[a daily dose of imagry] embed!

Harbourfront Pedestrian Bridge in Canada

The doldrums

You know the doldrums - those latitudes near the equator where the winds rarely blow, where the still and the calm marooned sailors before the days of steam and diesel. Those are the latitudes of immigration at times for all of us who are sailing this particular ocean.

I was contacted last week by a man in New Delhi, India who was asking me about how long the process of immigration to Canada can take. I looked it up for him and discovered that for the New Delhi office, the standard - this is typical - wait, is 66 to 72 months. Without any of the complexities - if you had a rock-solid, no-problem immigration - five to six years.

It's no wonder some us feel lost at sea. Once we make a commitment to leave our home country and make a new home, it's like we've left port; we see our country diminish in the background, we see the new land in our hearts on the horizon and we ache to begin our lives there.

But until we know that we will be allowed to make our new lives where we have set our destination, we are at sea, and not knowing which way the wind will blow, or even if it ever will for us...these are our days in the doldrums.

Feel-good stories for the end of May

The immigration process can be depressing. It takes time and a lot of effort and expense, both tangible and emotional, to reach for the dream of a new life in Canada. And after all that you don't know if you're even going to be accepted. And after that, what will your new life really be like?

The CIC has posted a section on their website dedicated to "Success Stories" that may provide some inspiration when you are feeling a little low. I believe it's important TO believe that for you and I, the future we dream of is possible.

Click here to read a few tales or immigrants to Canada who more than make it there!

Be sure she shows you her passport!

U.S. Homeland Security boss to make Canadian visit
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Sheldon Alberts, CanWest News Service

"U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is planning to make her first visit to Canada next week amid lingering concerns in Ottawa over statements that raised questions about her understanding of security issues along America's northern border. While details of Napolitano's trip are still being finalized, officials at Homeland Security and the Department of Public Safety have been trying to finalize a border security deal that would make permanent a little-known—and potentially controversial—pilot project allowing the RCMP and the U.S. Coast Guard to conduct joint armed patrols of shared waterways."

Read the rest of the story

In the name of security

While not a perfect parallel, the current border issues with the US implementation of tighter border security, and the Canadian government's efforts to remove a former KGB agent living in Vancouver are both examples of power mis-applied.

I'm not a hand-wringing Liberal by any means. But clearly the US should be making it easier for Canadians to travel to the US to visit and do business, rather than make it more difficult. The "one size fits all" mentality of the Department of Homeland Security demonstrates leadership that is either too dumb or too lazy to develop programs that recognize the special relationship the US has with Canada.

Similarly, the case of Mikhail Lennikov should be reviewed carefully, as should all cases of would-be immigrants with less than ideal pasts. It is easy for a pencil pusher, who will never have to justify his/her decision to say "no" to someone like Lennikov, who was recruited by the KGB as a young man. Especially if you don't care to note that he left the agency as soon as he could (after the fall of the Soviet Union) and has lived without incident in Canada for 11 years. It's easier to throw him out of the country. Easier to pass the buck. Easier to let a judge decide. Easier just to hope he can't afford a lawyer and will go away.

What kind of security do immigrants have if proof of their good character - in this case 11 years of living peacefully in the country, mean nothing? Does the CIC seriously think Lennikov is some sort of sleeper agent?

It's sad, the injustices that are done in the name of security.

Read about Lennikov's case here.

My promise - a live Toronto webcam

When I was first separated from my love in Toronto, I used to go to toronto.com and view the webcam that they had hooked up with a view from the top of the Panorama restaurant at Bay and Bloor. This was a cam that could be controlled over the internet and happened to be positioned so that you could see everything from Queen's Park to the CN Tower to the waterfront, to Younge Street. I could also clearly see my home from the cam. It helped me stay in touch.

When Panorama went through an exterior remodel, they took down the camera and never put it back up. I have missed having a live camera in Toronto ever since. It was great that I could see home from it, but more important that it was live - that I could see the city right now. I already knew what that heat felt like, or how the snow would howl through the skyscrapers...how tough it was to get to Spring Rolls when the Pride Parade was going on...With the cam, I could see it still as well.

