Public awareness for the underemployed

New immigrants face huge hurdles in securing employment in Canada. This is as true for Family Class as it is for Skilled Class applicants that are granted residency. The Liberals spent their years in power doing nothing about the situation, birthing the modern legend of the cab driver with the MBA (or PhD., or, name the advanced degree).

Now, in an attempt to do SOMETHING (and rather than waiting for any Tory government to develop progams or policies that will make a real difference in the lives of new citizens), the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council is running a public service ad campaign to wake Ontario employers up to the wasted human resources within their reach.

According to an article published in the Toronto Star today, "Statistics show 60 per cent of immigrants are forced to work a lower level job in a field other than the one they qualify for."

While you can't force any employer to hire anyone in particular, government can make it harder to discriminate against new immigrants, provide incentives for those firms that do employ immigrants (tax credits anyone?), or make small business loans more accessible to new Canadian immgrants.

I'm glad the Ontario government is doing something to bring these issues more into the public eye. I hope Ontario Citizenship and Immigration Minister Mike Colle will take his own advice as someone in power to create policy and, "Rather than talk about it, do something about it. "

Hope Springs East

Lots of activity here on the West Coast that may lead me closer to my dreams back home, back east, back in T-dot. I may be on the verge of breaking my financial drought, and if that's the case, then it will be a fairly quick step to having the bank account back in order, and thus, being able to apply as a Skilled Worker!

So that explains the silence - big business puts big demands on the time...I'll be sure and keep you posted here, but if you can spare a prayer, I know it will help. I so want to come home, and maybe, finally, the time is coming...

Happy New Year

It's been just over four years now since I started this slow journey to Canada. It's a journey I'm still unsure of and one which the conclusion still seems to be so far away and so uncertain.

It's been a horrible year financially, so the funds that I need to apply under the Skilled Worker class (CDN $10K) are still far away from my savings account. Still, I have hope that those funds will come - in God's time.

That's the trick - accepting God's time. Like everyone else, I want things to happen when I want them to happen, but God doesn't work that way in people's lives. I imagine the delay in this immigration process is because there are things He wants me to learn that will make me a better person - one who will appreciate the gifts He gives me.

The one thing I still don't want to think about is this: what if He doesn't want me to come to Canada at all? That's a tough one for me. It's the hardest for anyone who lives a life in faith - to answer the question, "What do you do when God says "No" to your prayers?"

I still don't know my own answer to this. I almost feel like preparing for it is giving up on the hope I have in a positive result.

But New Years are about the future and hope in the future, so I will hold onto hope, hold onto my dreams, and hold onto the love I have for Canada. I was born American, but I have had the soul of a Canadian since I can remember.

God grant me my prayer. Lord, hear my prayer. If this is your year for me, thank You. If not, thank You.

And thank YOU for reading my blog these last few years. Here's to 2007!

The Hockey Sweater - from cbc.ca

Here's a classic Christmas story that I just love, 'The Hockey Sweater" as read in the 1980's by the author, Roch Carrier.

"It's Christmastime. On CBC Radio's Morningside, that means a visit by Roch Carrier, author of the beloved children's story "The Hockey Sweater." In Quebec in the 1940s, hockey was a religion and the Montreal Canadiens star Maurice (Rocket) Richard was a god. "The devil," to little boys in Roch's village, lived in Toronto and wore the blue and white of the Toronto Maple Leafs. In this clip, Carrier gives a delightful reading of his tale of hockey heartbreak.

"His Canadiens sweater — bearing Richard's No. 9, like all the other boys — has worn out. But when a new one arrives in the mail from Eaton's, he is horrified to see instead a Maple Leafs jersey. Roch tearfully swears to his uncomprehending mother: "I'll never wear that uniform!" But wear it he does. After the story, listeners get an extra treat. Gzowski reads his own boyhood hockey sweater story. Carrier then declares: "This is a great moment."

If only in my dreams...

I'll be home for Christmas;
You can count on me.
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents on the tree.
Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love-light gleams.
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams.

More YouTube Canadian music videos

I used to love New Years in Toronto with my love (yes I'm still calling her that) and one of the reasons was to watch Ed the Sock's "Fromage" show on Much Music. Now, while Ed's show hurls it at the year's worst, my videos are simply songs I love and have discovered and I want you to as well. While I know at least one of my prior picks has made Ed's list, I hope that's the last one!

So here's some more of my Canadian pop and whatever (it's all pop to me) favorites I found on YouTube and other places...

Jarvis Church - Shake it off
Summer 2002...this was the sound of Toronto. Jarvis Church is also known as Gerald Eaton of the Philosopher Kings, who are next on my list...



The Philosopher Kings - Cry
This is a great remake of the godley and Creme (10cc) hit from the 70's. PK are funky and jazzy too.




Kathleen Edwards - Hockey Skates
what a lovely sad love song. I'm probably drawn to these because of my romantic history. I'd rather play the game and lose than not play at all!



The Tragically Hip - Blow at high dough
Like many, I probably first became aware of this tune as the closing credits theme from Rick Mercer's "Made in Canada" series. The Hip simply rock and you become aware of it almost instantly.



