Elderly Immigration: Harder than you think

The elderly population is growing rapidly currently because of the aging “baby boomers.” This is the same for the elderly immigrant population. Both of these population face problems in getting their needs met, especially elderly immigrants whose needs are not met as readily due to “unaddressed barriers” (Gentry, 2010).

Elderly immigrants are defined as people aged 65 or older and who was not born in Canada or the United States. They are also sometimes referred to as, aged immigrants. Elderly immigrants represent a large percentage of the population and are of many diverse cultures. They most of the time have immigrated to Canada or the United States in earlier years and have grown old in their new country, but there are some elderly people that do immigrate once they have turned 65.

Similar to any immigrant, elderly people face the challenges of social interaction, language and cultural barriers (Trang, 2008). As well there are the challenges of housing, transportation and medical resources, which are more present in elderly immigrants. Medical resources and healthcare are one of the most important needs of an elderly person regardless of whether they are Canadian born elderly or an elderly immigrant. With that being said though, elderly immigrants face far more challenges with healthcare and medical resources than Canadian born immigrants do. Many immigrants are uninsured or underinsured and that poses many problems when it comes to healthcare.

Another challenge as mentioned above is social interaction and transportation. Many elderly immigrants choose to live with their children or other family members in order to avoid unfamiliar surrounding that may arise if live on their own in say an apartment building or senior’s home (Wilmoth, 2004).

Because these immigrants are at a later stage in their lives, these challenges are harder to overcome. Contrastingly, a person who immigrate to Canada when they are in the 20’s or 30’s may face similar challenges at the beginning, but also have more opportunities, and need I say, “time” to overcome them by either, taking classes to learn English or getting a job that provides them with medical benefits. Although these options are not unavailable to elderly immigrants, it is common knowledge that most people aged 65 and older are probably not going to be getting high paying jobs with benefits or taking English classes when the immigrate and this is why it is especially hard for elderly immigrants coming to Canada or the United States.

- Michal B.


References:

Gentry, D. M. (2010). Challenges of Elderly Immigrants. Human Services Today. Retrieved November 14, 2011, from http://hst.coehs.uwosh.edu/Spring2010articles

Trang, A. (2008). What Older People Want: Lessons from Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese Immigrant Communities. Generations Home - Main. Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://generations.metapress.com/content

Wilmoth, J. (2004). Social Integration of Older Immigrants in 21st Century America. IDEAS: Economics and Finance Research. Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://ideas.repec.org/p/max/cprpbr/29.html

Aging population and aging policies?

 Growing up, my grandparents lived in Fort McMurray, Alberta and I lived in Brandon Manitoba.  My grandparents would come to visit my family and I on some holidays and some special occasions.  I always thought of them as far away.  Later in their lives they moved to Manitoba to be closer to my family.  My grandparents moved to Neepawa, Manitoba.  Although I always thought of my grandparents as living quite the distance from me, it was extremely easy for them to move and become closer to my family.   When I was younger I was completely oblivious to the fact that my grandparents still lived in the same country as me and could come for a visit whenever they pleased easily enough.    

                For families that are separated by oceans or even more suffer the pain of missing their loved ones without the reassurance of a yearly holiday visits.  In fact, holiday visits are the least of their worries.   Families with grandparents who are trying to immigrate to Canada face many hardships, all of which have to be dealt with while separated from family.

A hot topic on immigration and older persons is whether or not the government should be allowing a higher number of people to immigrate into Canada per year to join their families.  The government thinks that allowing more people to immigrate to Canada would fix the current unemployment problems.  This will not fix the unemployment problems because the general population of older persons will not be able to take on a job in the work force.  This is not to say that every older person who immigrates to Canada will not work, but generally the older persons are not as likely to work as the younger population.  It is said that only “twenty percent of immigrants to Canada are primary economic immigrants, while the remaining applicants are their spouses and sponsored family members (Fletcher, 2001).”  If only twenty percent of the immigrant population are primary economic immigrants, this would not help the unemployment problem.

