Send Tamil migrants home: Poll

Originally posted by v3_exceed
And SmedleyBurlap does NOT speak for any Canadians I know. This isn't about race, or skin even the way he's posting about the immigration of the past decade is to slant perceptions. And the only complaint I have ever heard from other Canadians is that these people don't assimilate. Which is a choice all immigrants can make. But it's always the race card with these Smedley types.

So although I do support Canada helping others when their in need, I also support Canada helping Canadians. As far as this particular group of boat people go, If they can't be forthcoming with the details of their pasts then perhaps they do need to move on.

This is the kind of rational and logical thinking thats makes Canada great.
I don't think you could better express what the general opinion on immigration in Canada is than has been written above.

Originally posted by v3_exceed
reply to post by SeekerofTruth101

 

I noticed that after re reading some of your comments you are the biggest Racist in this thread.

..ex

[edit on 8/22/2010 by v3_exceed]

Can you explain this to me?

i'd like to point out a humourous thing.
the same type of people who say "send them home" are the same types who say, "get out of canada if you don't like the rules (new terror laws, etc.)". so, when you have to leave your country because you don't like the government, it's YOUR fault for being a bad citizen (bad reason), as opposed to, it's the government's fault for not representing the will of the people (good reason).
so blind and hypocritical.
p.s. i personally think they should be accepted/rejected on a personal evaluation, rather than saying "send them all back", or, "let them all stay". if they flew on a plane to illegally immigrate, would it be different?

im a canadian citizen, and i think that as long as they're being checked out, background checks, etc. to make sure that they're legitimately in need of a safe place then they should be allowed to stay. they're human beings who are trying to get away from terrible conditions that i've never come close to experiencing living in canada. if they dont check out and they're a potential threat to canadians, absolutely send them elsewhere. if they check out to be good, honest people in need of a safe place, then let them come here. i cant believe that so many people are immediately saying "send them back" the lack of compassion for another person's suffering is really surprising to me...and very saddening

I'd be OK with this but for one reason. They are bringing their war over here and fighting it in gangs on OUR streets.

reply to post by Dock9

I'm sick to death of 3rd worlders sloping around in their weird clothing, with their weird foods and beliefs, with their constant breeding and ruthless domination in every sphere

You have made your intentions and feelings quite clear with that quote. If they were white, they would probably be just fine though, right?

reply to post by InvisibleAlbatross


Careful with that, Albatross. When I was in school the Yugoslav wars were on, and racists were saying the same things about Serbs, Croats, Slovenes and Macedonians that they are saying now about Tamils. They don't discriminate based on skin colour, but based on religion, tribal or ethnic identity (Serbs, Croats, Poles etc are Slavs) or any number of other factors. They never discriminate against White Anglo-Saxon Protestants, though!

reply to post by SmedleyBurlap


I actually thought of that after I posted and you are quite right.

reply to post by InvisibleAlbatross


Birds of a feather... o/~

Originally posted by devilishlyangelic23
i cant believe that so many people are immediately saying "send them back" the lack of compassion for another person's suffering is really surprising to me...and very saddening

We have compassion but we also wish our immigration laws and procedures to be followed. Landing here on a refugee ship with no ID and bypassing our procedures pisses me and many others off. These people are the families of the Tamil Tigers who are a labeled a terrorist group. We have very legitimate security concerns with these people. I will not tolerate ship after ship of refugees steaming here and bringing their problems with them. Follow our laws and procedures for entering this country and I for one won't have a problem.

reply to post by FreeSpeaker


You do realize that refugees are processed by the immigration services in this country, don't you? It's not like the coast guard invites boatloads of people to set up shop in Canada, unsupervised and unchecked.

Critics of immigration in Canada almost always say "Trudeau opened the floodgates!!" as if he told immigration services and border security services to ignore anyone sneaking into the country. It's an absurd distortion of the truth, and it either comes from ignorance, or is a mask for something deeper.

edit: It's not like refugees can go through the normal channels to apply for immigrant status. They are fleeing imminent danger and don't have the time or resources to make the lengthy application to become landed immigrants. That is what makes them refugees. That said, there ARE normal channels to assessing refugee claims in this country. The Border Services Agency is one of the groups responsible for assessing these claims, sending back those who do not qualify for refugee status, and accepting those who do.

[edit on 23-8-2010 by SmedleyBurlap]

Originally posted by SmedleyBurlap
They are fleeing imminent danger and don't have the time or resources to make the lengthy application to become landed immigrants.
[edit on 23-8-2010 by SmedleyBurlap]

They are fleeing because they are enemies of their government. They are the families and supporters or the Tamil Tigers who are a terrorist group. Why would I want such trouble and problems like they will bring to this country. There is no place for ideology they will bring with them. The Sri Lanken government is our friend so why do we want all their enemies?

reply to post by FreeSpeaker

If they are members of the Tigers, then they will not be permitted to remain in Canada. What, exactly, is your problem?

Originally posted by SmedleyBurlap
reply to post by FreeSpeaker

 

If they are members of the Tigers, then they will not be permitted to remain in Canada. What, exactly, is your problem?

My problem is most, if any, don't have ID and we can't be sure of who they are. My worry is they will allow them in on humanitarian reasons anyways. Its happend before.

reply to post by FreeSpeaker


It's happened before, yet the nation is still standing, is still prosperous, and is still stable. Why should this change if it happens again?

Originally posted by SmedleyBurlap
reply to post by FreeSpeaker

 

It's happened before, yet the nation is still standing, is still prosperous, and is still stable. Why should this change if it happens again?

