Glaswegian

Well, this is certainly bringing memories back.

Regret is a tough thing to handle - the "why didn't I"'s really trip you up later in life.

Maybe it's a male/female thing. I watched the town we lived in spiral downwards, most of the time it felt like it was sliding with the full support of the authorities. The male response is '**** it, I'm leaving'. A lot of guys I worked with were envious and wanted to emigrate too, but couldn't get their wives to agree because of family.

Once you're here as a PR you can always bring granny over as a family class immigrant - it's a much simpler process.

My Mum died a few years ago from a cancer that a NHS doctor decided not to treat - I sometimes wonder if we had made the move to Canada sooner, maybe I could have got her to come over here for better medical treatment - I don't know, but like I said, it's the sort of regret that really trips you up later in life.

MikeUK

Well on the medical treatment..at least here in the greater Toronto area and I gather form collegues the Ontario medical system is on par with the UK...

My limited exposure in brampton would sugest its actually worse in the brampton hospitals, but major downtown Hospitals in Toronto are the places to go if you have real issues to sort out.......

Just like in the UK all the good doctors have left to work for more money in the states...

Glaswegian

Our experience is that it's way better in Calgary - we've always been treated quickly by someone who knows what they're doing - that wasn't my own experience in the UK.

I remember going to an emergency dept in Edinburgh after waking up with a very sore foot - the doctor there decided that I had probably broken a bone in my foot, didn't think it was worth x-raying it and sent me home limping with the advice that it would get better eventually.

It happened again a year or so later .... turned out I had gout

Perhaps London, UK is different from the rest of the country, but from my own experience the NHS sucks big time.

iaink

In response to mike, not Glaswegian!

Not my experience at all. Whenever we have needed medical treatment it has been excellent, with very short waits to see consultants etc. Only problem is finding a GP in the first place, they are in short supply and are not taking new patients around here, but we got lucky. Friends of ours have a kid with a major health problem, and his care has also been outstanding.

Iain

Glaswegian

Where did you live in the UK?

iaink

Sorry, that was a response to mike, but you beat me too it. Should have left the quote in I guess!

Gout, how very bourgeoisie! I should lay of the fois gras if I were you!

Just kidding

Iain

Glaswegian

That explains a lot.

It's a bit of a bummer - I have to avoid high purine foods - no fines cheese and wines for me anymore.

The real thing that gets it going is Kellog's Raisin Splitz - I used to really like those, I could finish off a box in a weekend - then I'd be hobbling around in pain for 24 hours. Gravy, coffee, alcohol, beans - all limited - life just isn't the same.

MikeUK

Well to put it in perspective..

We were based in Warwickshire last year when my wife got pregnant and the service we got was on par with what I expected in the UK not brilliant but acceptable…

We then moved to Toronto.. and got fed a line of B.S. about everything and she got told by a Canadian doctor that the UK doctors and mid wives didn’t know what they were talking about. .even though they matched the heath books we had… then we tried to move doctors s and he tried to charge for movement of records and make it as difficult as possible. Whist still giving my wife a hard time about what see should eat and drink… later we got messed around by the hospital and again got another line of B.S about compulsory C-sections fro breach births which when we checked turned out to be only an administration preference… we ended up talking to a senior doctor in the Toronto sick kids hospital (who was from Ireland) who sorted the whole mess out in two phone calls….

We have both got valid OHIP cards…and my wife is Canadian…

My personal experience is that the medical system here is similar to the UK system before they did the patient charter thing..

In other words no second opinion, and any way you don’t understand so we won’t consider your input… it’s the lack of patient doctor communication that I have a hard time dealing with.. and the triple booking of appointments… I don’t expect to wait three hours when I’ve booked an appointment. I never did that in the UK ..ever…

I’d like to say it’s a one off.. but my wife friend has just found out she’s pregnant her in Brampton and it would appear she getting the same old run around we got…. Maybe its Brampton hospital only?

iaink

Good for you Mike for sticking to your guns. I have heard bad things about certain consultants here and in Coburg too, so maybe it is a case that relatively small local hospitals where there are only one or two consultants per discipline suffer as a result. A second opinion is always an option here, so you did the right thing to stick to your guns and demands one.

It certainly helps not to be a doormat, and to go in armed with a little understanding so you know roughly what they are talking about. Dont leave till you are satisfied seems to be a general rule when dealing with doctors, whether on the East or West of the Atlantic.

