Summer break

The Mind will be on summer vacation for the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, check out the archives and talk amoungst yourselves...

Toronto is crying

I like to think it's because my love and I are still apart...

Read all about the record rainfall here.

Why I still want to be a Canadian

I started this blog in April of 2005, during a complicated period where my love and I were making our first stab at negotiating the immigration process. Ours is a complicated situation, though in the end, it's all about two people in love who want to be allowed to live and make a life together in Canada.

Now I am an American by birth. And there was a time that I believed in the myth that is America. I believed in the land of the free and the home of the brave. I still believe it's the home of the brave - but land of the free? Hardly.

This is not the post to rant about how many freedoms have been taken away from the average American, or the number of people we put in prison, or the disenfranchised, the homeless, the working poor, the ex-cons that will never hold a decent job, the wage slaves, the power elite, the gulf between rich and poor, the concept of economic Darwinism...this is not the time nor place for all of that.

Those are all reasons I don't want to participate in the American society anymore. Funny enough, by attempting to define myself by the ways I do not believe in the world Americans have created for themselves, I am Canadian. For Canadians do this same thing every day. In inclusiveness, not exclusiveness - by empowerment over disenfranchisement, by forgiveness equal to judgement Canada is a very different country than the US.

I know it is not a paradise, nor perfect. I know immigrants, even those with the family support I will enjoy when I come home, have a difficult time finding work and making the adjustment to the way things are done (or not done). Despite this, the fundamental DNA of Canada is of a country born out of cooperation and compromise - not one forged in war. And that spirit of finding common ground, sharing in the responsibility for all Canadians, and attempting to do the right thing despite the challenge it poses...these are all things I deeply identify with.

Besides the love I have for a Canadian woman, they are the reasons I also have a love for Canada - and why I still one day hope and pray to stand at a citizenship ceremony and become a Canadian.

Some favorite Toronto spots - now mapped for you!

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Living in hope

I have been looking back at the posts from the last few months - primarily since the whole budget and immigration reform thing came up - and I noticed that I have been getting a bit aggressive in tone. The overview of this blog has always noted, "...and the occasional rag on the CIC." but I seem to have made that more than occasional of late.

Maybe the frustration is showing? Maybe I'm betraying some fear that I wont be reunited with my love? That's what this has all been about from the start after all. This immigration to Canada has always been about taking down a border between my love and I, that we might have a life together. Along the way, I also fell in love with Canada. I want to make the rest of my life there. I want to be a Canadian, and all that that implies.

I am a man of faith. Being such, I shouldn't be worried, as I can get, over the actions of the government, or of bureaucrats. I have to put my faith in God that he will hear my prayers and break down even the barriers that the Tories may want to impose. Those barriers are nothing to my God. I need to remember that and live again in faith.

So I'll try to get back on an even keel here at the Mind, and be of service to those of you on the same quest to reunite, to become Canadians. After all, living in hope and faith is so much better than living in fear.

Wait...until she makes up her mind

The Star reported on the 21st that immigration officials have completely stopped the intake of new applications while it awaits a decision from Her Supreme Highness, the Seer of the Economy, the Balancer of Diversity, the Determiner of Righteous Reunification, Les Grande Protector De Refuge, otherwise known as Immigration Minister Diane Finley.

What the Honorable Ms. Finley must decide is which category of applicants will be processed and which will have their applications returned, unopened. This isn't an immediate process. Once she does decide, the CIC will have 6-months to notify the impacted individuals.

They will get their application fees back, but significant legal fees (averaging $5,000CAD for a basic application) are non-refundable.

And what about the backlog? While we await a decision from the Minister, it is expected to grow by another 90,000 applicants.

Read the Star story here.

Downtown Toronto from You Tube

I thought you might all enjoy a little 10 minute video of a cloudy day in Toronto from 2007. Just a reminder of where we are trying to get to...

A new era begins

The Liberals rolled over, the Tories got their way, and Canadians have a new immigration plan to get used to. On June 10th, the Star notes, "Bill C-50, a budget-implementation bill containing the immigration reforms, passed 120-90 despite the criticism of opposition parties."

Criticism - not action. The Liberals could have voted the bill down - but that would have forced an election...and the Liberals don't want one of those because they are afraid they might lose (again).

So in reality, the Liberals assisted the Tories in screwing Canadians out a a chance to debate and decide upon a balanced immigration policy that addresses backlogs but that is still fair and balanced.

All we that truely oppose these new policies can hope for is that the Tory minority falls soon and that these wholesale changes to immigration policy are short-lived.

And to the Liberals - we won't forget the support you gave us.

Canadian IMMIGRANT - Welcome to Canada checklist

The Canadian IMMIGRANT is a magazine and a website created around the following proposition: "Research from Statistics Canada shows that it takes an immigrant an average of 10 years to settle in Canada. We know that immigrants suffer from lack of information. Could we in any way help that immigrant by providing information in an accessible format? Could we speed up the process of "settling in"? It became increasingly clear that immigrant settlement issues meant more than just providing a brochure listing how to get Social Insurance Number (SIN) cards and open bank accounts. There are broader information needs to be met."

To that end, they've published a three-part (so far) guide to the "landing" process, including checklists, tips and immigrant resources. Landing is what all immigrants eventually go through, and is the process that includes your initial entry into the country as a Permanent Resident and getting established with basic identification and services.

Check out Part 1 here.

You tell 'em, Phil...

"Legislation that is important in shaping Canada's profile in the international community has survived another vote in the House of Commons – not because it is supported by a majority of elected legislators but due to a failure of Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion's caucus, which has refused to exercise its responsibility as the official Opposition.

"This is government by default; a minority government growing in unpopularity imposes its will on the country because elected MPs are continually absent during critical votes.
Surely there must be some appeal to the Governor General to terminate this government when it is so dysfunctional and clearly flaunting democratic principles.

"In the interim, it would be reasonable that the Bloc Québécois or the New Democratic Party be formally declared as the official Opposition and be accorded the privileges of Parliament so that the Harper government answer to a formal Opposition in the House of Commons."

- Phil Little, Nanaimo, B.C.