Migration policies are failing, migrants are strugling - ‘broken’ national immigration system

Good.

 

I should point out that was at least 13-14 years ago. I think it may have been Degreediscussion or Degreeboard - both gone now. Poster was US and may have been unfamiliar with Canadian institutions, e.g. Molson's Brewery. IIRC that person decided to leave all degree forums, quite some years ago. (No, not Steve Levicoff.)

 

Yes, I can imagine it happening. I can also imagine the Canadian Federal government deciding that they won’t allow it to happen.

Frankly. I find the idea of Quebec actually declaring itself independent most unlikely.

 

Correct.

If a clear majority of Quebec votes to secede via a clear referendum question, "free of ambiguity both in terms of the question asked and in terms of the support it achieves," the federal government and the other provinces have the duty to negotiate an amendment to the constitution to effect the secession. See the Supreme Court of Canada in Reference Re Secession of Quebec [1998], and the Clarity Act (2000).

 

A duty to negotiate is not a duty to agree.

 

Besides, I doubt the federal government would pay much attention to their Supreme Court if Quebec decided unilaterally to secede.

 

No, Steve. I checked. If it was you, I'd have come right out and said so - and used the quote, if it was on here. (And it isn't.) I think the fella might have been a preacher - not Uncle J., though. I'm really not sure. You know how I get in wrangles, with them folks.

 

Y'know, that piece tadj submitted made me think: "Wow! I think this guy really likes Pierre Poilievre, the Official Opposition's (Conservatives') leader, and would like to see him in the PM's office."

I found another article by the same author - Geoff Russ - and I think my first impression was right. And that's perfectly OK, even though I don't enjoy the thought of "Our Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Pierre Poilievre." Here it is. enjoy. And no matter whether I like it or not -- I think Geoff Russ is right on this. Mr. Trudeau has all but handed Mr. Poilievre the keys.
https://thehub.ca/2024-04-10/geoff-russ-pierre-poilievre-affordability-message/

 

And how come people in Quebec are complaining about loss of their heritage language? Don't they still have those "language cops" from the "Office de la Protection de la Langue française?" Those uniformed officers whose garb resembles that of Parisian "flics" (cops) you can still see in 1950's movies? The ones who once (only once) went into Montreal's Chinatown, declaring that all Chinese-language signs should be removed and replaced with French signs?

Are they gone? if so - Quel dommage. Those guys were hysterically comical at times. That scenario could have been a very funny movie -- and there are other comical scenes too. A 24-store grocery chain owned by Loblaws is now FORTINOS on all it's signs. It was previously FORTINO'S, after the original founder, the late John Fortino. But the apostrophe was deemed to be "too English. The killer? FORTINOS 24 stores are all in Ontario. NONE in Quebec! Maybe they sent trucks to Quebec suppliers, I dunno.

Same thing with our national coffee and donut chain, TIM HORTONS. Not TIM HORTON'S any more. Again, Quebec required dropping the apostrophe. So to keep it simple (wise move) the company dropped it nation-wide.

I like languages. They should have rights, over people. If Quebec leaves -- we should change everything back. And all school-children in Canada should get lessons in at least one Aboriginal language. First choice: the language spoken by the First Nation nearest to where they live.

Niá:wen (Thank you - Mohawk). That's the most-spoken Aboriginal language around where I live.

 

There are five other Native languages around here. The other languages of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy: Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Tuscarora and Seneca. Some, unfortunately, have very, very few speakers left.

 

There's also a seventh First Nations language around here. Anishinaabe ( some still call the language and people Ojibwe). The Mississauga, a sub-group of Anishinaabe, live on the New Credit Reserve, which adjoins The Six Nation's lands. Anishinaabe in toto are, thankfully, a numerous people, with over 375,000 in Ontario alone.

Article on how the New Credit Reserve was founded, when the Mississauga were forced to move by pressure of White settlement. One First Nation helps another:
https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/plaques/new-credit-indian-reserve-and-mission#

 

Both the right and the left in Canada have this tendency to alarm as if Canadian identity is so fragile, any given policy from the other side or historical event or generational change is always on the verge of destroying it. Yet Canadian identity has always adapted and survived.

 

Of course not. Did you think I was serious? Well, yes, you DO know how I get... sorry if I misled you.
I AM serious, however, about exposing Canadian kids to their Nation's Aboriginal languages. Maybe years of compulsory study is going way too far --- but definitely, something. For everyone.

 

The answers will vary and you might not hear the truth anyway because the truth can be dangerous.

 

I don't think many First Nations really want their languages to disappear. I've read of tribal efforts to preserve them,

My experience: About 20 years ago a local Native organization wanted to teach languages - and received funding for it. No need for students to have Native status. You were interested, you were welcome. I went there for an academic year, to learn Mohawk and it was a great experience.

I wanted to go back for more -- but the next year funding was reduced - only for languages with less than 1500 speakers. I could have gone to Cayuga class, but didn't. I know a few Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk people) but I don't know any Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ (Cayuga people).

I was sad to read (today) that there are only 115 Cayuga speakers left. The language is critically endangered. The people of that First Nation are struggling to save their language.

Kanienʼkehá꞉ka - people of the Flint. (Mohawk)
Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ - people of the Great Swamp (Cayuga)

 

I just don't get how that argument holds up - at all. So I don't listen to those people - ever. Haven't heard from any of them in decades - figured they were all dead. NOBODY from a different ethnic or racial group has EVER said I shouldn't learn about their music, language, arts etc. Many have helped me get on the right track and encouraged me to do more. I am grateful. They have added much to my life. And there's crossover value too -- e.g. the beadwork I learned at the same centre where Mohawk was taught, has added to my fashion instincts. I've made a bunch of bracelets to go with most of my 11 or 12 watches. Nobody has said "cultural appropriation" to me in many many years. (Perhaps word has got around. )

Nobody kvetches (Ha! Yiddish word! Cultural appropriation? ) if I read Baudelaire or Cicero - or cook a Catalan-style sofregit. If they start criticizing me for learning First Nations languages - or playing Blues, "Gypsy Jazz" or African music - they're on dangerous ground. If they're lucky, I'll just ignore them.

 

The Canadian identity is an actual creation of the British Empire following the latter's suppression of the Canadian rebellion of 1837-8. The British deliberately fostered a sense of Canadian identity based on the fact that Canada was loyal while the U.S. broke away.

That's really the only significant basic cultural difference between (English) Canada and the U.S. Read Lord Duram's Report.

But from that basic difference much else flows.

I do not think Canada's identity (as "not the U.S.") is fragile so much as its independent economic future is doubtful. More than 3/4 of Canadian experts come here and well over half of Canada's imports come from here. At what point does one admit that the Canadian economy is essentially a piece of the U.S. economy?

I don't know...mostly just thinking aloud here.