Lebanese-canadians

Stearman · Post by **Stearman** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 1:00 pm

Hear! Hear!

I didn't write this but I thought it is probably an oppinion that is shared across the country.

Subject: plight of the Lebanese canadians.............

July 21, 2006

Hi Everyone;

I just had to write this to get it off my chest. You may or may not
agree with my sentiments however they are my opinions.

I was watching CBC news coverage this morning of the events
concerning the returns of Lebanese-canadians. You'll note I did not capitalize the word Canadians when referring to these people as it was evident by their comments that they consider themselves to be Lebanese first and Canadians second. The more I watched the madder I got and I ended up turning off the television.

A host of the returnees to Canada were complaining about the
Canadian Governments and it's slow response. Some of the returnees
commented that Canada should be ashamed of itself for it's slow response in getting them out. One person complained about taking 11 hours to get to Cyrpress and also complained about the sandwiches that they were given. I was stunned at the ingratitude of the people being interviewed. Considering the logistics involved in getting thousands of people out of Lebanon I think the Canadian Government and other governments did well.

I got to thinking about the situation and came to the conclusion
that Canada now seems to be a land of opportunists, not opportunity. The only two people in my family who got a free trip to Europe were my dad and my uncle Charlie who were shipped overseas to serve in World War 11.
No-one asked most of these people to go to Lebanon so a free trip back
with minor inconveniences is a good deal. Better than being dead I
suppose.

Here is the deal. I will arrange to pay for a trip back to war torn Lebanon for any Lebanese- Canadian ingrate who agrees to the following.
If you feel ashamed of Canada and it's response you should renounce
your Canadian Citizenship, pay back the government of Canada for the
free services you received when you came here such as medical,
dental, education, job start programs, housing, ESL classes,
business venture grants etc. and for those going back to live in
Lebanon give up your CPP benefits ( a great many Canadians are ignorant about the programs your tax dollar is paying for). As I stated earlier Canada seems to be the land of opportunists. I wonder what the percentage would be of these ingrates serving in our Armed Forces?

Now, you might view me as a radical and a bigot. That is your opinion.
The above is mine. I am one of many CANADIANS who are just fed up
with the ingratitude of some and the milking of our government by
others.
It's about time that people stood up and said enough is enough.
Political correctness is a way to stifle people from speaking how
they feel and in some cases speaking what is the truth. Affirmative action is nothing more than reverse discrimination. As I stated earlier I am fed up with the hyphenation of Canadian citizenship. You are either a Canadian or you are not one.

I intend on sending this letter to my M.P. and anyone else I can
think of. If you agree with me please pass this on, if not, then press
delete.

Mike Crawford
A Canadian from Winnipeg Mb.

still_bluenoser · Post by **still_bluenoser** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 1:03 pm

Well said!!

CAL · Post by **CAL** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 1:05 pm

I second that....or 3rd actually

niss · Post by **niss** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 1:08 pm

Here here.......

While I do agree that the canadian government should support all canadians, i do think that the majority of ppl escaping lebanon are oppourtunistic pricks..

Dex · Post by **Dex** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 1:20 pm

Not hard for CBC to scour thousands of shell shocked citizens in Lebanon looking to shove a microphone in someones face that will help insult Canadians at home for some good ole prime time TV content.

Underneath this there does lie a problem. The problem can be rectified by changing Canadian laws. That is a job for you to fix by writing your governments......

Miss Mae · Post by **Miss Mae** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 1:44 pm

Great article...very well said!

. ._ · Post by **. ._** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 2:15 pm

Interesting letter.

spoiler · Post by **spoiler** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 2:20 pm

Dex wrote:Not hard for CBC to scour thousands of shell shocked citizens in Lebanon looking to shove a microphone in someones face that will help insult Canadians at home for some good ole prime time TV content.

exactly.

... · Post by **...** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 2:28 pm

I got a juicy story for ya.

A buddy of mine works with this woman that just got back from that evac mess. She was there on vacation. She tried to get her mother back to Canada with her. She was successful...her mother is NOT Canadian and has no ties to this country. Do you want to know how she got her mother here?

Air Harper.

