seems to be the way unfortunately...seems to me, if peoples experience has been the same, that this life in the UK isnt all that, and to define and justify it, we moan...There the problem lies, as we then become habitual to this, and take it with us.. (spent plent time there, back for good oct 15th). I even found myself doing it once or twice while there, till my wife pointed it out, that these things are not really that similar across the ocean.. Yes Canada has its problems, same as every other nation, but it seems to me Canadians are far more forgiving/friendly/thoughtful/less full of hate (choose any that apply).. I have yet to find any part of Canada where someone is burgled while in thier own home and forced to bag everything for the knife wielding crook (happened to a friend of mine in Hastings), or kids idea of fun is to threaten, terrorise and destroy..(stevenage)..(only in groups tho, get em on thier own, they shit a brick)
Sorry, i may be slightly blinkered, but Canada is a much better option. If the uk is so great, why do 380,000 people leave every year, 83000 going to Canada?
I myself happen to have been on the recieving end of one of these acts of kindness. Wife at work, cellfone battery dead..im lost in downtown ottawa, asked some guy for directions, he told me hed gimme a lift.being the untrusting brit i am (was) i kindly declined. Appreciateing my view, he flagged a cab, and paid for it,as i had nothing on me. Its acts like this that restore my faith in us humans, albeit only in certain places of the world (uk not one of em).
Just my 2cents worth

There is no way 83000 brits are coming to canada every year. In 2002 less than 39000 came from the whole of Europe.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/pub/facts2002.pdf


My comment about paradise was really for willmores benefit, as she keeps telling us Victoria is "paradise", not to mention the center of the universe. Too smart for my own good

Its really good to see these positive stories, kind of restores my faith in canada, but really its no more balanced than the negative threads of the past.

Iain

It's nice to read that two of those eight good-deeds-stories actually happened in the Netherlands.

I think the situation in the Netherlands is comparable to the one in Great-Britain. We live with too many people in a too small country. Every minute of the day we can see what our neighbours are doing, or what they are buying, etc. I think this causes a lot of jalousy, and this jalousy is reflected in nasty comments towards someone who gets a chance to improve himself.
Or even worse. If you walk through the mall you don't dare to look a stranger into his eyes for more than one second. Before you know it you are threatened with all kinds of misbehaviour, if you are lucky. If you are unlucky, that stranger skips the threatening part.......
I think that a lot of the aggression that seems so common in our nowadays societies is caused by the fact that our countries are overcrowded. And please. don't get me wrong. I'm not blaming anyone for being in my country, or for coming to my country. If someone from Pakistan, or Turkey, or Eritrea, or Timbuctu thinks he will have a better life in Holland, he is welcome. I don't mind. I'm not prejudiced against foreigners. On the other hand, if I think I will have a better life in Canada, I'll try to move to that country.

They're welcome to come to Canada too, as long as they are willing and able to work and I don't have support them through my taxes. I'm not willing to pay for their better life.

I don't think it's a negative spin on Canada - I personally look at it as a very positive and healthy way to spend an evening on a very pagan tradition - "kids going door to door "begging for treats'.....far better for them to go to a hockey game.....or get together with friends for a little party.

How long have you been in Canada?

How long before you worked?

How long do you think that you should have to pay into the system before being able to claim benefits?

Three years.

2 and a half years.

I'm in Alberta - you don't get benefits if you don't work - until you contribute to the system, the system doesn't support you. I think that's the way it should work, it's also the reason our taxes are lower.

Depends how you define benefits? For EI you need to pay into the system to benefit (if thats the word). For welfare you shouldnt, but lets face it, its hardly enough to live on full time is it! Plenty of incentive to find something else.

Arent both systems federaly run anyway, so Alberta shouldnt be any different than anywhere else. Maybe Im wrong about that one. Albertas taxes are lower 'cos of oil income I would have thought

Are you trying to miss the point? The point being is that instead of focusing on the positive aspects of a situation, we focus on the negatives. Rather than comment on how lovely it was that people were going out of their way to help a stranger/make someone's day more pleasant, we immediately focus on some potentially sinister motivation for this act of kindness. I just find it really sad that we have all become so cynical.

By the way, are you kidding me with the "pagan tradition" "kids begging thing"?

Thats what halloween is isnt it when you boil it right down. Some of the religous loony types round here dont like it at all because of the pagan root of it all.

[QUOTE=iaink]Thats what halloween is isnt it when you boil it right down. Some of the religous loony types round here dont like it at all because of the pagan root of it all.[/QUOTE


I thought it was an excuse to dress up in silly costumes, watch cheesy horror films and eat too many sweets!

Yep, that too

Are you suggesting that because some of us go to church and don't want our kids celebrating pagan festivals, that we're religious loonies??

I would never suggest that!

I would say that if you think kids going door to door for candy at halloween is a pagan festival, rather than something totally innocent that evolved out of a pagan festival that you might be a religous loony! Kind of like the timing for Christmas originally coinciding with a pagan winter festival would make celibrating Christmas a pagan ritual.

nice come back! You go boy!