhouse for my dad's 60th last week. I can't remember the last time that I went to one before that. \n\n6. Our politicians and news cycles focus on the most niche and irrelevant stuff because it'll stoke anger and get tongues wagging. This carbon thing is almost a non-issue, but our conservative leader is harping on about it like it's singlehandedly the death of the Canadian economy when it's a drop in the bucket. Trudeau focuses on 'equity' measures, hoping for a bit of cheap good press, while his efforts are, for the most part, just window dressing and the issues, while meaningful, are often not of paramount importance or even applicable to the vast majority of the people who elected him. Meanwhile, the middle class is pretty much evaporating as he speaks. The NDP keep talking about this in a pretty real way, for what it's worth, but Jagmeet Singh is giving off an increasing vibe of just being another fat cat politician beneath his rhetoric these days. Also, third-party trolls and screeching conservatives try to bury him on social media whenever he speaks... a lot more than other leaders as well, oddly. I wonder why? Oh yeah, the Greens exist and there's Quebec and the conspiracy theory party.\n\n\nUltimately, what we're experiencing is the revenge of the feudal system. Instead of paying rents to your lord and doing labour on the land for him whenever commanded to, you pay rent to your landlord now and go to work even when you're sick or when work hours are over because you have no union protection or are working 'on contract'. Unless we want to live in the armpit of nowhere, 95% of us are going to be wage slaves living hand-to-mouth, not owning our own property, and working to please our corporate overlords if current trends continue unchecked. While some of Canada's problems are unique, I fear that most aren't. As for me, I'm headed to the 'armpit of nowhere' where I can at least have a ghost of a chance of affording life.

I was born and raised in Canada and in my 60’s now. I can’t afford to live here anymore, healthcare has declined, personal safety, fuel costs, insurance etc. most of all our politics are a mess on all three major parties. The Liberals are a royal mess and inflation went through the roof. They’re just running around like the 3 blind mice making fools of themselves. The Conservatives are involving themselves in a right wing romance with fascist trumpianism and think poutine is an ok guy. The hate speech is unreal. We used to be a real chill country. I have young 20 somethings telling me they think Communism is a great idea and they would rather fight for poutine if a war breaks out. Well it’s their future not mine. The AI, bots and trolls on the internet are telling them what they want to hear in order to stir up hate and entitlement. The NDP (New Democratic Party) is neither here nor there, they’re kind of always the minority and swing both the other two parties to divide the vote and gain some form of temporary power. \nI’d like to see a politician that has the balls to stand up to the dictators of this world that shit disturb in every continent because they are such little insecure bastards that they think they can conquer it. I’ve got news for them. Every single dictator in history has failed… miserably and often brutally. We need the kind of leadership in our Country that can produce good governance. Our GDP is just under $60K. The dictators out there are rubbing their greedy little hands, for if there is ever a 3rd world war, Canada will be the prize. We are loaded with resources. Land mass, water, minerals, oil and gas, technology, geographic strategic stronghold etc. Don’t let it slip into the hands of fascists, communists, dictators or totalitarians they always make it worse so that it takes a lifetime to recover. I’ve spent 40 yrs in the workforce, and listened to countless people from every continent who told me the truth about why they left their homeland. People who survived WW2, the Korean War, Vietnam War, communist China, expansionism of the USSR, the caste system and political persecution in India and Bangladesh. Political unrest in Argentina and Chile. I have personally witnessed systemic racism in the USA and Canada. \nI don’t have anything tying me down to stay here so I will be moving on. I think I’ll just become a nomad tourist for a while.

We need real leadership to stop this invasion that will destroy America as we know it.

We need real leadership to stop this invasion that will destroy America as we know it.

We need real leadership to stop this invasion that will destroy America as we know it.

Great perspective! I survive by renting my condo. But even this can be a struggle when you can't find the right tenants. And rising taxes, poor Mayoral leadership, increased random unprovoked crime, the influx of asylum seekers , tent cities. I plan on selling my condo and returning to the caribbean and invest in real estate properties where I gran grow my wealth faster without being taxed to death.

Regardless of all the mud-slinging in the comments, I strongly advise any prospective immigrants to Canada to consider their situation/ aspirations seriously before making the move to Canada. While Canada is indeed a beautiful country, especially from spring to fall, there is no doubt that it has fallen behind severely in recent years. This is a massively underperforming country and people (Canadians and immigrants alike) are struggling big time. There is a massive leadership problem in Canada, where trivial problems get 99% of the attention. Real problems (which are easily solvable by the way) get little to no attention at all. Either there is very little will or the current administration is simply incompetent. Either way, some structural changes need to happen before Canada can recover.

I didn't like the traffic jams, air pollution, the political goondaas, the rapes and killings of innocent girls, the hypocrisy in the general public and leadership, the government red tape, the Prime Minister of a country coming to power on the basis of Digital economy and the entire population running each and every real estate transaction using black money. The Prime Minister of a country promising 100 developed cities and delivering just 10 cities with uncontrollable air pollution and traffic jams and failed infrastructure, the 1.5 billion people just act like mute spectators, yes I am proud I quit and chose Canada at age 46 from a country that can never come out of its slave mentality and hypocrisy in each and every deal. I am proud of bringing my family to Canada and giving a respectable life to my wife and my 2 daughters, and most importantly breathing pure Oxygen, a rare luxury in my home country...

Unfortunately, Canada has quickly gone downhill, more so in the last decade. Canada is now synonymous with Real Estate scams (highly inflated prices), student scams, rampant drug peddling, and homelessness in major metro cities. And, the sad part is the country's leadership is an active participant in this!