That's right...she flew on the aircraft with the PM. She took up a seat that could have been for a Canadian.

How she got on???...to be continued...I'll keep you posted. The press has not gotten a hold of this juicy one yet. Lemme get all the facts first.

True story

Guido · Post by **Guido** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 2:42 pm

I tend to agree with everything in there except this bit:

Political correctness is a way to stifle people from speaking how
they feel and in some cases speaking what is the truth. Affirmative action is nothing more than reverse discrimination. As I stated earlier I am fed up with the hyphenation of Canadian citizenship.

But other than that... good points, so long as you believe the media portrayal!

Kilo-Kilo · Post by **Kilo-Kilo** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 2:47 pm

When I heard the complaints of the "suffering" by having to sleep on the floor on the "harrowing" journey with poor food and substandard service being directed at the Canadian government, I laughed and told my wife that having made the three day/two night journey myself from Rhodes to Haifa via Cypress I can attest that it was not Canada's fault. That just happens to be the accepted standard of travel if you plan to arrive or depart at a Middle East port!

They really should be thankful they only have to put up with the boat for about half a day and are being FLOWN out of Cypress! Lucky bastards!

w squared · Post by **w squared** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 3:14 pm

There's one part of that letter that I disagree with.

The part about Lebanese canadians (extracting my capitalization choices from the letter above) getting "free" health care, education, etc.

Stating that all immigrants recieve freebies is a gross generalization. I don't for a second believe that there aren't some immigrants that are a net drain on our society (in that the taxes they've paid are less than the benefits that they've derived). There are also lots of people born in Canada that are a net drain on our national coffers.

I DO object to the blanket statement that all or even most Canadians of Lebanese origin (or extraction) are freeloaders. All of the Lebanese Canadians (my choice of capitalization now) that I know personally are functioning, contributing members of society here. Okay, this is empirical evidence, but I spent a number of years living in Ottawa which has a thriving Lebanese community. I know more than one or two.

As a matter of fact, many immigrant and first generation Lebanese are business owners. What does that really mean? That they invested the time (and their own money) to make their own way in our capitalist economy. Dust Devil and any other entrepreneur out there will tell you that it's not a 40-hour a week job, and the government leaves puncture wounds in your neck after siphoning off a chunk of your revenue. All the while, these small businesses are providing jobs...an important product of the entrepreneurial process.

While subsidized education and a government health care plan (that you partially pay for out of pocket if you're in Alberta) are benefits that many people in the world don't have, rapacious taxes on every dollar we make and almost everything that we purchase are also prices that many people outside of Canada don't have to pay. Let's take a balanced look at just what we're accusing people of.

I do however agree that whining about Canada's inablity to provide immediate first-class transportation out of a war zone on the opposite side of the world is bloody ridiculous. Especially the bit about the sandwiches.

JakeYYZ · Post by **JakeYYZ** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 3:54 pm

Wait a minute!
Is shawarma tube meat imported from Lebanon or do we have factories here?
Is there a shortage looming? Is the price of pita about to skyrocket?
Does anybody else get a craving for garlicky chickpea puree when they talk about Hamas on TV?

niss · Post by **niss** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 4:16 pm

I get it all the time but I am on .. and cant really have it anymore

desksgo · Post by **desksgo** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 5:05 pm

niss wrote:I get it all the time but I am on .. and cant really have it anymore

Akinstein?

hazatude · Post by **hazatude** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 5:07 pm

desksgo wrote:
niss wrote:I get it all the time but I am on .. and cant really have it anymore
Akinstein?

Goldkins?

niss · Post by **niss** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 5:16 pm

Chaim Atkinsisk

hazatude · Post by **hazatude** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 5:18 pm

MozzleCarb!

Icebound · Post by **Icebound** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 6:41 pm

In spite of all the outrage in threads like this and in the media for the past week, I do not see any hard facts about the numbers that really are free-loading and taking advantage of the situation.

For all you know, the overwhelming majority of the "Lebanese-canadians" really WERE just on holiday to grandma's, while their real life is here as workers, taxpayers, and contributors.

