notca

What you are posting seems to me like 'hate' rhetoric! I think your mind is closed to any opposition to your way of thinking. Whereas those who oppose the immigration of hordes of Muslims are not opposed to other races, religions and cultures. There are reasons for anti-Muslim sentiments that you just will not consider even though it is based on historical fact. It might surprise you if you knew that other immigrants to Canada also have serious misgivings about Muslims. It is not just a small group of haters in Canada. Don't you wonder why there is no flood of refugees to Russia, China, India, Japan, South America, Australia, New , Zealand, Taiwan, Korea, Mexico, to name a few? Or why the more civilized Islamic countries like Jordan are not taking them in by the millions? Are all of those countries also racist? I have listened carefully to the glowing hopes that people are talking about, the boost to the economy, doing the right thing, etc., none of which seem to be anything other than blind justification. There are no facts to back up such claims. Other races, cultures, religions have been welcomed into Canada and rightly so. They have assimilated and are largely a boon to our society. So don't try to tell me that Muslims are singled out for opposition for no good reason. There are several 'mixed culture' marriages within my own family so I get first hand feed back from these culturally diverse families regarding their impression of Muslims. So don't try to tell me I am making up stories either. We don't hear from a lot of people who are opposed to Muslim immigration because society does not welcome their opinions so they keep quiet because they don't want to be attacked by opinionated people like you. I am not afraid of attacks like that. I just consider where they are coming from.

Many points you make are not relevant to the Muslim situation. You seem to be saying that because Christians were savages centuries ago it is alright for Muslims to be savages now. You say that there are Christians in our society who oppose gay marriage. Yes but they aren't killing them, are they? Radicals of religions other than Muslims complain and oppose but they do not go outside the law over it. The shooter in Colorado is a crazy person. We have crazy persons here who do these things, not a whole nation of them. You talk about rapes committed here in this country. Again, it is against the law and punishable when the perpetrator is caught. In Muslim culture it is fine to rape. Women are not worthy of respect or protection. People are not singling Muslims out from every other religion. They are simply noting the Muslim culture that is not compatible with our society and which they refuse to abandon in accordance with our laws. It is more likely this refusal to compromise and assimilate that makes things like the holocaust and genocide possible. I do not hate Muslims. If they want to be Muslims that is their business - in their own countries. I just don't see how they will be good for Canada as long as they continue to bring their religion and their culture here. I love our laws and our freedoms and any influence that opposes those laws and freedoms is not something I will welcome. You think we are ignorant and intolerant? We have researched, at least I have and I have found that throughout history Muslims have been troublemakers everywhere they go. Have you read any of the books written by Muslims who have immigrated to western countries and told of their lives under Islamic law? Those people are not lying. You don't see books published by Canadians who emigrate and write about how cruel and barbaric Canada is. People don't make up things like that. So don't preach at me about 'facts'. Take a look at the facts yourself.

I think it is short sighted of people to say that all opposition to the refugees is racism. Racism has nothing to do with it. It is concern for the many other issues that will almost certainly arise. Will the refugees be any better off if they cannot get employment, if they are under suspicious from a good many Canadians amongst whom they will be living, If the do not speak the language even well enough to see to their everyday needs? Will our society be better off if our deficit rises to unsustainable levels, if our unemployment rate keeps rising, if the conditions of aboriginals, the homeless and the disadvantage, the mentally ill are not addressed? There was a panel on 'The National' tonight discussing the glowing hopes for all the good things the refugees will bring to Canada. When asked about the 'hate' rhetoric, they didn't want to talk about that. they dismissed it as 'minimal' and 'unfounded'. The very fact that the opposition was called 'hate' is inflammatory. It is NOT hate; it is caution and concern and ought to be explained and addressed, not ignored and brushed aside. The concerns that many people have are real.

You might as well shout down a black hole as try to have a civilized, focused debate with people who cannot tolerate any view that they don't agree with. They act like ISIS, insisting everyone 'convert' to their way of thinking or else shut the hell up!

So you're entitled to your opinion but so am I. I think people like you are as bad as the terrorists when you insult everyone who disagrees with you and tries to shut them up. You sure don't show any respect for the freedoms we all have; only those who share YOUR opinions should have rights, is that it? There's a huge difference between debating, sharing differing opinions and trying to belittle and gag those who don't hold YOUR views. I don't believe I have ever attacked any poster here with whom I disagree personally. What the hell gives you the right to be so righteous?