I promise, when I finally return home to stay, I am going to set up a live webcam that you can control, so you too can see what's happening in Toronto right now. It may not have the view from Panorama, but it will still help you connect.

Tell toronto.com to bring back the Panorama webcam today!

Ontario Municipal Immigration Information Online Program

The Province of Ontario sponsors Ontario-based municipalities interested in establishing locally produced, web-based resources for newcomers. So far, 13 newcomer sites have been established.

• Brantford - Brant
• Lambton County
• The City of London
• Niagara Region
• The City of Ottawa
• Peel Region (Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon)
• Sault Ste. Marie
• The City of Greater Sudbury
• Timmins
• The City of Toronto - my destination!
• Waterloo Region
• The City of Windsor and the County of Essex
• York Region

If you are planning to immigrate to Ontario, learn more about the opportunities the Province offers at the sites above. I hope this list is of assistance to you.

Cheers!

Good news from Canada

I got a call from our attorney in Toronto this morning to tell us that CIC is requesting fees from us that indicate we are on track to finally and positively ending this chapter of our story. They also asked for one more item of information from us that appears to mean we may be but a single review away from our answer. Please hold us up in prayer that all these indicators are true and that God will bless us with the granting of my Permanent Resident status.

This is one of those situations where fear can rear its head - the worry that we are so close to "yes", and yet it could all be snatched away from us too. In thinking about that, I'm trying to respond by thanking God for bringing us this far and trusting him to finish the work he began in me and my love through this trial.

I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and it is a beautiful one so far!

These are a few of my favorite links

As I find different online resources, I collect the links in my bookmarks folder like anyone else. Every now and then I think about sharing them, like today! Turns out, I can drag and drop them! So in no particular order...

Blogs I like:
[daily dose of imagery]
The Steven Pages
by Sheldon Cohen

Newspapers I read:
CANOE - Canadian Online Explorer
Metronews
Montreal Gazette
National Post - canada.com network
The Globe and Mail - Toronto
The Hockey News
Toronto Community News
Toronto Life Online
Toronto Star
Toronto Sun
Vancouver Sun

I'll publish some more later! Enjoy your surfing!

Change I don't believe in

This mantra of change in the US...we heard it all through the election. But in US politics and policies, somethings never change - especially when they cause America to examine itself.

The current blowup with Canada has to do with US Foreign Affairs Secretary Janet Napolitano's repetition of the myth that some of the 9/11 hijackers came from Canada.

Why is this more of the same idiocy from the Obama administration as came from Bush? First because it illustrates the development of border policy based on myth and not fact. Secondly, because it illustrates how the US continues to point at everyone but themselves when assigning responsibility. 11 of of the 9/11 hijackers came into the US from Saudi Arabia. Not a single one from Canada. The Millennium Bomber did attempt to get into the US from B.C. - but he was CAUGHT. Isn't that what border security is there for? Is it Canada's fault that he tried to get in from there? Apparently so, according to two US administrations.

Now if you understand US international policy at all, you'll understand that all policies are about money. The US is about money - making it, influencing with it, protecting it for their homegrown multinationals. So when Napolitano speaks about tightening the Canadian border with the US, which everyone knows will slow trade and commerce as well as communication and cooperation - don't believe for a moment it has anything to do with security.

It has to do with gaining a financial advantage for homegrown business. It has to do with bypassing NAFTA and making it easier to say no to business with Canada because of the "difficult" border security situation. It has to do with protecting American jobs. Keeping American money in America.

When Americans want to limit or eliminate access to something - be it a health program or a government benefit - we rarely do away with it. That would be too blatant. What we do is add a step, add a requirement. One additional requirement makes it that much harder for people to do something. In the case of the border with Canada, that one thing is a passport.

With one additional requirement, the US has potentially reduced the number of Canadians who access the US by 59% (according to Statistics Canada, only 41% of Canadians over the age of 18 hold a passport).

Maybe this is change, but its not change I believe in...