[ Reply | Canada Coffee Club Message Board ]
Posted by Stieve Joe on 8/31/2005, 22:32:54, in reply to "Re: TOP EIGHT REASONS NOT TO IMMIGRATE TO CANADA" Thousands of professionals have been lured to Canadian cities like London with promises of lucrative careers and a prosperous, secure future in a new land. Once they get here, the reality is sobering. And dream-shattering. http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2004/01/17/315744.html Thousands of professionals have been lured to Canadian cities like London with promises of lucrative careers and a prosperous, secure future in a new land. Once they get here, the reality is sobering. And dream-shattering. Maybe he picked you up one day. Maybe he took you to work on a rainy morning. And while his windshield wipers slapped water away from your view of the outside world, maybe you didn't see the pile of medical books on the passenger seat of his cab. His name is Dr. Mohommad Farhad Bayat. He's a London taxi driver. He's happy here because his family is safe. He's happy here because his children grew up with Storybook Gardens instead of landmine fields, and they go to good schools and will never be forced to fight for any army. He's happy because his wife won't be killed or threatened, even though her hair shows. His prayers have been answered. But not his dreams. They lie between the covers of the medical books Dr. Bayat still studies in his taxicab, while parked between fares. The books are from Kabul, Afghanistan, where he earned his medical degree and set up practice as a family physician. They helped him continue his practice for four years in Pakistan, where he lived in a refugee camp after escaping Afghanistan's brutal regime. And the knowledge from those books helped him get to Canada in 1991, when he applied as an immigrant to forge a better life for his wife and daughters. But once he arrived, Dr. Bayat's books -- and his credentials -- were as helpful as his used airline ticket. Despite them, he couldn't get work as a doctor, a nurse, or in any other medical profession. Employers wanted Canadian certification and Canadian references -- re-education that would have cost thousands of dollars he didn't have. So Dr. Bayat joined thousands of other foreign-trained professionals in an occupation he was qualified to do. He became a taxi driver. * * * Hundreds of professionals like Bayat drive London's streets. Hundreds more deliver pizza. More clean buildings. Some are doctors, some are lawyers, some are engineers, some are economists and some are teachers. Most of them have lived through famines, wars and tragedies too horrible for native Londoners to imagine. Most of them came here because Canada wanted them for their skills. * * * Some are judges. Aboutown taxi driver Abdalla Abosharia spent several years in the Sudan judicial system, backed by a law degree as he worked his way from legal assistant to lawyer to provincial court judge. Some are engineers. Torpikay Yusufzai and Hashim Mohommed didn't ask to come here. They were invited. They didn't know much about Canada at the time. The couple and their young son were living in a refugee camp in India when an immigration officer knocked on their door. "I was sitting at home and a person came to our house and said, 'The Canadian government chose you and your husband to go to Canada . . . You have good education, good qualifications,' " says Yusufzai in her Wonderland Road apartment. "You're the immigrant they are looking for." Yusufzai, a mechanical engineer, once designed systems for the Water and Power Ministry in Kabul. Mohommed, a civil engineer, designed structures and highrises there. They were happy, successful, until 1992, when militants overthrew the government. It was a brutal year. That year, 1,500 civilians were killed or wounded in fighting. Yusufzai was terrified to leave her apartment, but she wasn't safe inside, either. The young family fled to a refugee camp in India, where Yusufzai's family was living at the time. Job shortages made it impossible to find work as engineers. Mohommed took work translating Russian. They stayed three years, hoping to return to Kabul -- and to their careers -- if the fighting ever stopped. But then there was that knock at the door. Suddenly, Yusufzai and Mohommed had new hopes. They met with the Canadian officials, who said they could get work as engineers here. "We came here with hope we would find something." Not quite. The family arrived in London in 1998. They went to London's Global House, a Cross Cultural Learner Centre resource facility that helps newcomers get essentials, such as ID, health services and English courses. Global House has connections with employment agencies but no one who sits down to match professional immigrants with specific careers. The government pays for food, clothing and lodging for one year for all refugees. After that, information about welfare is provided. * * * The federal government evaluates six factors when considering each applicant for immigration to Canada. Each area is broken into subsections and applicants receive points based on each factor with a total of 100 available points. Pass mark is 67. For example, education is worth 25 points, but to get that score an applicant must have a master's degree or PhD and 17 years of full-time equivalent study. A bachelor's degree is worth 20 points, a high school education five. The following six factors are considered: - Education: 25 points - Official languages: 24 points - Experience: 21 points - Age (between 21-49 preferred): 10 points - Arranged employment in Canada: 10 points - Adaptability: 10 points THE NUMBERS A 1999 study of 1,678 immigrant professionals and tradespeople in London found a 40-per-cent unemployment rate. Of those employed, 76 per cent worked in fields other than their specialty. Top reasons that prevented people from finding relevant work were: - Lack of experience here: 38% - Lack of Canadian certificate: 28% - Lack of references: 13% - Difficulties with English: 7% Copyright © The London Free Press 2001,2002,2003 http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2004/01/17/315744.html
62.3.36.219
Armed with degrees, they drive our cabs
Armed with degrees, they drive our cabs
Jennifer O'Brien, Free Press Reporter 2004-01-17 03:30:12
THE POINT SYSTEM
--Previous Message--
: Okay, so someone had a bad experience now the
: world needs to know. If Canada is so bad,
: why is this guy still here? I'll repond to
: the website too....
:
: 8. Discriminatory and Dishonest Immigration
: System.
: Show me a perfect system and I'll show you
: no immigrants. The system is based on
: international immigration law, which I
: believe many countries use.
:
: 7. Out Of Control Cost Of Living.
: "cost of living in Canada is on average
: five times greater." Where on earth did
: this clown get that statistic? You can live
: a very comfortable life here with just a
: mediocre salary.
:
: 6. Health Care Crisis.
: "Canadian doctors are leaving to move
: permanently to the United States"
: More crock. A recent study shows that more
: doctors are returning to Canada from the
: states than are leaving.
:
:
: http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20050824/ca_pr_on_na/health_doctors_returning
:
: 5. Very High Taxes.
: You get what you pay for. Better roads,
: better social structure. Free medical. Yes
: free. Free visit to the doctor. Free
: Hospital. And better police. Better schools.
: I guess meathead never used any of these.
:
: 4. Money Hungry Government.
: "They must bring with them at least
: $10,000." Yes, and what pray tell are
: you going to live on while you look for a
: job? That's what the money is for you
: brainless moron. Do your research first!
:
: 3. No Culture.
: What rot. Anyone eat poutine? Ever been to
: Casa Loma, or to Ottawa? Try one of the
: native reserves or an Native villiage in one
: of our many parks.
:
: 2. Worst Weather.
: What garbage. Canada has a balanced climate.
: It snows in the winter, and is hot in the
: summer. It's fantastic. Fall, the colour
: changes and spring everything blossoms. Who
: could ask for more?
:
: 1. No Jobs.
: Bull. If you are willing to work, you will
: find something. Any once you recertify
: you'll be back in your profession. I want
: them to recertify before I let some guy
: trained in Quartar operate on me.
:
: This guy needs to get his bitter and twisted
: self back to India, and criticize his own
: place before he criticizes my home!
:
:
To return to www.CanadaCoffeeClub.com, use the link at the top of the page