Remy Shand - Rocksteady
Remy is a funky white Canadian dude who was signed to Motown. Check out the first single from his album. I do believe he plays all the instruments. Sweet.




Sam Roberts - Hard Road
I think I first saw Sam Roberts as the halftime show at the Grey Cup football game. I remember really liking the straightforward approach to the music, as well as the "Rubber Soul"/"Revolver" period influences his music evoked. So I got the disc. And yes - it rocked.

More fun with YouTube - Some Candian music videos

Here's a few of my favorite videos by Canadian artists (not necessarily current cuts, just under the category of "stuff I like") as we wind out the old year and welcome in the new. If I can remember anything about them, I'll be sure and make a note...




Barenaked Ladies - "Call and Answer"
This is my favorite BnL song. It's just so perfectly sad, and in this case, that's a very good thing. Steve Page does this thing in his songwriting where you ask, "is he angry? Is he sad? If he's sad, why does he sound so angry?" Listen to the lyrics and you'll get what I mean.



Barenaked Ladies - Pinch Me
When I first remember the band, it's not from the late exposure they got via a Mitsubishi ad, but instead through this silly video with this great low-key groove. Try and see the world beyond your front door once and awhile too...



Nelly Furtado - I'm Like A Bird
Nelly's first single and a lovely one at that - well before the club-grind of "Loose," here's a dancy, poppy Nelly, produced by Toronto's Track and Field (aka Philosopher Kings' Gerald Eaton and Brian West). Great little pop tune.



Len - Steal My Sunshine
This brother and sister act are one-hit wonders, but they did leave us one wonderful hit. I just love this tune.



Sum 41 - In Too Deep
From the band that brought you, "Does this look infected?" comes this "smart-punk" rocker. Listen to how a great band can take a simple melody and work the most out of it.

(more to come...)

Favorite Toronto scenes from YouTube

It's the holidays, so I thought I'd back off on the commentary and do something fun.

A little while back I was bemoaning the fact that the webcam at toronto.com had gone offline, and that after a time, I had thought to look for video of Toronto on YouTube.

So for your enjoyment, here are a few of my favorites - I'll give a one-liner description, but mainly let the videos speak for themselves. Happy Holidays and God bless you!

Eaton Centre at Christmas, 2004

Younge Street at Gould - just north of Eaton Centre



Skaters in Downtown Toronto - no ice



Barry and Avi explore downtown Toronto

More to come...

This hour has 22 minutes of Rick Mercer

One thing I love about lousy weather and the winter that approaches is that there is time to slow down and catch up. Part of that for me is getting current again with the Canada I love by catching up with the politics and the humor.

Fall TV includes favorites on CBC, even here in Seattle - and on Tuesday nights, that means "Rick Mercer Report" and "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" ( the show's name is a parody of This Hour Has Seven Days, a CBC newsmagazine from the 60's - Wikipedia). Both are comedies so far removed from American formulas that they are refreshing to me. Canada has a golden reputation for comedic talent and these two shows bring it on in droves.

Topical, current, irreverant - in Canada no target is safe - no politician either. Politicians seem to line up to take the truth with the laughter at their own expense, and this is the beauty of these shows. It's a pretty powerful thing to not take yourself too seriously, and a positive democratic act to see politicians laugh at themselves. We're fairly poor at it here in America. And we get poorer all the time.

Of the current crop of comedians, Rick Mercer has to be my favorite. He's just too smart and funny. He is known for his "Rant" - a monolouge that is funny and insightful and articulate and comes at you at 120km/h - heck, maybe 140...If you think you've missed something he's said, he's begun posting the scripts for the Rant on his blog .

If you dont happen to get the CBC where you live, then you can still check out the programs on their websites (links nested here) - many have archives of their episodes you can watch online. It's a great way to pass at least part of a cold, dark night.

Pass the buck outside the country

In a recent article from the Candian Press, published in the Toronto Star, the Tories (in this case, the mouthpiece being John Tory - I love that - born to the role I suppose) are proposing a program that, "...would allow skilled immigrants to start working on their Canadian accreditation while they are outside the country, waiting for their visa applications to be processed."

Now that sounds promising at the surface, but there's a common sense question to be asked: What has led the Tories to believe that they can run and administer a program outside of Canada that no Canadian government has been able to create and run INSIDE of Canada?

I also don't see anything about addressing another root source of wasted professional immigrant talent: a curb on protectionist professional societies that throw up barriers to entry.

New program ideas like this are certainly welcome - but where is the coordinated policy - the one that seeks to identify not a single problem with an isolated solution, but instead, a wholistic approach?

For instance - why can't the government pass legislation that says, if we let an individual in based on X set of professional skills that out country is facing a shortage of, NO employer may discriminate in hiring them for any reason (the classic being - "lack of Canadian work experience"...If you can tell me where outside of Canada I can get this, I'll make you a billionare!)?

This program proposal seems like more feel good legislation than anything else - we can have a flawed program for accredidation, but professionals coming to Canada will still face career-stalling hurdles once they arrive. All the Tories are doing is passing the buck - this time outside the Country, where no one will really know what's going on anyhow.