Every citizen of every country has their own unique and individual difficulties to overcome. High school can be a cruel place for all teenagers to begin with, so having to deal with the hardships of a physical disability going through high school would be harder then we can imagine.
While I was in high school an individual in my life discovered that she had a disease called Lupus. “Lupus is a long-term autoimmune disorder that may affect the skin, joints, kidneys, brain, and other organs (Makover, 2011) .” This disease has caused the individual a tremendous amount of various health problems such as a brain aneurism, a stroke and seizures. The stroke resulted in this woman acquiring a physical disability. Acquiring this disability caused her to worry deeply of the way it will affect her life and how the relationships and privilege she already has. She has made almost a full recovery and has her lupus under control but still has to worry about issues regarding employment and other things. Since this all struck when she was still in high school and only working part time she does not receive employment insurance because she had not been working enough hours at the time. Although the government offers a small form of compensation, it is not enough for her to live on.
The individual’s parents immigrated to Canada from overseas for the birth of their daughter. My concern is that if they had chosen to immigrate to Canada later on in life, after this happened to this individual, would they still be approved to immigrate here? If the government is considering a physical disability a justified reason to deny someone access to immigrate to Canada, what other excuses have they come up with?
Canada has been known to refuse landed immigrant status to families because a child in the family has a disability and will put stress on the Canadian health care and social welfare systems. Although it is understandable for Canada to be protective of its assets, is it understandable for Canada to judge people by something they cannot change? I believe it is not. It is not okay for Canada to pick and choose who deserves a chance at a better life. If a refugee is trying to flee their home country because of dangerous or harmful conditions, it is a possibility that they could become harmed in the process. If a physical disability is now another burden the refugee must face it is not fair to risk causing them more harm by sending them back to the country where they were harmed in the first place. It is extremely unsettling how the Canadian government holds so many people’s lives at their fingertips (Rowe, July 31, 2001) .
Serena
Works Cited
Makover, M. E. (2011, February 14). Systemic lupus erythematosus. Retrieved November 22, 2011, from PubMed Health: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001471/
Rowe, M. (July 31, 2001). Immigration policy callous, ignorant; [Final Edition]. The Star Pheonix, 1.
I think it is very wrong that the government discriminates against disabilities. It is the very thing we are taught not to do. People with disabilities did not choose their condition. I understand that the government has to pay for their health services but maybe a better health system will is something this individual needs. Sometimes we have to look at it in an individual level instead of an economic level. Great post Serena!
ReplyDelete-Iresha
Could not agree with you more. I believe that the government shouldn't base their decision on whether or not a person should immigrate here solely on whether not on they're physically able. It's like a statement I read by Judy Wasylycia-leis where she says based on the governments discrimination against people with physical disabilities they wouldn't even allow Stephen Hawking to immigrate here. Point being, he's an extremely intelligent individual who deserves the same chance to immigrate to Canada as anyone else regardless of his (any immigrants) physical ability. There is simply more for them to offer. Good post!
ReplyDelete- Yodit
Thanks Iresha and Yodit! The government should not base their opinion on an immigration case on physical or mental disability, especially since you do not know what good things the person has to offer that could be more beneficial to the country than they would cause problems.
ReplyDelete-serena
I totally agree. Governments should look at the benifits that come out of the individual instead of their disablity. Yeah, our health care system may be undermanned, but the benifits of a person trying to come to this country may outway the cons.
ReplyDelete~Joelle
I agree that they can't pick who gets to come to Canada and who doesn't! Everyone deserves a fair chance. I like the way you talked about physical disability, different then everyone else posts about it. I like the personal side of it, talking about someone you knew. I puts it in a better perspective that this kind of stuff is happening to people around it with out even really realizing it.
ReplyDeleteJessica
I agree that this is discrimination and that it is not fair but there is another reality and that is that our system is not set up to undertake medical care from the get go. There are costs associated with any disability and in Canada's case health care is a provincial jurisdiction and when canadians move from one provence to another there is a waiting period before someone can get coverage. the issue becomes who carries the cost.
ReplyDeleteLisa