                Older persons go through the trouble of being denied entry into a country because of their ability to work.  The government is hesitant to bring in people who could potentially put on a strain on the social welfare system.  This is no excuse to exclude older persons.  If anything they may need extra assistance and available resources to help them through this tough change. 

                Although inviting more immigrants to the country would not fix the unemployment issue, I believe family is extremely important, especially in the developing years of a child’s life.  Reuniting families is something that the Canadian government can do for people that would mean the world.  Families need to depend on each other in times of transition and seeing as immigrating to a new country is a huge transition, we should be encouraging the government to keep families together.

                Serena

Works Cited

Fletcher, T. (2001). Proposed immigration curbs target elderly; Tories to cap number of parents, grandparents allowed entry to Canada. Canwest Digital Media.

Fear No More Grandparents, Super Visa To The Rescue!

Did you know that the time it takes for a Family Class sponsorship application of parents and grandparents of Canadians to get processed is now seven years? That time will also continue to grow if actions aren’t taken (Hyslop, 2011). Imagine all the things that could happen to an elderly person waiting to see their loved ones in Canada over seven years. That’s why on December 1st Canada will be introducing the “Parent and Grandparent Super Visa”.

On November 4, 2011 the Citizenship and Immigration Department of Canada publicly announced their new action plan called the “Parent and Grandparent Super Visa” as a part of their Faster Family Reunification program. The perk of this new Visa? Waiting times will now be reduced to eight weeks instead of seven plus years and it is valid for up to ten years (must remain in Canada for only two years at a time) (Hyslop, 2011). 

Now, you may be wondering how it’s a perk for a parent or grandparent to live in Canada for only two years at a time. It’s actually preferred by some elderly to come to Canada on visitor status rather than permanent because they want to spend time with their loved ones on certain occasions like weddings or funerals but they don’t want to feel like a financial burden on their loved ones by living with them permanently. It’s no secret that family caregivers are subject to physical and emotional stress when giving care to a dependent elderly loved one. With balancing children, and a full-time job the addition of another person to take care of can harm the caregivers themselves. It is also important to note that immigrant family caregivers may be affected more adversely than that of non-immigrant caregivers (Suwal, 2010, p. 110). This is because immigrants also face many more challenges than a non-immigrant would, such as language barriers and less social support (Suwal, 2010, p. 110). It is also important to look at this matter from a seniors perspective. Along with not wanting to be a burden to their family by immigrating to Canada so late in their lives they might also have concerns about fully integrating into a new society. For example, learning a new language and taking ESL courses may be difficult if they’re taking care of grandchildren during the day (Reyes & Wityk, 2005, p. 39). 

Senior citizens aren’t naive enough to believe that they won’t fall victim to several forms of oppression by immigrating to Canada so late in their lives. If you were to analyze Mullaly’s 5 forms oppression carefully enough you can conclude that an elderly immigrant would fall into 4 out of 5 of the categories. An elderly immigrant can be marginalized, become powerless, stereotyped as useless to society, and become victims of violence in the form of elderly abuse (Mullaly, 2007, p. 264 - 269).    

So with this new Visa these elderly are free to travel back and forth between Canada and their home land without worrying about maintaining their permanent resident status here or being a financial burden and enjoying their (probably preferred) lifestyle back home. 

There are however some downfalls to this new action plan. First, anyone seeking to apply for this visa that has not applied before November 5, 2011 will have to wait two years to apply for the sponsorship of their parent/grandparent. This two year pause is being used to clear up the current 165, 000 application backlog (News Release CIC, 2011). Second, any parent or grandparent granted this Visa will have to acquire private health care insurance while in Canada which can be a little costly, but a small price to pay in some cases where families have been waiting countless years to reunite (Grewal, 2011). 

I think that this action plan is a good start for the Government’s Family Reunification process. It’s measures like these that will add up to help improve the Immigration system in Canada as a whole.

-Yodit D.