It isn't the time frame that matters. What matters is that changes to more tolerant and peaceful ways have happened. It is irresponsible to let those have not changed pull us back. Yes, accepting gay marriages into our culture does make us more evolved. Killing people for their lifestyles is no longer acceptable to civilized cultures.

BS! The government is asking us all to sacrifice everything we have to accommodate refugees. We pay the cost, we accommodate whatever weird cultural and religious beliefs they bring with them. Average Canadian families are now struggling to survive; how will they cope with the costs that are soon to rise due to the impending deficit? How many refugees are YOU sponsoring? How many are the politicians sponsoring privately? Huh! Our culture will always have the advantage of being elementary to the foundation of Canada? That didn't happen for the aboriginals, did it? What's the guarantee it will be that way for us? People certainly do have duties. When culture is what prevents people from being prosperous and civil it is their DUTY to change that culture if they want to become prosperous and civil. I see some immigrants blending in and others not. The present situations in Europe don't seem to be doing so well.

Helping 'those people' does not necessarily mean bring them all over here. And there is no reason why being involved in a war anywhere means you have to help them. If they behaved themselves there wouldn't be a war in the first place so if they suffer from a war that we didn't start it is their responsibility to help themselves. I don't want to be in their place, not even in my mind. But if Canada became the hell pit than Syria is I wouldn't consider running away and asking foreigners to help me. The numbers of Syrians who have stayed plus the numbers who have fled could make quite a considerable army to fight for their country. And I wouldn't keep having babies in a country where they will have no safety and security. The sight of people putting little kids into those overloaded rafts makes me sick.

It matters because it is tradition. If you don't care if traditions change or die out, then it won't matter to you. But I feel that we should be allowed to keep at least some of our traditions. The other ethnic groups coming here are adamant about keeping theirs. Maybe the desire some of have to keep Christmas as a tradition is just a desire to avoid the straw that broke the camel's back that being abandoning everything that has been dear to us for many years. Are we to be pressured to rename Thanksgiving too? Or Easter? If it doesn't make any difference, they why does it have to change? Will we at some future time take up wearing head coverings because our immigrants like them? Or give up our casual summer attire of shorts and halter tops? Will we someday ban certain foods from our supermarkets because other people find them offensive? Will we have to close our beer and liquor outlets? If we give in on one thing it isn't long until we are pressured to give in on another. Like the old fable about the Arab and The Camel, we will someday be right out in the cold to make the newcomers more comfortable.

I strongly disagree. I am NOT from elsewhere.

Nevertheless, 20% does not make us 'a nation of immigrants' as Trudeau states.

But do you really think that all people who celebrate Christmas are Christians? Christmas is to many just a festive season, a tradition that usually brings goodwill toward mankind into reality for at least a day or two. It is more the belief that Christmas is widely celebrated a a religious holiday that gets non-Christians dander up. It ain't necessarily so! If I were going to celebrate Christmas in a religious sense, I would do so privately in my own home. I love Christmas carols because they are traditional, not because of their lyrics. I love Christmas because traffic slows down and people stay home and keep quiet for a few hours. On Christmas Eve there is no traffic and never a peep out of anyone on our street. The silence is wonderful!

Your description of Justin Trudeau more accurately describes a psychotic, not bi-polar. As for medication, he admits he smokes pot. Perhaps that explains why his mind is not always clear. What bothers me most about Trudeau/Liberals is that they go about things backwards. They did it with the refugee plan and they are doing it with the environmental issue; that is, having made promises without a plan for carrying out their plan. If you are to make a promise you need to consider if and how you are going to keep that promise before you make it. The Liberals did not do that. They made all kinds of promises and when elected, began formulating plans. That doesn't seem to me a responsible way to go about things. It seems to me they should have been researching the issues while they were campaigning to know whether their promises were in fact doable and how they could make them doable. Now they are asked repeatedly, "How will you get this done", and their response is always the same, "We are working on a plan".

We are not 'a nation of immigrants'! We are a nation of descendants of immigrants. New immigrants are given Canadian citizenship and the same rights and privileges as the descendants of immigrants who were born here generations ago and for whom their immigrant ancestors worked and sacrificed to make those rights and privileges available. Anyone born in this country is NOT an immigrant! I don't care who says it, it is wrong.

