marcus

I think there is always a real danger that the situation will be misused for selfish gains. Not enough information is out yet, but from what I have seen from the market crisis 10 years ago, I'm sure this occasion has been used to put money into the pockets of 'friends'. We're already seeing companies who have received millions to help towards the pandemic, and then the company giving their CEOs large bonuses. CBC has started investigations into the money that has been handed out. This is just a start. I'm not so worried about that comment as some seem to be. We have a lot of inefficiencies in how our systems work. We are seeing how this pandemic has motivated and pushed companies and systems to use technology to become more efficient. I do think that this is an opportunity to better our system. We just have to make sure that we know how what is being changed and to hold the government accountable.

This is quite interesting. This Overlooked Variable Is the Key to the Pandemic Link Who are these super spreaders? - Healthcare workers - People who do not accept and do not want to follow the guidelines

@oops What are you arguing? You mentioned information that doesn't respond to the problem that the province has with the rising cases. What is the solution? Kenney is finally responding. He has put in restrictions that he vowed not to do, just a few months ago. He understands that it needs to be done, in order to be able to have control over the spiraling numbers.

Those are fair comments with masks and I agree with some of them. Although, wearing a mask that is not 100% full proof is much better than not wearing one. Do you agree with taxme and his conspiracy theories in regards to COVID being a hoax?

The whole premise of Taxme's argument is that this is all a hoax. You supported a post from him in a thread, where he is repeatedly repeating conspiracy theories. So I questioned you. If you want to refuse to answer why you support a conspiracy theorist, go for it.

That's not how things work. From November 21, 2020 - According to Alberta Health Services (AHS): Link ICU Beds: Link

I said "thanked his post". You did. So I am wondering why you agree with his conspiracy theories. Ref:

Who here believes in Flat Earth?

Even Jason Kenney has realized that things will get out of control, unless there are restrictions. Alberta's hospitals have reached their capacity and if the current trend continues, COVID patients will need to be put into hallways. There aren't enough nurses and doctors to handle the major overload. Do you think that this is all a hoax? That every single politician, including Jason Kenney is out to get you? How can there be so many people, at different levels, from different parties, all around the world, be part of some elaborate hoax? How does this make sense in your brain? Look at Alberta's cases: They have as many cases as Ontario, and their population is 1/4 of Ontario. Seriously? Do you think this is all a hoax? @Nefarious Banana? @cannuck? You two have "thanked" his post. Do you two also think this is all a hoax?

@cannuck Not sure how much you know about our immigration system, but it's quite dynamic. It has evolved into what it is today. Our system today cherry picks individuals from other countries. What it was like even 10 years ago is different than what it is today. Do I facilitate or condone bringing in criminals? Of course not. That's an aggressive and unreasonable question to ask. Do bad people come through the cracks? Yes. Even through today's strict immigration system? Of course. Is there a high rate of criminality created due to immigration? No. In fact, a research study that looks at property crime shows that immigration has reduced crime: This paper identifies the causal linkages between immigration and crime using panel data constructed from the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey and the master files of the Census of Canada. This paper distinguishes immigrants by their years in Canada and defines three groups: new immigrants, recent immigrants and established immigrants. An instrumental variable strategy based on the historical ethnic distribution is used to correct for the endogenous location choice of immigrants. Two robust patterns emerge. First, new immigrants do not have a significant impact on the property crime rate, but with time spent in Canada, a 10% increase in the recent-immigrant share or established-immigrant share decreases the property crime rate by 2% to 3%. Gangs are formed due to opportunities (or lack of). Hell's Angels are not an immigrant gang. Successive Italian mafias are not considered immigrant gangs.

I prefer capitalism over any other form of cliche economical/political system. I believe in conscious, ethical capitalism, which we practice. If you are against bribery and dishonesty, we are on the same page on that. And then what? Why didn't you report this? This is a pretty big deal. If you think it's still happening, you should get in touch with the police. There is a direct correlation between crime and poverty. I have a big problem with blaming "immigrants". If you look at history, crime and corruption has continued to decrease. This is because Canada already has a good base in its system, adopted from the British. Continue to adopt technology and automation, cut out the middle "man" and it will continue to decrease. There are bad apples in all cultures and corruption is weeded out as time goes by. Children of immigrants are flourishing in Canada. They are outperforming the children of non-immigrants. This simple fact should resonate with anyone who wants the best for Canada. Agreed. Thanks, I appreciate that. I am a fair person. I am not one-dimensional.

