Having spent time in nigeria, where it seems everything is falling apart, i would not be overly confident to be set upon by a nigerian doctor. Did i miss something, was canadian critic a doctor?

Do you have some qualification to assess how highly trained a Nigerian doctor is? Or is this just speculation that if one has a certificate that says they went to med school they must be a doctor.

I have no idea how well trained they are, but I certainly want some organisation in this country vetting doctors from any country before letting them lose on the general populous.

On the other hand I do know how well trained a UK doctor is, and there are significant hurdles in place to make it hard for them to practice here too. There is undoubtedly a disconnect between the immigration requirements and the professional requirements in many areas, its pointless to pretend otherwise.

Whose responsibility it would be to address that is less clear...

I don't pretend that but I do think there's a perception among Brits that governments represent countries in a way that doesn't exist among, say, Americans. I would think a Nigerian would also be suspicious of government pronouncements (and that is true of the one Nigerian I know quite well) so, I don't see that would be particular misled by the Canadian government telling them porkies; they should recognize that governments tend not to know what happens in their home countries and that they misrepresent what they do know. It's the victims of Nigerians that are gullible, not the Nigerians themselves.

I like this .... I know what you mean. I could never figure out why I liked the West End in Vancouver so much, as it is largely made up of uninspiring highrises that are reminiscent of council flats in UK cities. Despite this, its a very livable neighbourhood, and overall I've always felt very at home there. For some odd reason, it works.

So you would not have a Nigerian gynecologist inspect your itch ?

did you forget a B??

That's how I feel too. I don't have a problem with foreign professionals having to prove themselves. It's always struck me as rather arrogant to assume you can arrive in a new country and start right at the top, over the top of the locals, with local training and local experience.

I've felt for a while professionals are the wrong class to target for immigration, as they seem to have a hard time adjusting to the come-down in status/starting over again aspect of immigration, judging by the whining in the immigrant press. And then there's the fact that if someone is a professional from a developing or developed country, they've probably already had advantages/lifestyle that many people don't have in that country. I think more immigration places should be offered to the kinds of people who don't get many opportunities - like the poor. Why not give some of those people a chance?

And another thing. Importing foreign professionals is a great way for the government to avoid funding the training of its own populace to the level that's needed. It's a cheap way to avoid skills shortages, but it comes at a price, especially to the developing countries that need those professionals, and to the locals.

When I came here I had to prove my experience and licensing before they would let me loose with an aeroplane. Funny that.

How many people would want to get on a flight, not knowing the the authorities had ensured the pilot is suitably qualified and experienced. Even then there are a few airlines I would not go with.

Aren't there are international standards for pilots. I know nothing about this really, but surely not everyone who flies in Canadian airspace has Canadian licensing as that wouldn't be practical.

fixed

Licensing & training requirements vary, to some extent you either can or cannot fly, it shows up quite quickly. The UK & Europe has pretty much the highest standards in the world. Military pilots are all very good (those that aren't are not around long) Airlines like to reuse the aircraft so generally are picky who they let loose with them, and loosing too many pax is not good for business either.

A pilot has to be licensed by the country the aircraft is registered in and airlines have to meet standards to fly in a countries airspace.

This is a list of airlines banned from EU airspace http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air-ban/doc/list_en.pdf

Immensely

Hy
At last - here I was thinking I am the only one with a problem with Canada. If you are a temporary foreign worker like me, right now - you are screwed. I got laid off three times, last time was 4 weeks ago. No money to go back home to the UK and I now watch as my wife goes to work in minus 40 degrees and two feet of snow.

Their is work out there - 44000 jobs on jobbank.ca, load of work on kajiji, and workopolis is amass with work. But Service Canada wont let me lift so much as a broom because my work permit is site specific. And the LMO stuff is just typical of this shyte hole.

Dont get me wrong people. The Canadians can be friendly and polite - when was the last time you held a conversation with your bus driver?

I just cant get my head round the stupid legislation that is alienating and forcing immigrants to scavenge for coke cans and bottles so they have enough to but a burger. Fer fek's sake dont the idiots at Service Canada realise we are in the 20th century? Help the foreign workers, not make life so hard thay have to resort to asking people for money on the streets.

Steve

I lived in bangkok and there were a few airlines I wouldn't use because they weren't allowed to fly to European airports. Can't remember exactly (Phuket Air may have been one of them, and a bunch of Indonesian ones).