References: 

Citizenship and Immigration Canada. (2011, November 4). News Release - Government of Canada to cut backlog and times for family reunification - Phase 1 of Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification. Retrieved from 

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2011/2011-11-04.asp

Grewal, M. (2011, November 22). Super Visas will make immigrants’ lives Easier. The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved from

http://www.vancouversun.com/Super+visas+will+make+immigrants+lives+easier/5751872/story.html

Hyslop, L. (2011, November 8). Canada announces two-year pause for Parent and Grandparent Visas. The Telegraph. Retrieved from

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/8876846/Canada-announces-two-year-pause-for-parent-and-grandparent-visas.html

Mullaly, B. (2007). The New Structural Social Work (3rd ed.). Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press Canada. 

Reyes, M. & Wityk, T. (2005). Seniors and Immigration: Services and Issues. Canadian Issues, 38-40.

Suwal, J. (2010). Health Consequences to Immigrant Family Caregivers in Canada. Canadian Studies in Population, 37,107-124

Queer Immigrants: Double Discrimination

As a country that strongly promotes diversity, immigration in Canada is indeed necessary. Nowadays immigration is a very long process that is open to pretty much anyone as long as they fulfill the required prerequisites.   It is the only way we are able to learn about all kinds of people around the world, including their sexualities and how it can intersect with other social identities such as class and race. A process known as “sexual migration” is where people migrate to other countries that enable queer practices, identities, and subjectivities (Mansalan, 2006).  Most queer immigrants choose Canada as a country to migrate to because it is seen as a place where everyone is free to be themselves despite of their race and sexuality. Even though Canada is accepting to all kinds of people with diverse beliefs and values today, was it always this way?

As a matter-of-fact, Canada was not always a very welcoming country, especially to queer immigrants. According to LaViolette (2004), “until recently Canadian immigration laws allowed only married, heterosexual Canadians to sponsor their spouses as family class immigrants”.  In the past, Canadian immigration law discriminated against queers; gay and lesbian immigrants who sought permanent residence in Canada were denied entry, and could not even enter Canada as visitors. Furthermore, if they managed to enter Canada and were caught participating in homosexualism, immigrants were subject to deportation. Thank fully the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act came into play in 2002, and set out to see that families are reunited in Canada, including gay and lesbian partners (LaViolette, 2004).

As most people may realize, migration certainly does expand cultural and racial difference in Canada. However, because of the movement of people around the world, migration also brings many different sexual ideologies and ideas into perspective (Mansalan, 2006). This diversity in culture, sexual beliefs, and the fact that queer immigrants are now legally allowed to permanently reside in Canada does contribute to the fact that more in Canada are more accepting towards them; but, this does not mean that discrimination against queer immigrants has been completely diminished. Being an immigrant all by itself places a lot of stigma on a person, but the fact that some of these immigrants are also a part of the queer community may add on to discrimination that they receive. Mansalan (2006) states that immigrant queers experience discrimination and stigma from their own cultures as well as mainstream culture. They may be isolated from their cultural community because being gay may not be an ideal part of cultural traditions; they may also be isolated from the queer community who may also be prejudice against people of colour. This makes it even twice as hard for queer immigrants to find a sense of belonging and community as they face what I like to call “double discrimination”. Thus queer immigrants need to establish “multiple hybrid cultures and [create] spaces for community activities and new cultural “traditions” that depart from their own migrant communities and from mainstream “straight” and “gay and lesbian” communities” (Mansalan, 2006).

Unfortunately there is no country that exists where people – especially immigrants – in queer communities can grow up free of discrimination, persecution, or repression (LaViollette, 2004). Every day, queer immigrants are judged and made outcasts in society for simply trying to be who they are. It makes feel relieved to know that immigrants and refugees can now come to Canada despite of their sexuality. Even though it does not erase the discrimination some people may have for them, it is still brings them one step closer to being accepted, and to me that’s better than nothing at all.

-          Adrienne A.

References:

LaViolette, N. (2004). Coming out to Canada: The Immigration of Same-Sex Couples Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. McGill Law Journal / Revue de droit de McGill, 49, 969-1003. Retrieved on November 22, 2011: http://heinonline.org.proxy1.lib.umanitoba.ca/HOL/Page?page=969&handle=hein.journals%2Fmcgil49&collection=journals#983

Mansalan, M. (2006). Queer Intersections: Sexuality and Gender in Migration Studies. International Migration Review, 40(1), 224-244. DOI: 10.1111/j.1747-7379.2006.00009.x

Sexual Minority Refugees In Canada

In this entry I will be sharing with you the topic of sexual minority refugees in Canada. I discovered a couple of  articles that touched on a subject I was completely unaware of. The authors of these articles discuss the struggles Canadian sexual minority refugees face.

