Close Reading

I lived in Canada for 11 years, 2008 - 2019, went to university and worked in Toronto. I come from an upper-middle class family in China, went to a top university in Canada, landed good jobs and I speak English like a native. I got my PR in 2015 and I remember the painful uphill battle I had to go through just get that. All the bureaucracy, redtape, unnecessarily rigid rules, high cost and long wait I received from CIC/IRCC felt like a humiliation to me. Every document was scrutinized and every step had obstacle that fealt unreasonable (my TOEFL examiner ask me why I had to do the language test required by CIC, and I had to visit a notary to validate my Chinese national ID card). It felt uneasy but I understood that these were the rules that everyone had to go through, and moving and integrating into a new society was never meant to be easy. I went back to Canada in 2021 and 2024, and it was evident that the country I once called home had gone down the hill. The streets were screaming crime, unemployment, inflation, drug and filth, it's total social rot. As someone who went through the whole immigration process (and many of my friends who went through the same have left Canada for good, like myself), I attribute much of this to failed immigration policy. I cannot help but feel confused, angry, betrayed and humiliated when I look at the recent immigration policies of Canada and their results, and compare with what I had to go through. The feeling sums up to: Canada penalizes the hard-working and law-abiding people, and rewards the undeserved and the cheaters. Example: when the US creates wars in the Middle East, why does CANADA bear the cost of bringing in refugees? I never regretted moving back to China and East Asia, and I feel bad for those who still truly think of Canada as home, as I am one myself. When the leadership of a country deviates from pragmatism, reason and common sense, and instead embraces idealogies, hypocrisy and political optics, this is what happens. The prices are paid by everyone, immigrant or not. For this, Trudeau deserves a court trial for his incompetence and dereliction of duty; and the people of Canada need some honest and serious retrospection. I will share some words of wisdom by the late Lee Kwan Yew: “Whoever governs Singapore (LKY was the PM and founding father of Singapore) must have that iron in him. Or give it up. This is not a game of cards, this is your life and mine. I've spent a whole lifetime building this and as long as I'm in charge, nobody is going to knock it down.” I hope the clownish weakling politicians in Canada (and, in much of the western world nowadays) can be enlightened a little bit.

Texan and Cold War veteran here. Canada has fought beside us in every major conflict and a number of small ones as well and has always been a good friend to the American people. I will do everything I can to support Canada and Ukraine and any other ally our current dis-administration attempts to bully. \n\nExcellent speech Mr. Prime Minister, you are what leadership and integrity look like and Canadians can be proud to call you their own. You are polite, we are not. You are loyal, we are not. You have guts, we currently do not. God keep your land glorious and free!

Thank you for demonstrating what good leadership looks like.

This is what good leadership looks like. ??

What good leadership looks like

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.

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.

