Interesting post....
http://wowjobs.ca/cs/forums/120/ShowThread.aspx#120
Location: British Columbia
Posted on: 06-03-07 19:25:13
Do you have a question? invite debate? differ on the viewpoints?
what is the purpose for having posted this?
How will it help others?
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~ Morning rain
Well, I think your questions are pretty lame. What is the purpose of posting anything on a discussion forum? Obviously it is to start a discussion. And to potentially share an opinion that someone holds about a topic that could be of interest to someone who comes on this board.
Members come here and post on a variety of topics, especially when it is related to something positive or negative on Canada. I suspect a lot of current Canadians and potential immigrants could have some interest in reading a post that says something negative about Canada.
If moderators of this forum think this is a useless link or if it violates any terms of the forum, please delete it.
Otherwise, let a discussion begin if it will!
Location: British Columbia
Posted on: 06-03-07 20:26:50
Quote:
Originally posted by wandering
Well, I think your questions are pretty lame. What is the purpose of posting anything on a discussion forum? Obviously it is to start a discussion. And to potentially share an opinion that someone holds about a topic that could be of interest to someone who comes on this board.
Members come here and post on a variety of topics, especially when it is related to something positive or negative on Canada. I suspect a lot of current Canadians and potential immigrants could have some interest in reading a post that says something negative about Canada.
If moderators of this forum think this is a useless link or if it violates any terms of the forum, please delete it.
Otherwise, let a discussion begin if it will!
What is obvious to one person isnt always obvious to someone else.
the link did not mention anything that has not been discussed before on this site. My response to you was to get you to clarify - what is the angle that made you post that link?
debates on Canada are found all over this site.
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~ Morning rain
Quote
Now I am a Canadian and love my country but there are so many things that really bug me about Canada that very often I think of leaving it and going somewhere else. Here are my biggest problems with Canada:
If we do it in a certain way in Canada, there has to be a sound reason for it. No arguments.
We define ourselves by what we are "not" rather than what we are. Because we really are not much in terms of our identity, other than a few poorly executed programs. We are NOT American. We are NOT true capitalists. We are NOT true socialists.
The healthcare system sucks big time. I've heard all the 'free' and equal access stuff from a lot of people, but it doesn't count for anything if you have to wait in an endlessly long line. If you need to access the healthcare system, good luck. Seeing a specialist will take months, even for regular ailments, and God forbid if you ever need to use emergency services. You'll have to wait for at least six to seven hours in most places like Toronto or Calgary.
Everything is more expensive as compared to international value or what it costs in the US. Take cars for example. Almost all SUVs are around 50% more expensive in Canada, after accounting for the exchange rate and taxes. Smaller cars are easily 30 to 40% overpriced.
Most industries are heavily protected by the government granting them a virtual monopoly or oligopoly. Examples include telecom, banking, dairy farming, chicken farming (yes even chicken farming).Do you know that you can’t even sell milk freely in this country? Yes, let’s say you want to start a dairy farm and sell milk, you can’t do that till you pay obscene amounts of money to get milk quotas!
Cell phone service is pathetic. It's almost crap. To every plan, a fee of $6.95 is added. It is called 'system access fees' and it used to be called as 'government fees' until a few years ago by the greedy companies. You have to pay for your voicemail, you have to pay for incoming minutes and pretty much everything else like data usage and what not. No wonder our cell phone usage rates are the lowest in the developed world. There's no concept of number portability yet and you are locked with one of the three cell phone vendors for 3 years to get an antiquated handset for over $100.
Entire Media is controlled by just two or three companies. All the news is filtered and toned down so that the average masses can't hear what is not in the best interest of the corporations.
Banking is even worse than telecom industry. For everything there is a fee. It's very hard to get any meaningful service from any banks without getting ripped off.
Jobs, as you see on this site are not plentiful. There are thousands of low end, dead end jobs in most cities, but there is brutal competition for any white collar well paying job.
Airlines are probably the worst offenders. Once again, a classic oligopoly. It's generally cheaper to drive for a few hours to a US city and board a flight from there rather than flying from within Canada. But no such luck if you are flying within Canada. First you have the heavily protected and inefficient airlines that are further exacerbated by inefficient bureaucrats tagging all those taxes. A simple $50 flight from Toronto to Ottawa ends up costing over $150 one way! Yes, for a flight less than an hour, you end up paying close to $150.
You make less money for the same hours worked, as compared to the US or the UK.
And you pay way more in taxes as compared to the US. Taxes could be as high as 45% in the top bracket.