The process of which determines wether or not one is able to come to Canada on refugee status is a difficult task in general, but it is even more difficult for those of a sexual minority. Not because of discrimination but because for one, this process requires the forced retelling of persecution that these people faced in their native country (Brotman & Lee, 2011, p. 153). This forced retelling and constant questioning of whether the stories are true or not can trigger traumatic psychological consequences (Brotman & Lee, 2011, p. 153). Furthermore, some adjudicators from the Immigration and Refugee Board incorporate their own stereotypical notions of sexuality and gender identity when making decisions (Brotman & Lee, 2011, p. 153). Refugees have a greater chance of success by playing up the stereotypes of effeminate men and butch women (Jenicek & Wong, 2009, p. 638).

Mullaly states that oppression occurs at three levels: the personal or individual level, the cultural level, and the structural or institutional level (2007, p. 264). Mullaly also says that each of these levels influence and reinforce oppression of the other two levels (2007, p. 264). If we are following Mullaly’s logic this means that the adjudicators, who are fairly powerful individuals, play a large role in influencing cultural, structural and institutional notions of what a queer person should look and act like! For example, by believing that a gay man must dress and act femininely to actually be considered a part of the LGBTTQ* community is a form of oppression.  Mullaly refers to this form of oppression as Cultural Imperialism, when stereotypes are used to mark these people and at the same time their own experiences and perspectives are rendered invisible (2007, p. 268). There needs to be an acknowledgment amongst adjudicators that maybe some of these people, whose lives depend on the decision they will make don’t fit their notion of what a queer person should look or act like. This is portrayed in the image above, in a humorous fashion, when a gay refugee man is being told he will be deported for not passing what one could call a "gay quiz". Getting rid of these stereotypes will be a process that may take years but it starts with the idea that every sexual minority refugee has a different story and being judged on the same criteria is simply wrong. 

References:

Brotman, S. & Lee, E. (2011). Exploring Gender and Sexuality Through The Lens of Intersectionality: Sexual Minority Refugees In Canada. Canadian Social Work Review, 28, 151-156.

Jenicek, A. & Wong, A. (2009). Dangerous Shortcuts: Representations of Sexual Minority Refugees in the Post-9/11 Canadian Press. Canadian Journal of Communication, 34, 635-658.

Mullaly, B. (2007). The New Structural Social Work (3rd ed.). Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press Canada.

- Yodit D.

Young Women Immigrants as Feminists?

Feminism is known for addressing the relationship between the sexes and that it is one of inequality and oppression (Mullaly, 2007, p. 242). In recent years I have become increasingly aware of the oppression that women face here in Canada as well as many other places all over the world. That being said, I have also come to realize that this oppression is more severe in certain places than others. Some women who immigrate to Canada may have been living in a country where they weren’t even aloud to vote!  Something that people in Canada (women and men) take for granted all the time.

You see, immigrants face plenty of different struggles when coming to a new country. Things like learning a new language and finding employment can be extremely daunting tasks, just to name a couple. So when you think of young women who are immigrants or refugees, do you think they are concerned with feminism? Think about it, young women immigrants probably aren’t going to be worried about getting equal pay as men when they don’t even have a job to begin with! It’s understandable, when some of these women who immigrate from countries where they’re not even allowed to vote aren’t interested in advocating equal opportunity when they’re just interested in opportunity, period (Ladha, 2001, p. 140).  