Canada is supposed to be a secular country - Church and State separate. I think that needs to be enforced. People can practice their personal religion privately as long as it does not run afoul of the law, but their religious practices should not be allowed to appear anywhere publicly. Only on their own property. We can hardly prevent religious groups from building places of worship if that what they want to do but promoting and flaunting religion in any manner could certainly be prevented. As it stands now, any religion but Christianity is allowed to take liberties that Christians are not allowed. As in the abolishment of Christmas carols in what they now call 'Winter Festivals' which used to be Christmas concerts. We are encouraged to acknowledge holidays like Ramadan and allow Muslims time off with pay from their professions to make their pilgrimage to Mecca. But Orthodox Jews whose Sabbath begins Friday evening don't disrupt the workplace to accommodate their religion.

This frenzy to bring in Syrian refugees en masse is an emotional response to the picture of the drowned little boy washed up on the beach. When people allow their emotions to do their thinking they develop tunnel vision and focus only on that one issue. I think the Trudeau government has grasped this as a means of gaining even more popularity, extending the 'honeymoon', so to speak. I agree completely that they are demonstrating discrimination and racism by going all out for Syrian refugees while ignoring the desperate plight of others. I also agree that Harper was more realistic and much less willing to sacrifice principles to gain public approval. That is what defeated him. Politics does not agree with principled people.

Yes, fair question. What is 'right' or 'wrong' is basically a moral issue. There are those who think that we must do everything we possibly can to welcome and make newcomers to Canada as comfortable and easy as possible, even to the point of sacrificing our own livelihoods, our traditions, even changing our laws to accommodate. Those who think that way are very critical and insulting toward those who disagree. I don't understand what makes them think that attitude is 'right' or what it will accomplish. Perhaps those who are focused intently on doing what they believe is 'right' have some kind of guilt complex. I really don't know what drives them. But they think that to do other than what they do is 'wrong'. The other side is not so driven by what is 'right' or 'wrong' but mindful instead of what is reasonable. These ones seem to believe that it takes two sides to reach a compromise and while they are willing to make some concessions, the newcomers have a duty too to make concessions in order to 'fit in'; If the newcomers are not willing to change any aspect of their lives to adapt to our Canadian lifestyles, then they don't deserve cooperation. These people believe it is 'wrong' to completely abandon the traditions and lifestyles we are accustomed to in order to satisfy newcomers. Just as it is in everyday life, it is not always wise to insist on and demand what we want to do just because we have the right to do it. If we want to live peacefully with our fellow Canadians we have to consider the impact our actions will have on others. I hope this clarifies the point I was trying to make. In reality there is no absolute right or wrong. What is right for some may be wrong for others and vice versa, and I think both sides of the controversy have to recognize that and cut each other some slack. To continue to throw barbs at one another only escalates the discord and hardens the resolve of each side to express their personal beliefs.

I expect the community I live in will accept its share of refugees. We already have large numbers of immigrants who have changed the face of the community dramtically. But my post was intended to address the problems that these newcomers are facing and will continue to face with regard to being accepted and getting employment. I believe that the average Canadians have gone above and beyond to make the newcomers feel welcome. We have accepted many of their cultural ways which are vastly different from ours without much comment. However, I feel that the newcomers could make more of an effort on their part to learn about and accept Canadian culture and traditions and could work harder to make themselves 'fit in'. There is no reason why they could not adopt western dress codes, keep working to improve their language skills, be more amicable in their interactions with the residents of the community in which they are living. I am thinking in terms of what I would do if I were, for some reason, transported to one of their countries and trying to establish myself there. I know it would not be easy to give up the way of life I am used to but 'when in Rome we must do as the Romans do'. To do differently is to invite resentment, even hostility.

What we consider to be 'right' or 'wrong' might seem important but in reality it just is what it is. About the employability of immigrants/refugees, right or wrong is not a factor. There are just jobs that it is not wise to hire an immigrant/refugee for. A business is about serving the public and making a profit. If a community does not like to be served by a woman in a hijab or a head scarf, they will not patronize that business. Likewise, immigrants have been hired for warehouse work that involves filling customer orders but they couldn't read or speak English well enough and consequently screwed up the orders so badly that the customers lost patience and took their business elsewhere. I'm not saying this kind of thing is right but that's the reality of it. A Pakistani family took over an Esso station in my community and people stopped doing business there. Maybe it was wrong but the fact is they didn't like being served by 'turbans' and the stern, humourlessness of the Pakistanis. The station soon went out of business. I recently had occasion to change my veterinary service. I took my animal to a new establishment and found that the place was well equipped and clean and the vet seemed quite gentle and knowledgable but I could not understand a word he said. I couldn't deal with the lack of communication, my animal's health care is too important to me so I had to change again. That service didn't survive very long either. I suspect the lack of English skill was the cause of it's failure. People can't be forced to like what they do not like. You can call them 'bigots', 'xenophobes', harass them for being unfair but you just can not change them. In fact trying to change them only seems to strengthen their resolve.