And we can't have even any foreign book sellers here because it would destroy the 'Canadian literary heritage'. One company-Chapters- owns pretty much all the chained book stores here. And since that is the only place where you can find an ambience similar to that of Barnes and Noble, they won't even bother to put enough chairs (leave aside sofas).
Housing prices are rising so fast that they are beyond the reach of the average worker. In any big city with some jobs, housing costs are just way too much. In Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary or Edmonton a starter home easily costs more than $400,000.
And the rents are not cheap either. Any reasonably okay accommodation (1 Bedroom apartment) will set you back by at least $1000 per month.
Gas is more expensive than in the US by at least 30 to 40%.
And this is from the perspective of a Canadian who was born and brought up in Canada. Imagine the plight of a poor immigrant who faces more obstacles than those born here. Their degrees and qualifications are not recognized (the most common problem they have with Canada) and people with graduate degrees are forced to drive cabs or deliver pizza.
Except for a handful of our companies (like RIM, Cognos, Nortel), most Canadian business are inwardly looking and want to make money by getting more and more protection from Canadian government in ripping off the Canadian consumers. All banks, telecom companies, airlines and dairy farmers fall in this category.
The really harsh winters here. Yes, weather is a huge turn off after all this above.
Is there a better place in the world where I can move to? I’ve a graduate degree in computers and have over 5 years experience.
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I agree weather is a big negative ... and it needs to be experienced to realized. You cant afford to spent enough time out in winters .... I keep on hearing the running steps of a child from a lower apartment .
I didnt know that gas prices are 30% higher than the US ......
It is ironical that despite the Govt pumping so much money in Healthcare the services suck.... I wish that they could allow more Immigrant doctors with minimal bridging course which can help the system big times .
Although the economy seems to be improving but in the long run with production moving to China and services to India how good will it (eeconomy) sustain ???
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Fido.
Location: Private location
Posted on: 07-03-07 10:17:28
Quote:
Originally posted by wandering
Interesting post....
http://wowjobs.ca/cs/forums/120/ShowThread.aspx#120
Why don't you start off by telling everyone what YOUR thoughts are...
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Bijou Bazaar
http://bijoubazaar22.googlepages.com
Okay here are my thoughts. I think Canada is a mixed bag just like any other country. It ultimately gets down to what your priorites are and what you want from life. I've spent time in India, US, UK and in Canada to know that there is no 'perfect' place.
One problem that I've experienced first hand is that the Canadians who are born here will almost shut their ears when you try to mention anything that is not so great here. Almost as if you don't have a right to say anything since you originally came from a poor country (India) that has a lot of catching up to do to Canada. I think it's the 'Canadian insecurity' that becomes a hinderance to looking at things with a fresh perspective.
The Canadian consumer suffers quite a bit and I agree with the article. We pay more in pretty much everything even when we earn less in absolute dollars and then we top it off with huge GST+PST.
Despite this, even when you go to a remote village in rural part of the country, your brown skin does not cause alarm. Try doing that somewhere in West Virginia or Texas. It won't work.
White Canadians are more tolerant- at least on surface-of other races and immigrants.
Yet, there's always a condescending attitude prevailing whenever you are in conversation with the Canadian borns. Especially when you have reached a certain professional or economic standing. I've felt it on so many occasions with so many different people that I've to believe that it exists, despite trying my best that it does not.
My experiences with healthcare have been mixed. Last year when our first baby was born, our experiences were wonderful. Last month I got sick for some reason and could not do a thing for almost a month. The doctors were clueless about what went wrong with me. They could only associate my illness with third world illnessess such as TB and Malaria, despite me showing no such symptoms. So it was a case(in my opinion) of incompetence plus a prejudiced mind, something that simply should not exist in medicine. So after wasting over 15 days and finding nothing, the GP got a 'specialist' appointment for me for a date one month away. What is a person suppossed to do in those conditions? And the doctors told me: "keep on taking fever reducing medicines and if there's a problem go to the emergency and see if they will admit you." That was the time I felt that I'm not in the right country because I don't have access to healthcare. It is free, but it is useless if it cannot provide access to the specialists/other things I need in timely manner. I was ultimately fixed up by a doctor in India via phone consultation!
Cell phone prices, car prices, insurance prices, food prices, we pay way more than in the consumers in the US and in many other countries.
And to top it off all, our mortgage interest is not tax deductible, unlike in the US. That alone can make a difference of several thousand dollars per year.
When I was in the US, I would frequently bump into Canadians. Now I realize why so many of them left Canada!
But having seen the US first hand, I am not really interested in packing my bags anytime soon. I want to work hard for a few years, accumulate some money and perhaps return to India with parents and siblings.