After young women spend enough time in Canada and are less worried about having simple opportunities there are a few things that can be done to help them become more aware of the Feminist perspective, and one of them is to educate them. If new immigrants knew women experience more adversely the results of cutbacks to social benefits (Mullaly, 2007, p. 242) among other things, I think they would be more interested in supporting Feminism. Once this is done there is hope that maybe they can become advocators themselves and educate new immigrants in the future, thus creating a cycle of awareness amongst new immigrants that was lacking previously. None of this should be confused with the idea that feminists would be shoving their ideas and beliefs down anyones throat, just simply educating. Obviously new immigrants (or anyone for that matter) are entitled to their own opinion and of course they can either reject or accept the feminist perspective. Just knowing that people are educated on these issues and that they will continue to persist unless something is done, is often times good enough.

References: 

Ladha, A. (2001). "Immigrant young women as feminists?". Inanna Publications and Education Inc, 139-141.

Mullaly, B. (2007). The New Structural Social Work (3rd ed.). Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press Canada.


-Yodit D

Nada for Nada

This specific blog will entail a story of a women fighting for feminist rights from Saudi Arabia, who wishes to immigrate to Canada.  I will be discussing the feminist perspective on immigration.Saudi Arabian woman, Nada, wanted the permission and privilege to live in a country where she is not required to take part in the specific religious restrictions of women's clothing.   Nada wanted the chance to walk down the streets freely without worry of being abused or punished for her appearance (Miller, 1992). 

 Nada is a woman from Saudi Arabia that was attempting to immigrate to Canada because of the strict religious rules and expectations in her own country.   Nada was fearful for her family in Saudi Arabia.  The woman was frightened that the “Saudi Secret Police will harass my family (Miller, 1992).”  The immigration minister refused to become involved.  This woman was criticized and rejected when all she really wanted was to have her rights considered as equally important as men’s rights.  She wanted the privilege to her own expression and was denied.

I believe that Canada denying this woman entry into our country and sending her back home to be abused and possibly even arrested is ridiculous.  Canada accepts all kinds of different immigrants, coming from across the world.  What would stop them from allowing a woman at risk into the country if it means keeping her safe?  I personally don’t see the cause of the denial.   

Every person in this world deserves to have their rights upheld.  They have the right to safety and this woman does not have that in her home country anymore.  Nada is even resulting to immigrating to any country that will welcome and allow her other than her home country.  It saddens me to hear that a story like this is part of my country’s history.  It saddens me that my country is selfish and will put its own desires before the safety of a woman.  This is completely unfair and has complete disregard for Nada’s well-being. 

All people should have the right to express their own religion and their own idea of what they think suits their style.  People should not be forced to believe in a certain religion because of the country they live in and they should certainly not be forced to commit the wearing the clothing of that religion. 

All people in the world deserve to be treated equal, including women.  Woman deserve to have the same rights as men and their rights upheld the same way as men and everyone else in the world.

Works Cited

Miller, J. (1992). Minister won't help Saudi 'feminist refugee'. ProQuest.

 Serena Stuart

The Struggle of Immigrant and Refugee Women

Feminists have achieved a lot in terms of bringing attention to the perspective of women and allowing their voices and opinions to be heard. However, according to Mullaly, there is still plenty of evidence to suggest that the state still plays an important role in the subordination of women in Canada. Despite feminist attempts to resolve the issue of gender inequalities between the sexes, I feel that majority of people still presumed that a woman’s greatest responsibility is to her family. It is actually very common for Canadian women with careers to only turn down full-time job offers and only work part time in order to provide as much possible care for their children, and sometimes even their elders. Thus, women will ultimately have a much lower income than men, resulting in less benefits and low pensions. In fact “women are among the poorest groups in Canadian Society” (Mullaly, 2007). If Canadian women are this disadvantaged as citizens, imagine how much more difficult life for immigrant and refugee woman would be.

From my own experience, immigrating to Canada when I was about six years old, I know firsthand how my mom struggled as an immigrant woman. Our first couple years here were very difficult times. The fact that my mom was single meant that she was the sole provider for our family. My mom did have a job and we had a decent place to stay, but being a working mother to a six year old girl was difficult because we had absolutely no support system. There were barely any friends, and no family at all that my mom could rely on to help watch over me when my mom had to work. In fact, my mom had to work twice as hard as she had to just so she could afford to put me in a day care center. This caused her to always be emotionally and physically drained, making her more prone to things such as the flu, but she worked regardless of her health because she knew it was the only way she could properly provide for me.

