Learning about Toronto from Christopher Hume

If you are interested in the built environment and in history too, then there's a journalist working for the Toronto Star that you should really check out. His name is Christopher Hume and he is the architecture critic. Lately, The Star has featured Hume in a series of short videos where he comments on developments in the city's landscape: new buildings, transportation, parks, etc. His reporting is both entertaining and insightful. Unlike video journalists in the U.S. he actually knows his subject and shares his insights. Here's a link to a number of his video reports. If you want to learn more about the city that I love, there's no better guide.

Christopher Hume at The Toronto Star online

Canada gets bullied on border policy

Is Stephen Harper a bully? He sure acts like one. I don't mean about how he keeps all his ministers from speaking to the press, or even having a thought of their own. I don't even mean in the brinkmanship he utilizes to expose the weakness of the opposition parties. What I mean is that, just like a classic bully, when a bigger bully shows up - he puts his tail between his legs.

The bigger bully is of course the United States. And the U.S. is telling Harper that they need to align their border protection policies with Big Brother. That means sharing information about Canadian citizens and permanent residents with the U.S. Homeland Security. It means Canadian citizens in U.S. databases. And while Harper and Obama want to ease the path for trade and business, for you and I it means you can expect increased scrutiny and aggression when it comes to the no-man's land that is the border.

Harper said it's in his country's interest to work with the U.S. on securing their shared border and ensuring that people and goods can move across it as safely and openly as possible. "That is what we're trying to achieve here," he said. But Harper has shown little compassion for the plight of ordinary Canadians in his five years as minority Prime Minister.

And you can bet if a bully can get someone else to take the punch, he's going to let them. That means you and I. Let your MP know that you expect them to protect your privacy and Canadian sovereignty when it comes to dealing with the U.S. Believe me - the U.S. isn't going to do it for you - and neither is Harper.

The beginning of the end?

My Love and I heard from the CIC today. What we heard moved us to tears.

The days in your life when things change are rarely dramatic within themselves. They are just another day: work, chores, errands, meals. I was tending to my day when the phone call came and everything changed. Wonderfully changed.

We were informed that CIC has approved our (my) Permanent Residence application. After a couple routine (hopefully) final steps, we can expect that I will be a landed immigrant, reunited with my Love in Toronto! Those of you following this blog know how long we have waited for this day.

So starts what we hope will be the beginning of the end of a long immigration process. So starts what we hope will be the adventure of leaving the U.S. and relocating in Canada. We are excited and overjoyed with the possibilities.

I'm also excited to migrate this blog away from issues of the immigration process and onto the logistics of moving to and getting settled in Canada.

I hope you will remain with me as we start this new adventure. God willing, this is the beginning of the end. We won't be ending our prayers until I am standing on Canadian ground; until I am on the other side of that silver door at Pearson. But we have great faith, and God has been faithful to our prayers.

I'll continue to pray for all of you who are involved in this process, and wondering if you will be able to make it through. Have faith, have patience, believe.

Please pray for my love and I that the final steps go smoothly and quickly.

Thank you all for your support.

Settlement groups mount campaign to restore funding - thestar.com

33 Ontario organizations delivering language, employment and integration programs to immigrants will lose all of their funding from Citizenship and Immigration Canada by April 1. These organizations currently serve over 10,000 new Canadians. A total of $22 million in cuts is being made to settlement programs within Toronto this year.

“The Conservative funding cuts are an attack on the economic and social success of the Toronto area that depends on our ability to integrate new Canadians,” said Liberal MP Gerard Kennedy.

Read the entire article:
Settlement groups mount campaign to restore funding - thestar.com

Sign the online petition

Learning to skate

If you're a new Canadian and you want to understand a little more about your new country, one thing you can learn is to remain upright on two narrow blades of steel while on ice - that is, you can learn to skate.

Toronto has 50(!) outdoor skating rinks that are open from early December until March (weather permitting, of course). The city coordinates instructional and drop-in programs for Learning to Skate, Hockey Skills, Figure Skating, Leisure Skating, Hockey & Shinny (informal hockey games).

Some of Toronto's skating venues are well known - like Nathan Phillips Square. Others, like the brand new Sam Smith Ice Trail are the sort of inspired public works that other cities only wish they had.

Find all the skating resources the City has to offer and the Parks, Forestry and Recreation web site.

Baby, it's cold outside - so get out and skate!

A New Year's reso-matum

I don't make a lot of New Year's resolutions. Maybe it's because I know myself well enough to know in general, I'm not going to keep them. Something has been on my mind however, about this blog and the now 5-years that I've been writing it. And that is - something has to change. So my resolution for this year is actually more of an ultimatum to myself...let's call it a "reso-matum":

If our application is not resolved by the end of 2011, I will end this blog. If our application is successful, then I will migrate this blog's subject matter to cover issues associated with living and working in Canada, and the quest for citizenship.

Fair enough? Consider it reso-mated.

One more case of an inconsistent CIC

There are seasons here where I feel like a watchdog; barking for attention to the news that doesn't make the headlines, because it only appears to impact one or two people directly. But my readers know that who I'm watching are those who's policies, decisions and behaviours directly impact you and I - because the ones I watch for a responsible for all aspects of immigration and citizenship in Canada.

So here's another minor situation: A woman in Halifax, in Canada on a visitor's permit, has applied to become a Permanent Resident in order to live in Canada with her husband. Normally, the CIC should simply extend her permit each six months until a decision is made on her application. But the woman has now been told by the CIC that "...she may not have time to file another visitor extension prior to Feb. 1." Meaning she'll have to leave the country. And we know from past stories that once you are outside, but with an application in process, the CIC can be reluctant to let you in, their logic being that if you don't get approved, you'll stay illegally.

Let's hope the CIC does the right thing and extends this woman's visitor's permit. Haven't we all had enough of this Ministry's tactics?

Read the story here from the Truro Daily News in Nova Scotia.

Tales of the new Irish immigrants

In this article from the Irish Times, author Lorraine Mallinder writes, "Canada is becoming an increasingly attractive destination for young Irish people looking for work. How are the people who have already made the journey faring..."

Read the entire article here

Free eBooks on Canada

As I mentioned a few months back, I picked up a Kindle last year. I'm sure many of you readers got one for Christmas too. In case you were interested, The Expatriate Mind is available as a blog delivered automatically to your Kindle (so subscribe today!) - but that's not the point of this post.

I wanted to start the New Year off by making you aware of some cool free Canadian books available at Amazon Popular Classics, Archive.org Openlibrary and Project Gutenberg.

Search out these titles and enjoy reading about Canada!

• The Voyages of Samuel De Champlain (Vols 1-3)
• Canada: The Empire of the North
• Famous Firesides of French Canada
• The Red River Colony
• Pioneers of France in The New World
• The Makers of Canada: Bishop Laval
• Anne of Green Gables
• The Story of the Upper Canada Rebellion
• Canada Under British Rule

Happy Christmas!

Contrary to the common belief, while Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving a month earlier than their counterparts in the U.S., they actually celebrate Christmas on December 25th like the rest of the world!

So wherever you are this Christmas, may you be blessed with every good gift, and I hope God smiles on you and your families too. If you have a Christmas wish that the New Year bring your personal immigration story to a successful conclusion, then I also wish you that! I know it's really all I have wanted for Christmas for years.

If I don't see you sooner, I'll see you next year!

Happy Christmas to all!