Hope your future run ins with the health system are better!

Iain

Voyager970

[QUOTE=Glaswegian]We first considered it back in the 1980's - we really regret not having done it then.

Us to Glaswegian except it was the late 1980's, when me and her indoors were first whinching, (Going out for those who do not speak Glaswegian ) think thats how you spell it !!!

If I remember right we did an initial pre-appraisal, and this came back favourable, so why did we not pursue the move to Canada.
Thats the 64000 dollar question. I do not know !!!!!!!!!

IF ONLY !!!! IF ONLY !!!!
Perhaps if we did move I would not have had 3 lovely children so maybe the gods kept us here for this sole reason !!!!!!!

Anyway we are back at the emmigration process again, except we will have 3 kids to worry and think about.
We will succeed in this quest to gain entry to Canada.
We are prepared for the long processing time and I hope others are to.

See ya all later

Eddie

Lapsed Canuck

I agree. Several of my friends are teachers and the curriculum seems to be a year ahead in Britain. But, one of the things that people always seem to forget when they are talking about this on these boards is that in Britain, children start when they are 4 and they start kindergarten at 5 in Canada! They may be a year behind in primary but my argument is that secondary is a key level where Canadian schools overtake British schools. They spend less time revising and more time learning as course work is just as important and more so in some provinces than exams. Also, more Canadians stay on until they are 18 as it is part of the complete high school experience whereas here, transition at 16 is too much encouragement to leave.

In my opinion, Canada offers all young people a better chance educationally not just the select few who can afford it. Not all schools or teachers are fantastic but the choice in subjects, the levels at which they are studying later on and the range of experiences they have at school give them more of a chance as adults.

squarepants

Yes but would you rather be assessed for how much you earn in order for your kids to get tuition paid as in the UK, or be willing to pay the sky high prices here for university? I mentioned this because your arguement included after the age 18

I don't think I would have wanted to stay a year extra in uni, when I can finish my course in 3, over here it's 4yrs flat or more as the case may be. Do you have proof that canadian schools overtake british schools at secondary level? You are making it sound like our secondary school kids are not on top of things, just look at the latest A-levels results ( some might say they are getting easier, I beg to differ ).

Education is what you make it anyway, I was always told teachers will only give you 30%, it's up to the student to body up the rest. Mst parents expect the schools to do all the work

Lapsed Canuck

[QUOTE=squarepants]Yes but would you rather be assessed for how much you earn in order for your kids to get tuition paid as in the UK, or be willing to pay the sky high prices here for university? I mentioned this because your arguement included after the age 18/QUOTE]

Aha! The UK is not far behind Canada on the tuition fees front. I don't include university in my arguments - I was impressed that people did not have to pay over here and think it was a mistake to get rid of the grants as people from less well off backgrounds will be less likely to go.

I don't have proof other than working with young people every day and seeing that alot of them are left behind in the system here in the UK. What I do know is that when I came over here I was considering applying to go to Oxford and I was told by their admissions department that I would have absolutely no problem getting in because of the standard of education in Canada.

I don't doubt there are good schools here but my concern is for ALL children and that education is not just about what you can afford, league tables and exam results.

squarepants

Education starts at home, if the parents are not willing to do the work, and expect the schools to, then kids are going to suffer. Why have the kids if you can't spend time with their school work anyway?

We know of kids that do home tuition by their parents, and ace exams.




[QUOTE=Lapsed Canuck]

iaink

There seem to be far more oportunities in canada than the UK to get scholarships if you are gifted, its almost the norm here. Also many of those 4 years courses in Canada include about a year or mores total time in work internships, which offer the student not just the oportunity for some real world experince, but also the chance to network their way into post graduation employment, and a decent level of pay to help with tuition and living expenses in the short term.

My take in general is that both Canada and the UK are well developed, prosperous countries, with good education systems. If there is any difference it is not that great, but if anything Canada seems to do a better job of turning out well rounded decent indivicuals, and the UK is slightly better at turning out "book smart" kids. I would not lose sleep over my kid going through either system. As someone else pointed out it is probably more a function of whether you find a good school, rather than whether it happens to be in the UK or Canada.

Probably a whole raft of stats out there (nationmaster.com etc) to settle the argument one way or the other?

Iain