Most immigrant and refugees come to Canada to escape traumatic “experiences in refugee camps or leaving war torn countries where family members had been hurt or killed”. Thus, it is no surprise that the experiences of immigrant and refugee women are very different from Canadian women. Immigrant and refugee women must go through the difficult process of immigration itself by learning a new language and culture, and adapting to changes in social status (Meadows et al., 2001). They are not only disadvantaged economically, but also because unlike Canadian-born women, immigrant and refugee women must face and overcome stressors such as finding work, establishing a new home, and feelings of loss and social isolation due to language barriers. Doing this is especially difficult for immigrants and refugees who are raising children because they must also act as the primary caregivers in their family while trying to incorporate their previous roles and behaviours into their new lives; they experience both cultural and gender conflicts. Leaving behind their friends, family, and any type of social support system they had in their country of origin means that they no longer have any of that once they come to Canada. They have to build a new means of social support in society and it “may be causing more stress than we thought” (Tobin, 2004). In fact, studies show that immigrant women describe themselves to be healthy when they first come to Canada, but over time their sense of being in good health diminishes over time due to the many stressors in their lives (Tobin, 2004).

Coming to Canada obviously results in many changes in women's lives, including their health. According to Meadows, Thurston & Melton (2001), the impacts of these changes are on immigrant and refugee women are determined by the social supports for rebuilding her identity. They state that the key to maintaining social, psychological, and spiritual health is by having “supportive husbands, children and extended families, access to services, friends, and places of worship". I agree with this completely, simply because not having anyone or anything to rely on, especially for new immigrant or refugees, can be very difficult if there is no one to help them. Fortunately, socialist feminists put a lot of effort into establishing women’s groups and organizations fighting for improved health, housing, income security, child and elder care, education, and employments (Mullaly, 2007). Things like this can help a lot of immigrant and refugee woman juggle the conflicts between work and their families because. Most importantly it can improve their health and well-being as  they are able to  create a new support system for themselves and rebuild and re-establish their everyday lives. Through new  social support networks, immigrant and refugee woman are given the chance to accept what they've lost from their former lives and work towards gaining what they have lost through their new lives in Canada.

                                                      - Adrienne A.

Meadows, L., Thurston, E., Melton, C., (2001). “Immigrant women’s health”. Social Science & Medicine,  52(9), 1451-1458. DOI:10.1016/S0277-9536(00)00251-3

Mullaly, B. (2007). The New Structural Social Work. Canada: Oxford University Press Canada.

Tobin, A. (2004). “Immigrant women feel less healthy in Canada”. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved on November 11, 2011:  http://proxycheck.lib.umanitoba.ca.proxy1.lib.umanitoba.ca/libraries/online/proxy.php?http://proquest.umi.com.proxy1.lib.umanitoba.ca/pqdweb?did=1056323811&Fmt=3&clientId=12305&RQT=309&VName=PQD

Everyone Deserves a Chance: Let's Help Eachother

When it comes to Immigrants and Indigenous people, more so, First Nations, there tends to be some disagreements. Their relationship is sort of like one you would have with a twin sibling or a brother or sister or even a parent. If you have similar characteristics, problems and beliefs, you may not get along well because you are just too alike. You may constantly be in competition with one another and may sometimes wish the other was just not there. This pretty much sums up the relationship between Immigrants and First Nations.

Living in Canada, both Immigrants and Indigenous people face the problems of finding adequate housing, decent paying jobs, getting an education and far too often, living in poverty. This is a struggle that both of them face on a daily basis (Valene, 2010). Because both are in constant lookout to erase those problems from their lives, it causes tension between the two groups. Both want that nice house or that good paying job, so it’s a battle over who is going to get it. Purvis (2010) states that, First Nation’s people think that borders should be closed because there are so many people already in Canada struggling on a daily basis so there should not be more people brought in to only create more problems. With more and more immigrants coming in every year, there are more and more people struggling with poverty all the time. This allows for less help to the people already living in Canada who are struggling and need support. Immigrants the other hand, though they do want those jobs and houses and to not live in poverty, most of the time are just so happy to not be living wherever they were previously. This is most likely due to even more extreme cases of homelessness, unemployment and overall poverty wherever they were settled before Canada (UNPFII, 2006).

