tamil ships

When I immigrated to Canada in 1982 (I had been here before on a student visa), I had to first leave the country with my pregnant wife, apply for immigration status while living in one room (no shower and the toilet was in the hall) in my mother-in-law's basement, fill out tons of paperwork, travel for an interview at the Canadian High Commission in London, go through my medicals and wait a total of about a year before being approved. I did not complain, nor do I see that period of my life as a hardship today. I was young and strong and living in a 10x10 basement room with wife and baby for a while didn't faze me. When we arrived in Canada, I quickly realized that my Master's degree in English and Linguistics wasn't going to be of much help. I worked as a bingo caller, dental equipment salesman and even a vacuum cleaner salesman (for one day, mind you!) Eventually, I found work as a music teacher...it was part-time work but it paid some of the bills. As time passed, I slowly found my way to being a full time musician and building my career.

I am not very happy to see a boatload of people come to our shores and for all of the passengers to claim political asylum. This is a flagrant abuse of the system - especially since the identities of the asylum seekers cannot be easily established. I truly want for folks to come to this wonderful country and to enjoy all it has to offer, provided they do it legally. This is not a question of discrimination or hate. It's a question of very basic fairness. I have no doubt that these people's voyage to Canada was not only unpleasant but perhaps horrendously so. Perhaps they went without food for days on end and spent the journey crammed into small, dark quarters. Nevertheless, this is not an excuse to abuse Canadian generosity - whether on the part of the claimants themselves or some human smugglers (who, btw, constitute the lowest of the low, the scum of the earth and who should be found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law)

On to perhaps lighter themes next time.