"Toronto's Lesson on Immigration" Article

This article published from the Toronto Star called Toronto's Lesson on Immigration. This article basically talks about how Toronto has successfully immigrated immigrants into society. This is compared to all other cities and regions around the world which have failed. When immigrants migrate to Canada more specifically Ontario 80% of them choose to live in Toronto,rather than any other city around the world. I this was not something i was surprised with because we are known all over the world for being a cultural "Melting Pot". This is something we take great pride in and we embrace in our cultures. We try our best to accommodate these immigrants and allow their transition into society a smooth one. We are able to provide housing programs to jobs as well as ESL and that is why we stand out as being a great choice for migrants to want to immigrate here. In result we are going to have a vibrant economy with multiple opportunities, and that is what every immigrant is looking for.

Conclusion

In this class i learned not just about culture but also about history. It really interested me to learn about events in different countries that is important in the history of that country,which i found very interesting. I learned about genocides,imprisonment and about facts about Canada that i never knew about such as migrant workers. I enjoyed doing the readings ,and the one that stood out to me the most was the one by Dionne Brand. It got me really thinking about where my family and my ancestors came from,most importantly how we got here. Its was interesting to see that the one question which was "where do we come from" can cause enstrangement between people. This is because it was important to her as a kid ; and growing up but her grandfather did not himself where they came from. The readings and the films allowed me to gain knowledge such as refugees and oppotunities as a Canadian. I was able to look at the world differently and understand why certain things happen. Furthermore the blogs we were asked to post on what we felt and our opinions sounded like a burden at first. In the end it turned out being a great experience for me because i was more alert to what was going on in the world and what i can do to help. I began watching the news every night and reading newspapers to find interesting things to write on. Lastly responding to my classmates blogs was interesting too because i was able to see their view of the same issue but from a new perspective. This showed me that there is no right answer to questions and everyone is always going to have different opinions,which is an ongoing challenge but a good one.

Migration to me means moving to another country or place for a variety of reasons such as ;better opportunities better education or to join family. People can also immigrate for negative reasons such as; escaping war or escaping because their life is at risk. By coming to Canada they are starting over again which can be both a good and bad thing depending on the situation. At the same time they are able to make more choices and be offered more opportunities. Migration has effected culture and the 21st century life in Canada because it has brought us Diversity in regards to our cultures our religions and the next generation of children her in Canada. We are able to eat different foods of numerous cultures and take part in their festivities. That is such a big privilege we have in Toronto because it allows us to get involved and learn about traditions and lifestyles other than our own.

In conclusion i enjoyed taking this class because i was able to walk in with questions ,and leave with answers and knowledge. I am able to think more critically and understand the world ,and people since that's something i was not able to do before.

El Contrato

Watching the El Contrato film I was immediately shocked that this kind o work still goes on in Canada. This to me is like modern day slavery and it hits closer to home because I live here. These workers are leaving their families for 8 months when leaves them with 4 months to be with them and that's not enough time at all. Then they are packed into a house with 8 other guys in which they will live with for the full 8 months in Canada. On top of that they only get paid $7.25 which is not even maximum wage. It was clear to see that these Mexican workers were being exploited by their employer due to the fact that they are not treated as they should be and not taken care of after. The supervisors don't treat the workers like human beings or with respect. That's all the workers continued to ask for and its not that difficult for them to do. All they told the workers is that if they don't like how they are being treated then go back to Mexico. To majority of them they need the money to make care of their families so they cant leave,so they take whatever they have to. This phenomenon is related to the economic and political changes created by globalization because companies are trying to make as much money as they can and with low taxes so more money go to them but if the labourers have Canadian they have to pay them minimum wage but if they bring in migrants to do the job on a contract the company pays next to nothing because the workers are not getting paid as much so its cheap labour. So businesses are also opening up factories in migrant countries where they can also get cheap labour without taxes or tariffs. Basically the whole business benefits the labourers because its a money making business. They treat the workers how ever they want and there is only so much the workers can do because they need to job and the money to survive. Its sad but its a rough world and its controlled by money and people are forced to take jobs like that just to be able to get by in a world like ours today.