I for one cannot relate to being an Immigrant or a First Nations person, but I do understand the battle people you have much in common with. I see myself as quite similar to both my two sisters and my parents in different aspects. This can sometimes be the cause of happiness and joy, but can also cause great stresses and problems. For instance, I believe and everyone in my family can account for this as well, that my dad and I have very similar tempers and if we ever get in an argument, let’s just say it isn’t pretty. Both of us want to be right, obviously, both of us want to get our way, both of us want the last word and both of us can be quite stubborn. This is similar to the problems in the Immigrants vs. First Nations battle because both a far too similar to every come to an agreement and properly settle their dispute.

I think that if they worked together to solve the issues that both of them face, they may be able to come to some conclusions that will really help both their groups in the near and far future.  I believe that everyone deserves a home to live in, a job or to be able to go to school.  

- Michal B.

References:

Valene (2010). Aboriginal perspective on immigration. Retrieved November 3, 2011 from http://socialpolicies1310.blogspot.com/

Purvis, M. (2010, November 12). Immigration policies slammed at First Nations education rally. Sault Star. Retrieved November 5, 2011, from http://www.saultstar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2837297&archive=true

Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2006). Indigenous Peoples and Migration: Challenges and Opportunities. United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, N/A, 1-6. Retrieved November 3, 2011, from http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents

Manitoba Chambers (2011, May 5) Access to Education for Aboriginal Learners and Immigrants: Erin Selby [Video File]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuZYmzf2miQ

A Classless Society

Marxism revolves around three core values similarly to Social Democrats. The three values of Marxism are: liberty, equality and fraternity (Mullaly, 2007). I will be focusing more on the equality value of Marxism.

To Marxists equality does not fall under the terms of everyone being the same, but rather that there is no special privileges. People can be of different social classes, but there needs to be a reason behind it. There does not need to be economic equality, but unequal efforts should not be rewarded the same. There are similar beliefs for immigrants. Unfortunately there is little information in the relationship between Marxism and Immigration. This is because people from Marxist countries like China or Cuba, tend to immigrate to non-Marxist countries. Therefore, much of the information on Marxism and Immigration is largely based off of social democratic Liberals view of immigration (Monalisa, 2010). Marxists and Liberals both agree that “the role of the state is to promote collective good” (Mullaly, 2007).  Marxism is largely focused on the well-being of the members of society. With immigrants, a Marxist would be concerned with their welfare, how they are, making sure their transition goes well etc. They would be less concerned with costs associated with immigrants.

Marxist’s believe and speak of the need for immigrants. They want full citizenship rights for everyone who is able to immigrate and want to create unions to fight deportation (McDonald, 2007). As stated before, Marxist’s believe in a classless society and this includes immigrants. They do not believe immigrants should be treated any differently than people who were born in Canada or the United States and this is why they fight for full citizenship rights and try to get rid of deportation. This is completely opposite to the capitalists view on the situation and this often results in issues for immigrants in Canada and other parts of the world.

 

From this there is a question that can be asked, will social policies provide immigrants with good jobs, schools for their children, homes in decent areas of the city to help with integration and lessen the discriminations made towards them (Wolff, 2006)? It is a tough question to answer, but jobs, schools and homes are basic necessities for human beings in order to live decent lives and just because you have to come from somewhere else in the world, does not mean you should not be provided with these necessities.

Michal

References:

Mullaly, B. (2007). The new structural social work. Canada: Oxford University Press.

Monalisa (2010). Marxist perspective on immigration. Retrieved October 20, 2011, from http://socialpolicies1310.blogspot.com/.

McDonald, M. (2007), Immigrants, Minorities: Key to Workers Struggle. Retrieved October 17, 2011, from http://www.icl-fi.org/english/spc/155/immigrant.html.

Wolff, R. (2006), Immigration and Class. Retrieved October 20, 2011, from http://rmsplash.blogspot.com/2006/05/immigration-and-class.html.