What do you mean "uncontrolled immigration"? Canada has some of the strictest immigration rules as compared to other major Western countries. I don't know how you are qualifying 1-3% . That looks more like an opinion. I would agree that some people from certain countries don't measure up to others in some sectors, as far as knowledge and capabilities. This is apparent in the engineering and tech sector. Indians are a good example of this. If they are educated in India (many are educated in England / U.S. / Canada), then the chances that they won't measure to the average worker increases. The results are clear: Employers in Canada, in the engineer and technology sectors, do avoid hiring Indians who have had education in India. That is a reality. Yet, salaries in both engineering and tech sectors are going up across the board. So this doesn't match with your opinion. If you think bribery and unethical behaviour happens by only non-whites, then you're mistaken. We have come across hundreds of cases, where "white" company owners have only cared about the "bottom line". This doesn't mean that in some cultures, unethical behaviour may not be more acceptable, than others. I would agree, that, in the Indian culture, shortcuts and unethical behaviour is more widely accepted. How much is that having an effect on the Canadian culture? Probably a bit. Is it widespread and urgent? From my experience, I don't see it. Just to note: We work with many engineering and technology firms in Canada. We assist companies at different levels, including recruitment. Majority of the recruitment is done domestically. However, due to the shortage of skilled Canadian workers, employers do look outside of Canada. This is where we assist employers as well. In almost all cases, if an employer has the option of hiring a qualified Canadian and pay them above the median average salary, vs an employee from outside of Canada, with a wage at the median average salary (all programs require this), they would easily choose the Canadian. The steps a Canadian employer would have to take to hire a foreign worker, the costs involved and the risk that the employee may not work out after going through the process is a big reason why Canadian employers would rather hire a Canadian. I acknowledge and agree that there are some problems in the trucking industry, but this 50 : 1 license ratio you are throwing around is ridiculous. It's all hearsay. This is not possible. Not at all. I am disappointed that you are throwing around such blatant misinformation. The trucking industry is in need of drivers. There is a HUGE shortage. This is why you see a higher percentage of immigrant drivers in the industry. Just like the tech and the health industry, if you cannot find workers locally, then you look elsewhere. This is why you see large number of Eastern European and Indian drivers. Did you know that there was a shortage of 60,000 truck drivers in Canada in 2019? There are issues on the road. You can blame the immigrants, which seems to be a theme with you, but the real reasons are the following: Long working hours, due to lack of drivers. Many drivers are forced to drive longer than they are supposed to. Canadian truck drivers are not officially recognized as having a skilled trade, as they are in other countries. While unionized workers in the building trades are paid quite well on the basis of their acknowledged abilities, Canadian truck drivers are still treated as untrained industrial labourers, and paid as such. (The province of Ontario, to its credit, is in the process of elevating truck driving to the status of a skilled trade, but no such initiative is evident elsewhere in the country and clearly not at the federal level.) The training of truck drivers in Canada still lacks the required level of proficiency. Truck driving is considered an entry level position and entry-level driver training is still not mandatory in Canada, either federally or provincially. How many are "pouring over the borders"? Do you have statistics? It's irresponsible of you to just throw comments, without, obviously doing some research first. No. Look at the prison system and tell me who populates them. Tell me which groups are rising in numbers. I can tell you that it's not the immigrants. Black Canadians make up 3 per cent of the country’s total population but represent 10 per cent of the federal prison population. The indigenous people make up 5 per cent of the population but account for 30 per cent of federal prison populations – a number that has been steadily rising for years.

Unfortunately there are some who hold an arrogant and bigoted view that everyone has to learn from their culture and beliefs. I believe there are a lot of things all cultures can learn from each other. There is always room for improvement.

You pay the bills for what? What consequences are you suffering? Immigrants don't pay bills? What are the gaping holes in immigration? Unwanted by who? Why are they unwanted to you?

I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion. You sound very defensive. I am trying to respond to the negativity and flat out misinformation that some here are spewing in regards to immigrants. As a whole, immigrants are good for Canada.

I am trying to balance out your constant negativity towards immigrants.

The reality is that research after research shows that immigrants have a positive impact on Canada. When you look at education and compare children of immigrants vs children of Canadian-born parents, this is what we get: Immigrants play an important role in bridging gaps in the labour market, both short and long-term. Statistics now confirm that the children of immigrants outperform children from Canadian-born parents in educational attainment thus adding another important benefit that immigrants bring to Canada. These findings are outlined in a Statistics Canada paper entitled ‘Educational and Labour Market Outcomes of Assessing the Impact of Immigrant Children on Canada Childhood Immigrants by Admission Class’ and reveals that children of immigrants graduate high school at a rate of 91.6 per cent, against 88.8 per cent of children who are third generation or more. At university, the gap increases, with 35.9 immigrant children graduating against 24.4 per cent from the established Canadian group. In educational terms, third generation Canadians are also bettered by every class of refugee in both the high school and university graduation categories. Only when it comes to average earnings does the third-generation Canadian group rank on top, at $46,100 compared to $42,900 for immigrants. Link

Great. Common ground.

