My eBook, How To Immigrate To Canada For Skilled Workers: The Authoritative Guide To Federal And Provincial Opportunities is available now on Amazon and other online retailers. Get your copy of the essential guide to Skilled Worker class applications today!

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Also available is my new eBook, "How To Immigrate To Canada In The Family Class: The Authoritative Guide Including Québec And Super Visa Opportunities". Get it at Amazon or the other e-retailers noted above.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Thankful

As American Thanksgiving approaches, I'm thankful for a number of things:

- for my love who still gives me the promise and fulfillment of a beautiful life
- for my God who I can trust to see us through our immigration struggle
- to our families who support us in our love for each other
- for our friends who remind us that its all worth the struggle
- for Canada raising up such a wonderful woman
- my readers for giving me a reason to share this journey

I hope this list will help to remind you we all, even in the challenges we face in building our new lives, have so much - and that even having a chance is something.

Soon this list will include the following entry:

- for being married to a beautiful Canadian and moving home to Toronto.

Monday, November 17, 2008

CBC Digital Archives - meet Gordon Lightfoot

If you don't know who Gordon Lightfoot is, do yourself a favor and check out this introduction via the CBC Archives. Lightfoot is a wonderful Singer/Songwriter who found his voice in the 60's and was highly popular throughout the early 70's. He wrote songs that dealt with Canadian life, history and myth. You can learn a lot about your future home through his voice.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

A positive change in Canadian Immigration

Goodbye Diane. Hello Jason.

In his recent cabinet shake up, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has named Jason Kenney as his new Minister of Citizenship, Immigration & Multiculturalism (note the new position title). Mr. Kenney has had previous experience in working with immigrant and minority groups in Canada, and it looks like he may be a refreshing change from Finley - being someone who actually brings direct experience and time in the trenches with immigrant issues.

While his job will be to implement the horrible policies of preference put in place by the Tories, I believe Harper has chosen a man with the potential to apply his discretion and power in a thoughtful way.

Make us proud, Jason. Don't sit on your backside like Finley did - fix this broken, biased and incompassionate system.

Read all about your new Minister in this article from the Star.

Saturday, November 08, 2008

CBC Digital Archives - immigration and multiculturalism

In an effort to fight some of the ignorance surrounding the role of immigration in building Canada, I would like to introduce my readers to the CBC Digital Archives. The Archives are a searchable collection of audio and video clips from CBC news and other programming that returns streaming audio and video to your computer. The good folks at the Archive not only present individual clips, but they also create collections organized around particular subjects over time.

I would like to call your attention to "Making the Mosaic: Multiculturalism in Canada", a 15-clip collection that will enlighten you with broadcasts from 1962 to 2004.

Here's the overview:

"In 1971, Canada became the first country in the world to declare multiculturalism as official state policy. The bold step charted the path to a vibrant and evolving cultural mosaic premised on mutual respect for Canadians of all backgrounds and ancestry. Yet the roots of multiculturalism in Canada can be seen in the country's earliest beginnings, as three founding cultures — aboriginal, British and French — were soon joined by many more from around the globe. Today, multiculturalism is a touchstone of Canadian national identity and a point of pride for Canadians from coast to coast to coast. In celebration of Canadian Multiculturalism Day on June 27, the CBC Digital Archives recalls some of the struggles and triumphs along the way."

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

A letter to America

Dear America,
I just wanted to say congratulations. You did the right thing. You overcame fear anyd division to come together and make a stand for something positive. While Barak Obama may or may not have the right stuff to run the country, he does have the right stuff to unite one - and right now, that's a pretty important quality.

You have stood up for tolerance, for hope, for healing and for the future. You have put aside the ghosts of 9/11 and have made the choice to live for tomorrow. You have put Selma behind you, put the useless greed of the baby boomers aside and said, "we are in this together."

A generation will come to awareness with a black American leading the country. Anything IS possible in the US - even that we will stop being selfish and help one another for a change.

You done good.

Hope is alive again.

Monday, November 03, 2008

US and Canadian election processes compared

If you ever wondered what were the differences between the US and Canadian election processes, a great article published today on the CityTV (Toronto) website breaks it down for you in fine style. Just where do the processes diverge (other than the basic structure of the governments?!)? The differences are, naturally, many:


The length and timing of elections
Which parties have a chance at power
Who's minding the ballot box
The act of voting
When you know who the winner is
Who wins