printer

Ok but what then is the general consensus of opinion within Canada about this issue?

printer

Just found this interesting article which seems to agree with your viewpoint.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/thi...icle354784.ece

dbd33

It's not an issue here. There was a bit of a fuss a while back when the government decided to repatriate some Portuguese builders; their union made a lot of fuss about the importance of the construction industry and the inhumanity of deporting the parents of kids who were doing well in school but eventually the story faded.

Immigration is a issue that gains traction in the UK because the immigrants are somehow different from the current population; they're black, they're Muslim, they're Polish, whatever. Here, more than half the population immigrated and, of those born here, very many have immigrant parents; there's no unity among the population and so no us-and-them factor. I think you'd find more people in Toronto being concerned about immigration into their home countries than into Canada.

Canada2006

Interesting story about who's effected by immigration in the UK:

http://www.economist.com/world/brita...ory_id=8089315

kt0157

Or you could just watch an episode of The Royle Family.

K.

dbd33

It's so nearly right but ultimately the author's view of race and class (and perhaps the editorial demands of the publication) betrays him. It closes “Asians seem to be the new middle class” when what is meant is "Immigrants seem to be the new middle class". Arriving with nuffink and producing children what have degrees is what immigrants do; it's not because they're Asian but because they're driven.

I think there are two elements to that :

- immigrants, especially illegal immigrants, are a self-selecting sample of people who want to get ahead

- immigrants in a strange land turn in on themselves and focus on the family; if all the locals care about is ice hockey and you don't follow it, you may as well read the children a book.

kt0157

There you have it, in a nutshell.

All the cack about "bring them in because they will do the jobs we don't want to do" is rubbish. It never ends up like that. All that kind of reasoning does is breed resentment when the ever-present underclass fail to understand why people with darker skins are earning more money than them.

K.

Lees147

There was a job advert in the newspaper not too long ago where it sepcifically asked for a minority group (in the paper they said it was becuase of the company needing to meet the 5% minority working in in a company rule).

I think the job was a historian to work in the brighton history museum. Someone then saw this and took the company to court due to he felt this was being selective/invertly racist. I think that the case is still in the pile and is yet to be sorted out.

But i think it is this sort of attitude towards political correctness which in turn causes the reaction that the public gives back (I.E. you couldn't advertise it white people only).

We all know that if a company wants to hire someone based on there skin, fair enough but you cant tell me that they should be able to advertise the fact so blatently.

At the end of the day we have to get on with all the people in the country regardless of the skin, race or culture but at the moment the movement has gone in one direction and it is time it started to settle down and put an end to all the madness (like the newsreader not being allowed a cross on her neck whilst on the BBC). This is my only problem(the system) not the people themselves.

dbd33

I trust you do know that quota hiring is common in Canada. One of the more bizarre episodes I know of was a friend of mine (I was also his pimp) being refused a job because he didn't fit the ethnic profile of the needed employees. The mandate was to "reflect the population demographics of Ontario" and they already had their two aboriginals!

I don't think quotas make sense. I think affirmitive action/positive discrimination is wrong. However, if that's the policy, I don't see why adverts shouldn't be explicit that just saves everyone's time.

kt0157

It's of dubious legality, isn't it?

K.

Lees147

I don't have a problem with this but what I think is wrong is they can advertise it one way but not the other.

Like i said if they want to hire you based on your skin colour i don't mind but if you ever saw a job advert ask for a 'white' person i would be amazed.

It doesn't bother me as i am pretty well qualified and if a company needs someone with my skills they will hire whoever.

This is the madness of the political correctness i speak of.

Like i was saying about the cross on the neck would the BBC ask a jew not to wear a skull cap? I think that would be a no but if i'm proved wrong i'm proved wrong.

It's these silly little things that bug people.

dbd33

It was the policy of Bob Rae's NDP government in Ontario. I believe it's still in the charters of the quangos and it's probably the official policy of government departments, so I'd think it legally required but mostly ignored, rather than illegal but sometimes practised.

buzz365

You are so right..................have a beer

kt0157

Domestic or imported?

K.

buzz365

Maybe you dont see an advert for a `white` person because this is the biggest racial group in the uk. As such this group are already in the position to hire and fire who ever they like. The knock on effect is they will hire people who look like them and share the same values. many west indians and asians, many of which had shown service to the uk during the war, arrived in the uk expecting equality. This didnt happen as they didnt look like or share the same values of their would be employers. Maybe we are now seeing the backlash of this. Some say political correctness is wrong ,but others may say its what happens when you dont play fair.