Photo-documentary

When given the opportunity to do the photo documentary i was excited because there's so many topics i wanted to do. The topic i decided to settle on was interracial couples,mainly because of myself coming from a multi-cultural family. Growing up in Toronto i was introduced to multiculturalism at such a young age that it became normal for me to go make friends or talk to someone of a different background. I had a very diverse family and i moved around quite a bit so all of that made me into who i am today. Travelling around Toronto and taking photographs of interracial couples at first sounded easy ,but as i continued i found it was also difficult at the same time. It was easy in the sense that being in a city like Toronto there were many interracial couples to see and photograph. What made this project difficult was that there wasn't a wide range of mixing of cultures. More than half the time i saw just black and white couples. What made the couples different from each other was the struggles they overcame because of them wanting to be together.

In Canada i think we are more in a way encouraged to get involved or learn about other cultures. At the same time the people are always welcoming us to learn which is why we are becoming a melting pot here in Toronto.furthermore my parents taught me to choose to person i want to be with their character and not their ethnicity. Seeing interracial couples shows me we are mixing and Toronto is learning to change and adapt. The last and major thing i learned is that although your parents want the best for you, but they are not going to like every person you bring home. That's reasonable but you also need to consider what you want and if that decision is going to make you happy in the end.

Super Visa for grandma

This is just an article that I ran across in a newspaper that caught my attention. It talks about grandparents being able to obtain a super visa to come to Canada,but only for a period of time. This allows older relatives to visit family in Canada for up to 2 years. I thought this was interesting because most families here in Canada immigrate here but they don't always have family here. At the same time they may also come with kids and its difficult to balance working,taking care of kids and fitting in all at the same time. It helps if there is a grandparent there to help out and this is what this programme for. The grandparent doesn't have to permanently move here because its temporary,so their always able to go home when they want. The only requirements is that the applicants must have private health care insurance and minimum income requirements during their stay.

Interview reflection

In doing this interview on an immigrant in which I chose my mom ,I learned so much about her that she never told me and my sisters. I realized there is so many moments of her life she was a able to tell me like her feelings on moments such as her first day of school. I was able to see why my mom is so strong willed in teaching me and my siblings ,and understand why she continues to instill the importance of education in us. She did not have the same opportunities I did and she doesn't want me to make the same mistakes.

The most interesting part of the interview for me was my mom telling me she has always wanted to be a flight attendant. I've never thought to ask my mom that,mainly because i thought she always wanted to work in the bank.I also found out she hated the bank at first, or that she sold vacuum cleaners on the phone for her job.There were so many things I found out by doing this interview that I'm glad I did. As a kid/teenager you don't really understand why your parents to some of the things they do. Sometimes we may think their being harsh or hard on us but everything they do their teaching you. Lastly doing this interview showed me that me along with regular people these days take things like safety ,jobs opportunities and health-care for granted. I'm fortunate that my mother was able to immigrate to Canada which is why I'm here today. I'm grateful for what I have and what i am able to become career wise because I have the resources available to me.

Overall doing this interview gave me a lot of insight into being in the shoes of an immigrant, and what differences there are with someone like me who was born here. It was was a great experience that I really enjoyed doing.

Excerpt from Ru

By reading Kim Thuy's excerpt from Ru I was able to see a lot of visual images she put foward in her writing. Most importantly her encounters she has had in her life in terms of her arrival into Canada,learning a new language and her parents. What stood out to me the most is the imprtance of her name. Thuy says "my birth was to replace the lost lives my life was to prolong my mothers". She tries to say her life was a symbol in a way to replace the lives lost maybe of her parente friends or relatives or people in general. In addition for her to lengthen her mothers to carrry on her n her family's legacy, traditions and create generations. Thuy goes on to say that her name originally was the same as her moms with the only distinction being the dot under the i. When they were taken across the Guelf of Siam the accents were dropped and the meaning was gone. At that point Thuy felt that she was no longer an extension of her mom. As a kid you look up to your parents and as a girl your mother,who you try to be like which is what thuy tried to do. Her having basically the same name as her and gave her that feeling or role as being the one to continue what her mother started. Furthermore gave her that sense of belonging which after that that moment she no longer felt.