I immigrated to Canada in 2010, and here are my experiences inside and outside Canada. I am grateful for a good education; having a Canadian passport opened up many opportunities in other countries to build a higher-level career. However, if I had known the amount of stress, health, and financial damage that I had to endure, I wouldn't have chosen to come to Canada. I would have remained in the US or EU countries where I could achieve even more without suffering to the level I did here. \n\nMisleading immigration promotion: The government-sponsored Canadian immigration program oversells what Canada can offer. It withholds information on the cost of living, chicken-and-egg problems like Canadian work experience is required to get a job at the same level as you are in, Canadian credit history is required to rent a proper apartment, Canadian education is required to secure a high-level job, etc. \n\nHiring process: I knew the Canadian system was not ideal for immigrants over a decade ago, but it got so bad now that even the born citizens are unable to survive. The Canadian government and employers lack a basic understanding that ambitious, high-achieving people immigrate to other countries for high-level positions using proper channels. It's ridiculous to see that Canada uses a point-based system to choose highly qualified personnel to enter their country yet expects them to pursue low-paying entry-level or labor jobs just because they have brown/black skin. At first, I thought having a Canadian degree and experience might help me get high-level jobs, and I didn't think how I spoke or looked would matter when I had high credentials to show off. So, I got my masters & Ph.D. from the Univesity of Toronto, which consistently ranks #1 in Canada. I have a bachelor's from a prestigious university in Asia and had a high-competitive, well-paid federal government job in another country. Still, none of that was recognized in Canada, and I had to volunteer for over 6 months, 10 to 12 hours/day, in a research lab that led to a funded PhD program. I worked even harder during my Ph.D. with many accomplishments, like 40+ research and leadership awards, internationally recognized scientific discoveries, and innovative technologies. I checked all the above and beyond in various domains (research, teaching, leadership, business, engineering consulting, collaborations, etc.). Yet, employers couldn't see past my race, gender, age, etc., and refused to give me the opportunity at the level of my qualifications. Luckily, I managed to secure short-term work in the UK & the US, and it changed even how I see myself. I was highly respected for my credentials, given higher positions than I applied for, and paid 3-4 times more salary and benefits. Of course, bias is an integral part of every society, but my race, gender, age, etc., were not as big of an issue to begin my career at the mid-career stage in these countries as opposed to Canada. \n\nHealthcare: Access to healthcare was another big challenge for me. When I moved to Canada in 2010, due to extremely low temperatures, I developed hives all over my body, my eyes got red, and I coughed for many months. The doctor said there was nothing wrong with me and refused to give me any medication. It took us years to get a family doctor, and we got one through my personal network. In 2015/2016, I developed an autoimmune disease, and my eyeballs popped out. As of today, I did not get to see an eye specialist as they have only 1 specialist in the area, and the waiting time is for years for the first consultation. Every time the family doctor told me that I had iron deficiency, even when I insisted that they should run additional tests and they cleared, they were flagged. The doctor never diagnosed my autoimmune condition. Luckily, during my short-term work in the UK, I saw competent interns who completed my care. NHS is poorer than the medical system in Canada... they are understaffed, don't have hospital beds after surgery, or don't have stock of paper gowns, yet the staff are highly competent and caring. Within 1-2 years, they did complete diagnosis by sending me to various specialists, completed eye surgery, and even found a lifelong condition that was preventing me from realizing my full potential. Following, in the US, the doctors confirmed the diagnosis of all the conditions within 1-2 months and put me on two small pills for life. It has dramatically changed my life, and I have even more admiration for the medical profession. While in Canada, I suffered for over a decade, and every time, I was treated as a hypochondriac and never given a single prescription. \n\nQuality of life: Big cities like Toronto are mainly affected by high crime rates, overpopulation, cost of living, low employment, low salaries, etc. A few months back, there was a huge auto theft, and one of my contacts lost their Lexus car within minutes of parking. Despite being a scientist, I have no faith in politicians or individuals fixing these problems. The salaries are not increasing, but the taxes and cost of living are on the exponential growth curve. The ridiculous part is that Canada expects you to pay taxes even when you are not employed or living in Canada! I lived in London and Boston, and they offer a much higher quality of life and pay. \n\nGrowth potential: No wonder Canada, being a G7 country, falls at the bottom of the list in innovation, equal opportunities, economic growth, etc. It has a decent education system but, due to its inherent bias in the hiring process and monopoly of certain businesses, loses talented immigrants and highly qualified Canadians to the US, the UK, and EU markets. Unless there is a dramatic shift in policies, Canadians, especially new immigrants, cannot expect any positive experience in Canada except for being discriminated against and losing valuable time and money by being there.

This is an interesting overview of Canada and its many issues. I would love to see a follow up video or two looking into these same issues but from a few different perspectives. 1) regionally - Canada is very diverse so our regions are quite different in culture, problems and cause of each. The major regions are: Maritimes/Ontario/Quebec/Prairies/West Coast/ Territories. 2) because of our diverse landscape different races are attracted to different areas. I have not studied this impact on our racism and political issues but would love to see someone like you do so. It appears to me that immigrants are disproportionately gathered along the US/Canada border and big cities, particularly east and west coast. First Nations are disproportionately populated in Rural and northern areas where resources overall are less available to all races. I would expect to find that this population disbursement would also reflect in our political leadership. For example more populated cities are far more likely to have immigrant own businesses and politicians, In rural and northern communities politicians are more likely to be white because First Nations politicians would be more inclined to work within the First Nations political channels where they can actually do more good for their communities. 3) The diversity that makes up 'white' as a race. It appears to me that Canada historically has been more inclined to attract 'White' races versus other 'colours'. We have large populations of British, Swedish, Irish, Russian, Ukrainian, French, Norwegian, and Polish to name a few. All of which have large diversity in their culture and history but are often classified as 'white'. 4) The massive impact the past 5 + years of politics and world affairs have had on the divisions within Canada. Personally I see and feel far, far more judgements between races, economics and regions than ever before.