So you are okay with people who cheered the 911 attack, or other attacks, who were, one way or another effected by West's attack on their country and people. Obviously that is ridiculous. I have no time for idiots who whine about and get so angry about cartoons. Then you have some fxckhead who are willing to kill someone because of it... damn... Please fxck off. People are easily insulted and are looking for excuses to feel insulted. I'm going to stop talking about this topic. We're derailing the subject. Sort of.

Who said I don't? I don't have to pick a side. I am just trying to show you that you are no different than the person who cheers on a terrorist attack. At the end, you are both justifying the death of innocent people. I condemn the cycle of violence.

In one breath, you justify attacks committed by the West, like drone attacks, where a large number of those killed are civilians, as "oh well, collateral damage", and then you turn around and condemn a family member/countryman of those killed in the drone attack, who cheers a terrorist attack on the West. That's called double standard. I believe majority of the wars we have seen in our lifetime did not have to happen and they are inhuman. Pretty much all of these conflicts are not based on altruistic reasons. I believe using collateral damage is an excuse to give your support a pass and inhuman.

What is inhuman to you? Many find bombing a country indiscriminately where thousands of civilians are killed as collateral damage as inhuman. Are those who have supported military actions in other countries inhuman?

We have a mix of immigrants. Canada, when compared to other Western countries, is renowned for having an extremely difficult immigration system to go through. This has been the case since Harper/Kenney implemented major changes into our system. Skilled worker applications, which make up a majority of our applications, go through a point system where people who are young, have post secondary education and have high English skills are able to make it through the competitive system. Step 1 - Meet the minimum requirement of one of the skilled worker programs and go into a pool called Express Entry Step 2 - Sit in the pool and hope to be picked. Currently, there are around 150K applications in this pool and each month, 7-9K application are selected (and more replace them). Meaning that over 95% of applications that met the minimum requirement, will not be selected and have no chance. The competition has created a situation where, someone without a job offer or Canadian work experience, must have at least a Master's degree, be under 30 years old, and have at least 9 (out of 12) in English/French, through IELTS/TEF, which are international language tests. Of course, the main applicant's family can come into Canada as dependents. You will always have people who will find ways to take advantage of any system. As far as Canadian employers and the job opportunities in Canada, from my own experience, many companies, whether it's food processing plants, farms or high skilled workers, they really don't have anyone in Canada who are willing to take the jobs OR have the skills to do them. They not only have to show that they have advertised to find Canadians, but they are also bound by strict wage rules. They cannot pay the workers below the prevailing salary for that position. If they are caught breaking the law, there are heavy fines. Immigration Canada has put in processes to audit companies to make sure that their foreign worker, who they have sponsored, are being paid correctly. If I recall, you're from the east coast. From what you see, how are immigrants viewed? Are they looked at as stealing jobs? Lowering pay? Or are they seen as being a positive?

How is that an attack? I'm just in awe of your consistency. You have been warning everyone about how evil Islam and Muslims are and how our society is in danger ever since I started on this forum. Every time I see a Muslim, your warnings of them reverberate in my thoughts. I have to be careful though, as sometimes I get them FOBs and goat-herders mixed up. I don't want to get a hindu Indian-Canadian mixed up with a Muslim Indian-Canadian. Also, sometimes I'm not really sure if one of those FOB women is a Muslim or not, because, now get this... only half of Muslim-Canadian women wear the hijab. You just never know. Never surrender!!!

Here is an example of two provinces, who are experiencing different economic growth: New Brunswick vs PEI Statistics Canada reported its latest estimates show New Brunswick's economy grew by 1.2 per cent in 2019. It was the slowest growth in any province east of Manitoba, and the tenth year in a row New Brunswick's economy has expanded at a rate below the national average. Several thousand metres across the Northumberland Strait, however, it has been a completely different decade. Prince Edward Island's economy has grown 25.2 per cent over the last 10 years, slightly more than Canada's with growth rates in each of the last five years all above the national average. Why? Cory Renner, an economist with the Conference Board of Canada, said a number of issues differentiate New Brunswick from Prince Edward Island. But the most significant factor in their divergent fortunes is P.E.I.'s success at attracting immigrants and growing its population. Oh. "The biggest thing that actually explains the growth differentials is that P.E.I. has had a very successful immigration program, said Renner. "P.E.I. has had well above average population growth over the last few years, and that good population growth goes back for about a decade. So as you bring in more people, you know, the economy grows, they spend money. And then when you have people, you also attract investment." Prince Edward Island adopted aggressive population growth targets early in the 2000s and has welcomed 19,285 immigrants since 2010, triple the per capita amount that has come to New Brunswick. Not all have stayed in P.E.I., but those who did helped the island grow its population by 13 per cent in 10 years, triggering significant new investments in residential construction and growth in employment and consumer demand. The influx has also helped plug gaps in Prince Edward Island's labour market.