As for things like cell phone pics and hackers... That actually has nothing to do with your 'rights'. Your constitutional rights only define what the government can and can't do. It says nothing about what a private citizen can do to another citizen. I am not an expert on what our Constitutional rights define. But private citizens are doing a lot of things to other private citizens that if not defined, certainly should be. And the government does things to private citizens that they should not be able to do. They curb free speech for one thing and for another thing they allow inequality where there should be none under the Constitution. I'm sorry, but I think people are paranoid about their 'rights'. Living within the law is the best way to guarantee that our 'rights' won't be violated. The RCMP can monitor my internet activities until they fall asleep from boredom and they wont find anything posted anywhere that would trigger the need for a warrant. If they do find something that is a potential threat to our security, they should have the power to do whatever it takes to investigate it thoroughly.

I must say that I appreciate your thoughtful and respectful way of debating True, we don't have the costs in front of us but we haven't heard any details of why and how the decisions were arrived at either and I think the public has a right to know. I do know it is always easy to spend someone else's money! How will the refugees be able to pay back their costs? Not even the crooked politicians and bureaucrats who have cheated the taxpayers out of Millions of dollars have ever paid back what they owe. Refugees will have a hard time finding employment at anything but low paying jobs when the unemployment rate is rising. And when the tax rate of Corporations gets raised, more industries will go offshore creating more unemployment Once government monies are spent you can kiss them good bye! I agree that it wouldn't matter what government was in power, matters will get worse but it is the one in power at the time that will take the heat. If there is a major terrorist attack in Canada, a real possibility, and there is any link to even one refugee, Trudeau and his crew will have to take the responsibility for it. Oh and about winterizing the barracks, I'm not so sure that is necessary. Lots of people have survived in shacks with no insulation - the aboriginal people in the far northern areas still do.

I am all for it. It is well known that the internet is used widely for terrorist recruitment and for other incitement to hate by other groups as well (Neo-Nazis, KKK, etc. I don't think it would be a deterrent for child predators though, they are very slick and sneaky. You can restrict your child's access only to a degree. They can always gain internet access through a friend's computer or with their smart phones. What are you who oppose the idea putting on the internet that you don't want monitored? Keeping the RCMP from warrantless access would more likely help their policing efforts for they already monitor sites. A lot of arrest have been made by tracing criminals through the internet. I find it ironic that so many people are concerned about their 'human right to privacy'. There is no such thing as privacy any more; we all ought to know that. There are security cameras everywhere, everyone is snapping pictures with their phones, hackers are able to get just about any information they want. There is no such thing as a 100% 'secure' site. Our credit card and social security numbers could be floating around all over cyberspace and there is nothing we can do about it. And still we balk at any kind of legislation that will help to weed out terrorist activities. I doubt if the Liberals will go for it. They are an anti-police. anti-military, anything goes group that is afraid to be tough on anybody in case they lose votes. With only the dwindling number of voters who still respect law and order and national security voting for their opposition, they will reign supreme forever.

Trudeau had better 'flip-flop' his arrogant attitude toward the lowly Canadian people if he wants to hold on to his popularity. He is showing signs of the same kind of disdain that his father showed to the commoners. By one way and another it is the Canadian people who have formed our way of life. Now Trudeau's determination to change everything for the better certainly indicates what he thinks of the Canada we, the common people have created.

Here's another thing to ponder on. If Muslim men are aroused by a woman's uncovered hair, how do you think they react to Western girls who wear short shorts, halter tops, bikinis, and Heaven Help Them, a woman baring her breasts publicly? Woman are held in such low regard in Islamic countries that the men have never been taught to control their biological urges. They most likely think that the skimpy way Western women dress is an invitation to sexual activity or even that those women deserve it. This might account for the high number of reports of rape committed by Muslims.

Everything you say here is true. I have found the Koran contradictory on many matters. It does say in some places to treat people of other religions kindly and in other places instructs Muslims to kill them. But on the matters of the inferiority of women, homosexuality, adultery, marriage laws and many other issues, I found no contradictions.