There are a lot of reasons to stand against Stephen Harper and the CONservative party-government. This video is but one reason, and is so eloquently explained by this one man:



God help Canada. It's dying a slow death.

I have not heard it mentioned often, but I think the drain on social services, healthcare, education, etc. is a motivating factor behind America's big drive for immigration reform--in fact I think not to be able to access healthcare services is one of the "reforms"...

First of all the ranter mixes up immigration and refugees. They are two different categories. Immigrants will all be permanent residents and have been approved for acceptance in Canada before they arrive. Refugees have not had prior approval and may or may not become permanent residents.

Regardless of the newcomers' status, however, why is it my responsibility to pay for his or her health problems. I can see paying if the person is an immigrant who has been here for awhile and is contributing both to the country and the health care system. But why should I pay for some guy's health care when he has just come here to get that health care. The ranter dwells on somebody escaping from the Congo and how we should help with their health care if they show-up at our door. But what about the twenty something from Idaho who couldn't be bothered to buy health insurance and suddenly needs some operation.. Should I pay for it when he wanders across the border and claims refugee status because some wildeyed gun owner is likely to shoot him down on the streets of Pouce Coupe? I think each case has to be looked at separately and, yeah, some refugees are going to have to fund their own health care.......I mean look at all those rich Nigerians who are paying so handsomely to get their money out. Surely they could pay for their own health care when they get here.

When I came here, I had to pay my own healthcare at a clinic. Not too bad really. $35 per visit (10 years ago) and I was thrilled that my BP meds were much cheaper. I thought about claiming refugee status. Escaping Shrub's war mongering ways and all.......

We should NOT have to pay for these people. So many come here or bring over very ill parents just for the health care, yet our cleaner here had a devil of a time bringing his young, healthy wife from Columbia who was guaranteed a job. Go figure.

I disagree. I believe we should pay just by virtue of the fact that they are human beings. I could never pretend to fully understand the hardships and grief most of these people have experienced in their home countries - or the persecution they may have faced as they journey here - but I do know this: my grandparents came from war-torn Poland and they were forced to walk through much of Nazi occupied Eastern Europe before they could catch a tramp steamer to (eventually) England and then Canada. If the Canadians in those days were to view them the same way people seem to view today's refugees, I really have to wonder how different my life would have been - or if I would have been born at all. My grandfather expressed his gratitude for the largesse of Canadians by working through most of the war and the rest of his life in the steel mills of Hamilton Ontario. My family is only one of millions of families throughout North America who lived through that experience. So... I'm really tired of the right-wing or libertarian meme that because we pay taxes we can demand that we abandon everyone else who doesn't or hasn't paid into the system. Life is about more than just "your tax money" - it's about building a progressive society that encourages the exchange of mutual respect and dignity among the people. In other words - there is a bar under which we dare not tread. Currently, the number of refugees who have been cut off from healthcare saves the government approximately $0.69 per Canadian citizen per year so you can't tell me this is about saving the taxpayer's money. It isn't...

you can't tell me this is about saving the taxpayer's money. It isn't...

Itès about bigotry, xenophobia and a feeling of entitlement/superiority.
The Harper CONservatives personify those traits.

Sorry, but I disagree. Canada has become more of a "go to" country for ailing and/or elderly refugees. If I had to pay for my health care, they damn well could too. I came with $500 to my name. Granted, hubby (to be at the time) had a job, but it barely covered the extra expense of my existance. The food, the increased utilities, the extra toilet paper (a BIG deal when there is a woman in the house ), my meds etc. etc. He has to sign a statement that he would support me and that I would not go on welfare and his salary had to meet a minimum requirement.

I've watched those who are working in Alberta and making big bucks in the oil field bring over their parents who immediately go on welfare and free health care. They live 8 people to a 2BR apartment and half of them, if not more, are collecting welfare. They get PR status with no red tape. I had to jump through hoops, pay for a physical, fingerprints, FBI and State police background checks. Then pay for my PR application, which was twice the cost it is now. They have learned how to play the system and are not vetted like I was.

Canada has economic concerns that should be considered. Parts of the country with high unemployment for those who were born and raised here. There must be some sort of immigration guidelines or the country will be in the same mess as the US.

BTW, I am not xenophobic, but I've witnessed the sense of entitlement that refugees have........It is about taxpayers money. That .69 cents added to whatever welfare, child credit and social services/assistance offered to refugees adds up to some big bucks nationally. I'm not saying abandon them. I am saying oversee them. Make sure they are not bilking the system like I have witnessed.
That also goes for Canadians. I won't even tell you the ones I saw collecting social assistance, including rent suppliments, while having a cash paying job.

I never realized there were restrictions for moving to Canada. Interesting and not a bad idea, IMO. That said, I think when it comes to helping those that can't help themselves is something every Government should do. The young, the old and the mentally ill. I don't think any Government should be forced to care for people who are just simply too lazy to get off their butts and find employment or don't want to work for minimum wage, even though I think minimum wage should be $10.00 per hour. I also don't think anyone should make a living off of unemployment or any other type of aid from the Government. My first job out of high school was working for the IRS as a keypunch operator and I made $55.00 per week before taxes and in 1962, I thought that was a lot of money.

Dee: I'm on a government disability. I guess according to you, I'm living my life all wrong.

Roseanne: It seems to me your experience and the experience of a refugee is worlds apart and the comparison is invalid. If the Harper CONservative "government" is accepting refugees then they must abide by internationally recognized standards of care for those people. Many of them are on the verge of death due to neglect or serious diseases. Perhaps we should just leave them in the refugee camps and let them rot.

That's NOT the Canada I have experienced and it is NOT the Canada I want.

I have no trouble paying for those legitimate refugees who need health care and can't afford it. But there are a lot of them who show-up at our borders claiming refugee status and expect health care when:

1. they are not real refugees; and/or
2. they can afford to pay for it themselves.

Often enough we even get Americans showing up claiming refugee status. Should they get healthcare too?

I've been thinking about this since Sid posted the thread ~ it exposes an enormous problem, both in economic and humane terms ~

This one case may not be the tipping point, but there are [literally] millions of cases of great need ~ I am NOT supporting Harper or any "conservative" who is so eager to throw people to the wolves ~ but how would Canadians [or Americans or anyone else] feel if everyone had the "right" to move wherever and demand public services that they had not helped fund and could not pay for? ~ what if allowing that "right" displaced natural or naturalized citizens from receiving the care they had been funding and now needed?

Obviously, I have no answer ~ in the perfect world we all recognize does not exist, everyone would be given access to all human resources as needed ~ but the reality is that there is a finite limit to those human resources ~

Sooz

The amount of money the government was paying for refugee healthcare is the equivalent of 69 cents per person per year. This policy is callous sucking up to Harper's white-supremacist, neofascist base. It was done at the same time as the removal of hate speech laws from the Human Rights Code.