This is a very thoughtful and balanced review. As a retired Canadian who had a good job for most of my life, I'm saddened by the decline in almost all areas of life, lifestyle and and people's aspirations in this country. This decline actually seems quite rapid, I would say from 2015 onwards. Housing in major centres was expensive, but it has skyrocketed in the past decade. There has been a decline in many institutions: 1. health-care, especially noticeable since the pandemic that coincided with many boomer medical staff retiring, but also by our sclerotic institutions refusing to enable foreign-trained doctors to work here. Many foreign-trained doctors in the Vancouver area are doing jobs way below their qualifications while many people cannot even get a family doctor. Crazy. Econonically, there seems to have been no plan at all from the government as we exited the pandemic. At least the US had a plan, to 'build back better'. Our government just floats along as if everything is fine, when the decline is very visible especially to older Canadians. We have admitted 1/2 a million people a year from overseas, so our economy should reflect this and show an upswing. But no, we're in a 'technical recession' as of December and probably a real recession as of last week. I have never voted Conservative in my life, but Trudeau is a flaky dimwit with a famous name who has no clue what he is doing. A fool, in fact. He's mismanaged our foreign relations beyond belief, and nothing has improved domestically. When Pierre Poilievre says 'Canada is broken', I believe it. We deserve much better leadership; in Canada's case, the rot does come from the top. Justin the entitled idiot is much more like his mother than his father.\n\nLong rant. Anyway, I just wanted to praise your balance, and your decision to stay for now. Moving from one country to another is a huge life-change and you have worked hard to be here. I only hope conditions improve for you and your husband in the near future. Will look out for your future videos.

Since the liberals with the leadership of Justin Trudeau took over, 10 years ago, in the federal government, Canada has become a pathetic place to live. Socialism has destroyed the entrepreneurial spirit. Taxes are very high and professional immigrants can not practice their occupation since it is not recognized by the government. The government prints money and gives generous handouts to those that don’t work with the result that the debt has reached uncharted territories and the Canadian dollar has lost more than 35% of its value against the U.S. dollar. Healthcare is horrible since you have to wait for months to see a medical professional or have an operation. The country is run by monopolies and oligopolies in banking, and telecommunications. To buy or rent a house is extremely expensive. Finally the winters are long and cold and when you see the sun you feel is a real treat!

This is what real leadership looks like. Western democracies have not seen it in quite some time.

USA poor leadership policies is detrimentally causing an extreme BANKRUPTCY economic nightmarish outcome of future proportions we just can’t recover? America can’t sustain this debt ceiling already CRIPPLING our financial structure with devastation and catastrophic liability which future generational millennials won’t be also be capable to balance any government BUDGETS after inheriting Biden’s Presidential economic policy BLUNDERS affecting Corporate Entities insolvency, stock market dismal predictions, real estate meltdown, and inflation & recession quadruple the size of Great Depression!! GOD HELP US

bruh build Mexico and fight for Mexico not the United States because yall literally can't. the opportunity for real leadership is where yall are already at. it's too late here in the U.S you'll just be joining the rat race. the cartel ain't big enough to win if you all fought back and sometimes you got to fight fire with fire. these people clearly need leadership and someone with a voice to give them courage otherwise this will get worse and lead to nothing but death, deprivation, illness, and just sheer disaster

I live in Canada. It feels dystopic to live here. Low wages, high rents, astronomically high real estate, and instead of building new cities and/or closing the borders, the government insists upon increasing the population while keeping the supply of housing fixed. It's a joke. We need strong-willed leadership in Canada to build new cities with wide roads and cheap housing.

This is a humanitarian crisis! Result of corrupt and greedy leaders. They need support and compassion, real leadership and solutions, not barbed wire.

Their comments are 100% accurate for ALL Canadians regardless of whether you're an immigrant or born here. Canadians, especially professionals earn 20-30% less than Americans in the same job (with the exception of teachers and police which earn 20-30% more) and pay more incomes taxes. Prior to the election of Justin's father (Pierre), Canada had a very strong manufacturing sector, strong financial sector, we had a technology leadership position in many sectors, and a dollar that was consistently as stronger or stronger than the US dollar. Now even our resource sectors are struggling. Our economy is dependent on real estate speculation and borrowing. God help us when the 10 million baby boomers retire - bankrupt Canada!!

The first step before understanding a conflict, let alone trying to solve it, is listening. Bravo to CBC for giving a voice to people who are in positions of leadership who represent the disenfranchised, the violated and the overlooked. One thing that can be frustrating about “not seeing a problem that doesn’t involves us immediately” is that we are locked in to our own worldview—and it’s frustrating to be asked to change something we ourselves don’t think needs fixing. The importance of just listening, and being witnesses to specific stories, human to human—and being reeducated on the lingering multi-generational consequences of past and current racism is what needs to be focused on, if you are an individual who feels like nothing is wrong. The task is merely to listen—and doubt your sense of comfort, satisfaction and preference for the status quo. Listening, and doubt can lead to change. Collective change can lead to understanding, and even, healing. It is so hard to doubt oneself at this level because “othering” is a very strong force in tribal instincts and dynamics. To be asked to let go of this seemingly real sense of self and group identity can be extremely unsettling, psychologically. I hope that is somehow helpful for people who are reading, in some way. I wish that our education not only reflected history accurately, but also made it mandatory to learn basic principles of psychology.