Close Reading

Hi EBM, thanks for this important input. Pls look into the Tiny house movement issue which seems to have stemmed out of loneliness and being imprisoned by mortgage for decades. Those Americans who have adopted it say the most important aspect of going Tiny is the community aspect of it, and also that they are now debtfree (mortgage), thus their stress having been reduced × 2. I hope you can one day touch on this because this loneliness is driving most of us crazy.

Let's be honest: Ontario is hella overrated. Important province and all, I just don’t like when the urban people in Toronto think Canada is all about Toronto. It's a good place in some locations, but everyone seems to talk about them and now other places of Canada (asides from the occasional mention of Quebec or B.C)

Canada is what you make of it. You can arrive rich and end up poor and you can arrive poor and end up rich. In between that, you can have a great life that balances your needs. I’ve seen immigrants succeed simply because they see the opportunity in front of them . They worked hard in their own counties to stay just above the poverty line ,but when they apply that same effort here it pays off ten times greater. I feel that compared to a lot of immigrants, natural born Canadians come across as spoiled and a little lazy…we are. We haven’t had to struggle the same way someone from a poorer country might have. I’ve talked to people who’ve worked ten to twelve hours a day just to stay afloat. If you did that here you could make plenty of money to live and have some left over. As far as owning a house goes,yes it’s expensive . I feel that homeownership in any country is relatively expensive. Here is a tip; use that soaring home prices to your advantage. Houses are expensive but you can make a lot of money buying and selling. I recommend putting together a buyers group and share the house for a few years, then sell at a profit, buy a bigger house or two smaller houses.try to buy the worst house in the best neighbourhood and fix it up slowly . That house could double in value in five or six years in the Toronto market. This is nothing new of course ,the people from India and China seem to do this a lot here ,it drives up prices and profits. On the downside to this ,you are now part of the problem. As the housing prices are driven up the non wealthy can no longer afford to own a house . They are at the mercy of high rents with no rewards of ownership. They are caught in a cycle of hard work and (relative)poverty. This could also be you if you can’t keep up the house payments and are forced to rent.\nHow well you speak English is important but your native language is also useful here because Canada is half immigrants . As a Canadian that speaks only english (Irish descent)I have to say to all newcomers that I’m very impressed that you have learned a new language and that you may even speak more than two! Don’t be embarrassed about your abilities . I find that in my experience , Canadians do not look down on people just because they don’t know English. In fact ,I’ve known people that have lived here for decades and still know very little English. They are comfortable in their communities and they function just fine. Learn as much English as suits your needs and be proud of any gains you make.\nOutside of Toronto are other cities that you might consider when looking at southern Ontario.From my experience,most are generally the same, just not as big . There are large immigrant communities in London Ontario, Hamilton and just outside of Toronto where housing is just a little bit less expensive but the commute to work is probably longer. This is just my opinion but in the small towns there are less people of colour , (which is what people of no colour call everyone else . I wonder if I’m called a person of no colour in some other culture ? LoL ). That might make it harder for you to feel integrated ,if that’s what you want. I’m not saying that people from other cultures can’t make it in a small town , I’m just saying that it’s definitely not Toronto . Here, people of any nationality can feel like they have a place where they can belong . It seems that no matter where you are from ,there is a community already here that’s set up restaurants and stores and clothing shops and newcomer support systems. And if your from Portugal or China or India or Africa or the Middle East, there are large groups of your kin here that have established roots for generations and you probably know this already.\nToronto means meeting place and that becomes evident quickly. I was born here and it’s one of the things I love the most about my city. I’m not going to say that there isn’t systemic racism here ,the people of no colour still kind of keep the top position , but as we become a minority in a decade or so ,I hope that will shift to a broader spectrum. It’s certainly happening already. One good thing is that the police department tries to hire people of colour so that racialism may play a smaller role. We’re getting used to seeing our politicians more and more reflect their constituents.\nI have to talk about the weather. Because I’m from here I’m used to the extremes of minus thirty and plus thirty . Eventually you get used to it (somewhat). Dressing in the right clothes is important. Summer is easy , but winter is different. It’s trying to kill you. Spend the most that you can afford on winter cloths . If you can afford a quality parka you should get one. The hood can be drawn around the face and stay out of the wind.\nIf not ,think of layers with a outer layer that blocks the wind. We have things called long Johns that are basically full length thick cotton or nylon pants that go on under your pants and a pair of extra thick socks. Buy your boots to fit your thick socks. Try to get the best boots you can afford ,it’s something that you might spend a little extra for but never regret.\nAll in all we are a fairly organized and peaceful society. Most people are friendly and will give you a chance . We have a good social safety net here and you don’t have to be homeless or starving if you don’t want to. There are people and organizations set up to help ,that truly try to get people back on their feet. It’s a good investment that pays off in ways that matter for the quality of life in a big city. I’m not putting my American neighbours down when I say they do things differently. They have their ways ,we have ours. This is just something that we do because we’re trying to learn how to help those that society has discarded or can’t find their place. Sure we have one or two areas where the homeless have pitched tents and we have some resources for them if they want. Unfortunately The mayor recently forced a small camp to move from a very visible place to more scattered locations. There were social workers involved as well as protesters trying to protect them. I didn’t like that happening and I want to see even more resources dedicated to them ,but on the other hand ,we are trying to avoid something like what happens on the streets when it’s just ignored. When I see YouTube videos of the streets of Philadelphia I’m extremely saddened. I thank the lucky stars that I was born in Toronto Canada.\nFor all it’s pollution and expense and crowds ,I think it’s a great place to do almost anything your heart desires . For every ugly building there is a beautiful park ,for every honked horn there is a birds call , for every cold and dark day there is beautiful sunny one around the corner.