And also, as if this were the only ethnic group in which some individuals use Canada as a flag of convenience. If the really serious humanitarian crisis and evacuation was occurring in that country to the south of Lebanon, there would not be anybody taking advantage of the situation to get out to Canada or the US, right?

Of course there are those who took advantage. That would be so were it just about any ethinc group in the world. I would think that, of all the bogus reasons that people use for refugee status, ... having 500 pound bombs raining on your head probably qualifies as a lot more valid than many others I have heard of....

And none of you cheat a little on your taxes, either.

(and why does avcanada translate the two-letter abbreviation for pound (lb) as it were obscene and substitutes **)

...

niss · Post by **niss** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 6:49 pm

If the really serious humanitarian crisis and evacuation was occurring in that country to the south of Lebanon, there would not be anybody taking advantage of the situation to get out to Canada or the US, right?

Apples to oranges my friend apples to oranges "That country to the south of Lebanon" has a much stronger government with the means to provide its citizens. The lebanese gov't being incapable of reigning in Hezbollah is proof that they could never in their current capacity do anything to help their citizens now and theirfor require the assistance of the rest of the world.

I do not see any hard facts about the numbers that really are free-loading and taking advantage of the situation.

Tell me exactly how many are there on vacation and how many take up residence in Lebanon?

Stearman · Post by **Stearman** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 7:17 pm

Man if I was Lebanese I would be pissed if some miltia faction took up fighting with a country who has a stronger military.

Those poor people go from living in peace to getting the hell bombed out of them, all cause of the actions of a few, and a government who has been hijacked.

On another note and maybe someone can, correct me on this. But is it true that inorder to maintain Lebanese citzenship you must go back to Lebanon each year for approximately 3 months?

Icebound · Post by **Icebound** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 9:16 pm

niss wrote:
If the really serious humanitarian crisis and evacuation was occurring in that country to the south of Lebanon, there would not be anybody taking advantage of the situation to get out to Canada or the US, right?
Apples to oranges my friend apples to oranges "That country to the south of Lebanon" has a much stronger government with the means to provide its citizens. ....

...well, it has some much stronger friends to the tune of 3 billion per year of routine aid, or so, but government strength is not the discussion.

A scenario can still develop... hypothetical though we may all wish that it be.... whereby bombs are raining on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. (In fact, there is sufficient fear of that scenario so that this little exercise in Lebanon is supposedly to prevent just that).

People would want out...a good number would head for Canada and the USA...and you seriously believe that the Canadian passport-holder will not smuggle his non-Canadian grandma aboard?

There are any number of countries where, should a battle break out, their citizens or their Canadians would want out, and they would all do the same thing.

I do not see any hard facts about the numbers that really are free-loading and taking advantage of the situation.
Tell me exactly how many are there on vacation and how many take up residence in Lebanon?

No, you tell me, backed up with hard facts.... you are the guys claiming the Lebanese=Canadians are abusing the system.... I am sure there are some that are.... but what are the numbers? what percentage, and how does that compare to any other ethnic group in the same predicament???

Are there any facts, or is this all speculation based on a few media rants?
...

niss · Post by **niss** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 4:59 am

I would say that saying the majority of them are free loaders is Educated speculation.

We have 35 Mill population w/ 55 000 in Lebanon,

US has 350 Mil Popuation w/ 10 000 in lebanon

There are a few facts that point in a direction that support our theory.

Now I am sure there are pleanty of people who arent taking advantage of the system, but I would be curious to see if there are more than 27 500 of them or not.

That is alot of people

bmc · Post by **bmc** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 5:36 am

Any figures on the numbers of Israeli/Canadian dual citizenship or are they exempt from this discussion?

w squared · Post by **w squared** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:48 am

You'd like to know, so why don't you google it? Of course, this thread has very little to do with Israel. It's not about hezbollah vs. Israel, it's not about Israel vs. Hamas....it's about people who are dual citizens of Canada and Lebanon, and their complaining about the speed of Canada's effort to extract them from Lebanon. Who is "at fault" and what Israeli-Canadians make of it it 100% superfluous information for this thread. If you look, I'm pretty sure that you can find another thread on this very forum that will adress the issues that you want to inject into this formerly very on-topic thread.

Please don't hijack.