Not Optical.......but Canadian

[Chris Ryser]

I just got this in my e-mail.............and it makes a lot of sense so I share it with you.


LETTER TO THE EDITOR



So many letter writers have explained how this
land is made up of immigrants. Maybe we should
turn to our history books and point out to
people why today's Canadian is not willing to accept the
new kind of immigrant any longer.

Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas
of Europe to come to Canada, people had to get
off a ship and stand in a long line in Halifax
and be documented. Some would even get down on
their hands and knees and kiss the ground.
They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support
their new country in good and bad times. They
made learning English a primary rule in their new
Canadian households and some even changed their
names to blend in with their new home. They had
waved good bye to their birth place to give their
children a new life and did everything in their
power to help their children assimilate into one culture.

Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no
welfare, no labour laws to protect them. All they
had were the skills, craftsmanship and desire
they had brought with them to trade for a future
of prosperity. Most of their children came of
age when World War II broke out. Canadians fought
along side men whose parents had come straight
over from Germany, Italy, France, Japan,
Czechoslovakia, Russia, Sweden, and so many other
places. None of these first generation Canadians ever gave
any thought about what country their parents had come from.

They were Canadians fighting Hitler, Mussolini
and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending
the Freedom as one people. When we liberated
France, no one in those villages was looking for
the Ukrainian-Canadian or the German-Canadian or
the Irish-Canadian. The people of France saw only Canadians.

And we carried one flag that represented our
country. Not one of those immigrant sons would
have thought about picking up another country's
flag and waving it to represent who they were. It
would have been a disgrace to their parents who
had sacrificed so much to be here. These
immigrants truly knew what it meant to be a Canadian.

They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.

And here we are in 2006 with a new kind of
immigrant who wants the same rights and
privileges. Only they want to achieve it by
playing with a different set of rules, one that
includes a Canadian passport and a guarantee of
being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry,
that's not what being a Canadian is all about.
Canadians have been very open hearted and open
minded regarding immigrants, whether they were
fleeing poverty, dictatorship, persecution, or
whatever else makes a person adopt a foreign
country. And, I suppose when we say adopt, we
think of those aforementioned immigrants who
truly did ADOPT our country, and our flag and our
morals and our customs. And left their wars,
hatred, and divisions behind. I believe that the
immigrants who landed in Canada in the early
1900s deserve better than that for the toil, hard
work and sacrifice in raising future generations
to create a land that has become a beacon for
those legally searching for a better life. I
think they would be appalled that they are being
used as an example by those waving foreign country
flags, fighting foreign battles on our soil,
making Canadians change to suit their religions
and cultures, and wanting to change our countries
fabric by claiming discrimination when we do not give in to their demands.

*P.S. Please pass this on to everyone you know!!!
KEEP THIS LETTER MOVING!! I hope this letter gets
read by millions of people all across Canada*

[Cindy Hamlin]

Chris,
Is this not what American or Canadian means? After all, are we not all here because we liked parts of our ancestor's homelands, but not all? Did we not bring our diversity with us? Are there not traditions that your family celebrates that is part of your heritage that is not American or Canadian persay, but part of this great melting pot that we all call home?

Doesn't your e-mail that you copied above promote intolerance of others? Does it not stereotype ethnicity?

None of us are from here, but were all born here to immigrant parents.

And also, a reminder that posts such as this should be posted in the Just Conversation forum where I will move this one and the other since they are not on optical related topics.

[For-Life]

You know Chris, I do not know how true it is.

I deal with a lot of clients and the majority of ones who do not speak the Canadian languages of english or french are not the 20 or 30 year olds, they are the 70, 80, and 90 year olds who never learned the new languages and stuck with their mother Finnish, Ukraine, Italian and so forth tounges. Many of these people were stubborn and still get their offspring to talk for them. I see greater appreciation for english today by the new immigrants.

Let us also remember the diversity of religion back in the day. Yes, today we are made to accept Islam, Hinuism, and Sihkism, but let us not remember how back in the day we had different diversities in Christianity that we allowed in such as Ukrainian Orthodox as an example.

Then you talked about many changing their last names to represent Canadian love. Well my great grandfather did that, but was pretty muched forced to because having a German last name was not a great idea in The Great War. Additionally, look at how many children arrived to Canada and were forced to change their last name. Lets not even get started on the First Nations.

[Chris Ryser]

First...................I did not write this piece it was sent to me and you can make any comments you want.

Myself I was an immigrant.............. a long time ago. Today I am a full fledged Canadian who never regretted the move. This is now my home and whenever I make a visit to the old homeland (Switzerland, by itself a beautiful country) I now consider Canada the place were I belong.

However when I immigrated I had to adapt myself to the rules that guide Canada and its population and I never fought to make change to adapt the country to my style of living I learned back home. I just simply changed and adapted to my new homeland.

However there are some instances were I think that, like Cindy says "we are a melting pot", where immigrants from other corners of the world do not want to melt into the stream of life. I am not talking about some older people that never will learn the language I am talking about the people that want to change the way of life to the one they just left.

At some times when getting into an argument about the darn immighrants with a born in Canada Canadian, I used to tell them that I was a better Canadian than them...........................I chose to come here, while they were planted here with no other choice.

[Jacqui]

Just found this on Yahoo Canada

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/0..._stoning_col_2

[k12311997]

Last year a Montreal gym agreed to install frosted windows after a nearby Hasidic synagogue said it was offended by the sight of adults exercising.
did the synagogue pay for it? move the synagogue don't inconvenience the business


Newspapers say a Montreal community center banned men from prenatal classes to respect Hindu and Sikh traditions
honey I'd love to be there for you but we have to be sensitive to others

and an internal police magazine suggested women police officers allow their male colleagues to interview Hasidic Jews.
because they really respect the authority anyway


Montreal's police force is investigating one of its officers after he posted an anti-immigrant song called "That's Enough Already" on the Internet.
ok that goes to far but,


"We want to accept ethnics, but not at any price ... if you're not happy with your fate, there's a place called the airport," the officer sings.
if you go to another country what is the point in trying to change it to where you came from, you left for some reason.

small print is excerpts from Jacqui's link, bold my thoughts