The amount of subsidized housing in my city has quadrupled in the past 3 years and is spreading crime and gangs all over the city by creating mini getto's. I have friends on the police force and they know how this is harming our society. I have only to read the local newspaper every morning to verify it. I don't know where you live but my city has been swamped by immiragtion and the only thing i've seen them bring with them is crime and increased taxes. I have even heard complaints from migrants who came 10 or 20 years ago about how immigration is letting in people who are not assimilating into our society and just using our system and it gives all migrants a bad reputation.

The country wont fall in one day but will slowly be destroyed by rot from within.

[edit on 23-8-2010 by FreeSpeaker]

reply to post by FreeSpeaker


None of those problems are unique to migrants, even if they are the most visible people participating in them.

Critics have complained for years that immigration would bring the nation crumbling to the ground, and yet every year passes with thousands of new immigrants coming into this country, and every year the country remains stable and secure. Forty years of supposed 'open door' immigration has failed to destroy this country, maybe you are wrong to think that it ever will. You would be certainly wrong to think that it is unrestricted immigration - the government controls who and how many people are permitted to enter the country in a year, so that they can ensure social stability.

You say that immigrants are not assimilating, but it is not possible for them to assimilate. Unless you brainwash someone, how can they forget and abandon everything that they held dear before they came to this country? There will always be some remnant of their old society and culture in their mind. Migrants must accomodate themselves to existing Canadian social forms if they expect to survive and thrive, and many experience difficulty in that - some never manage to succeed, and die in poverty. But Canadian citizens must also accomodate migrants and ease their transition. They cannot and should not abandon their old ways entirely but should instead find ways to weave their old social forms into the new ones that they encounter in Canada. That many of them succeed at this is obvious and is attested to by your own post. That this takes time, perhaps a lifetime, is also obvious and also evidenced by your post.

Failure to fit in is not a problem that afflicts migrants alone, it should be obvious that many thousands of Canadians do not fit in, and they are marginalized and perhaps wind up in poverty.

The problem is not migrants, the problem is not based on social class or role. It is a personal problem that everyone, whether born here or born abroad, must face and overcome on their own terms. To single out the migrant population of this country is to find the most obvious scape-goat and lay blame for the ills of society on them.

Originally posted by SmedleyBurlap
But Canadian citizens must also accomodate migrants and ease their transition.

You just pinpointed my biggest problem. Why must I accomodate migrants? Because people who think like you do tell me its my duty or responsiblity? I think it should be my decision who I wish to accomodate and forcing it on me will only increase my frustration and resistance. In my opinion if you choose to immigrate here you should be willing to make changes to accomodate us and not the other way around. If the way we do things isn't for you, then don't come here. Expecting us to accomodate them just makes no sense and that kind of thinking will lead to the dissolution of our culture untill its nothing but a melting pot boiling over with no identity left.

reply to post by FreeSpeaker


If you do not accomodate migrants, then it will be harder for them to fit into society. If you want them to fit in, you should accomodate them.

The law does not bend for them, unless a citizen petition can get that law changed. Ritual murder, child abuse, spousal abuse, animal abuse etc., anything that may be acceptable in one culture but is illegal in this country need not be tolerated unless an exemption is made in law.

If some migrant wants to practice their own religion, then let them. If they want to dress a certain way and eat a certain way, then let them. If they want to cater their business only to the migrant community, then let them. If they want to speak their own language, then let them. They may form insular communities within Canada; let them do that. Live and let live, unless the law is broken.

If the law is not broken, then you should welcome these migrants, and help them feel at home in this country, and comfortable with the native inhabitants. If they feel like they are being pushed away by the natives and marginalized or disrespected by them, then they wil be discouraged from participating in Canadian society and will prefer to stay in their insulated comunities. Treating them like criminals, or moochers, or weirdos is only going to make it harder to overcome cultural barriers. If you want them to fit in, then you have to encourage their participation in society. It will take several generations before a single cohort of migrants leaves the closed community and enters the mainstream, but they will do so as Sino-Canadians, or Indo-Canadians, or Franco-Canadians; they will be recognizably 'Canadian,' but will retain many of the practices of their old country.

Canada has never had a single, unitary national identity, and certainly not one that has ever been worthwhile. As we enter an age of global society, it is absolutely necessary that Canada develops a brand-name that is relevant in a world without borders. If it does not, that is when it will dissolve into nothingness. To survive the global village, Canada needs to become less a nation, and more a brand, an idea that appeals to peoples from many different backgrounds, who choose to affirm it and are not merely born into it. Canadianism must cease to be a hereditary property, and must become a universal creed. If this transition does not occur, then Canada will not survive globalization.

And globalization has been going on for centuries, possibly longer. It is an unstoppable movement towards a common humanity. There is no point railing against it, there is no point protesting it. It will happen, has happened, continues to happen. We can only debate its form, and when nation-states become irrelevant, I would rather have an international Canada than have no Canada at all.

One might think of refugees as people who are escaping unspeakable conditions. In the case of the Tamils this does not hold.
An article in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper, dated Aug.23, states that a large number of Tamils who arrived in Canada as refugees have returned to Sri Lanka for vacations, to take money, and to organize for more Tamils to come to Canada.
Imagine going back to face torture and death, or worse, for a vacation.
Canadians are being played like a fiddle on this issue.
Honest people do not loose their identification en masse, then hide their faces when arriving in their new home. Nor suffer three months on a rusty ship when they could have afforded first class all around for the same amount of money paid.