Thanks for making this video. After nearly 13 years as of Jan 1st 2022, I'll be leaving Canada on a one-way ticket; not to my country of origin, but further into new ventures.\n\nIt's been a slog to become a citizen and try and make life work here. It's a good place to be successful financially if you make sound choices, and then to live a fairly quiet, isolated life. If all you want is to live within your own ethnic community and have a better quality of life, it's a good place.\n\nUnfortunately, it's never had enough culture or meaning for me. Life feels pretty empty no matter how much money you make. The national identity being based around home-ownership feels extremely depressing to me.\n\nAnd you're both on point about the reserved, passive-aggressive nature of Canadians. I've become like that too now. It's pretty obvious that it costs us dearly; people are unable to be genuinely warm, to take risks and form real friendships. Everything feels surface-level because no one risks taking the steps that might even be a bit of intrusion into each other's lives that is the signal of the start of a close friendship. I'm sick of the surface relationships I've had here.\n\nAnd the wholesale import of U.S. narratives with complete ignorance of our own realities. Most Canadians think they live in the U.S. and seem unable to name a single important issue in their own province or country. I truly came to see the Canadians as a colonized people who refuse to truly admit that they are colonized behind a thin veneer of insecurity posing as a virtue-superiority complex.\n\nI sound harsh but it's the outpouring of someone who's fallen in and out of love with his country.\n\nI don't know what I will find on the other side, but it's going to be different and I honestly can't wait.

I've lived here all my life. Worked here all my life. Only been out of the country for maybe 3 weeks total. I'm 66 years ago. One thing that really bothers me about canada, is that bad management seems to be almost everywhere. From the private sector to the public sector. I'm not saying everything is poorly managed, but my impression is that about 80% of it is. For example, canada has the third largest oil reserves in the world, and we import oil. I think immigrants should think about this before coming here. Do you really want to be part of a team like this? How do I get around this bad management. I work for myself.

Since taxes seem to be biggest interest. This is latest stat for average household: 40% to taxes and 32% to living (home, food, transportation) with taxes expect to go up even more under current government. And FYI, weather in Vancouver is mild but has one of the highest standards of living and homelessness in Canada. And we don’t have “free” healthcare it’s socialized. So going to clinic for basic check up is ok but anything more there are long wait times with many choosing to go out of country to get treatments. It’s important to be mindful of the propaganda about Canada or any country really. I love my country but it’s not a wonderland.

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.

I'm calling bs. I grew up in Scarborough, the schools in my area were mixed Caribbean, Canadian, European, Indian (and other South asain), Chinese (and other East Asian), middle Eastern, African, Latino, everyone went to the same school. Everyone's families were and are poor going through the same struggle. By the time I got to highschool I took the higher level courses, I went to class everyday, I wasn't a smart kid I didn't get to uni, I took a bridging program in college and got into uni. It's not hard to climb the latter in Canada if you work for it. Meanwhile at the same school a large percentage of Carribean and Somalian black students do not go to class, they skip, they dont care. In fact these same kids picked and made fun of the Asian kids that did go to school. They have zero respect imo. You can call me whatever you want I am just speaking my personal experience. School never seemed like a priority to them. I'm not Chinese or Indian but those 2 cultures always seemed like the hardest working. Those kids went to every class and got the best grades. Again Caribbean and Somalian black students in my area were more likely to be distruptive in class and get into fights. As were Greek kids and Canadian/Irish white kids. I am only pointing out the black students in relation to this video. Personal accountability is important, I don't disagree there is problems with the system but let's not act like there isn't a problem within black and even poor white culture itself. Sometimes you have to look in the mirror.

There is no reason why Canada has to accept any immigrants and if if we actually cared about the environment we would decrease our population. I was was taught that once a society reached a certain level of affluence we would stopped making too many babies and start living with'in our means. Why we seem to need to import hundreds of thousands of people from cultures completely removed from our own, is a joke and our collective doom.

It seems very strange behaviour by Canada when you only have to look at the places where these people come from to gauge the future for a western society with them in it. Their beliefs and their ideology demands so many transgressions of our laws that you have to make a decision whether you modify them or us or you just kinda sweep their continual law breaking under the carpet in order to placate them and the lefties who demand we embrace their idea of a social utopia which isn’t complete without an intolerant 7th century primitive culture in it.\nAll of which amounts to ignoring our own constitution and laws, which is just not acceptable because it violates the prime doctrine of the separation of powers in favour of an imported ideology that proclaims it is above the law just because it says so. And has assumed this capacity without due electoral process in accordance with existing laws and the constitution, which btw is illegal.\n\nGermany found an answer through an unelected body, the court, which is acceptable to them, they modified their own law to suit Islamic Sharia law ignoring their own constitution in the process. Germany has already modified their freedom of speech and the right to protest if it conflicts with Sharia in some fashion so Germany is on a downward spiral into totalitarianism against the majority and its own constitution. \nWhat will follow is anarchy if nobody in authority is going to adhere to the constitution and the law.

higher status? seriously? not bing able to show yourself means you're held to a higher status? sounds like something the men tell them to make them be okay with it. sounds like bullshit. wear what you want, i don't care but it seems messed up to me that you would have to wear something that covers your whole body, seems like you're less of a person not a more important person.