🚀 go-pugleaf

On Mon, 6 Nov 1995, David Reilley wrote:

Neil <neilends@gas.uug.arizona.edu> writes:
> >On Sat, 4 Nov 1995, David Reilley wrote:
> 
> >> >kaubrey@idirect.com (Kathy Aubrey) wrote:
> >> >>Agreed.  When my parents came here they were not given financial 
> >> >>assistance nor where they given health care etc., they were on their own as 
> >> >>were all immigrants at that time. 
> >> 
> >> That's not true.  When your parents arrived they were provided with full 
> >> access to a government-funded infrastructure which had been paid for by my 
> >> parents and grandparents and great grandparents
> >> 
> >> When you parents arrived:
> >> - they could turn on the tap and get clean water
> >> - walk down well-policed, paved roads 
> >> - use subsidized public transit
> >> - use the school system (for themselves or their children)
> 
> >Well, as long as we're playing the "wah, my parents deserve a better life 
> >than yours do" game... MY parents were ASKED to come to Canada. MY 
> >parents were asked to REPRESENT Canada in the United Nations. MY parents 
> >made the country YOUR great grandparents "created" a BETTER place than it 
> >was before they got to Canada. What does all this prove? NOTHING! You 
> >personally had nothing to do with the creation and success of Canada. 
> >Neither did I. Sure, our parents helped build it. BIG DEAL. It is 
> >attitudes like yours that are actually breaking Canada, rather than 
> >building it like our ancestors did. 
> 
> You missed my point entirely.  
> 
> I was not arguing about whether "my parents deserve a better life" - 
> where did 
> you get that from?  I was taking issue with her claim that her immigrant 
> parents had no assistance from Canadian taxpayers when they arrived in 
> Canada. 
> They had considerable benefits from the generations which preceded them.
> 
> That was the full extent of my argument, for which I make no apologies - I 
> don't understand where you get all that other stuff.

My problem is with your attitude, which is what I was responding to, 
rather than the specific statements you made. While she may be wrong in 
saying that her parents received no benefits from the Canadian system in 
general when they arrived here, your attitude that Canada somehow did 
them an extra favour by providing them with "running water" and "paved 
roads" is what bothers me. So what? When your ancestors came to Canada, 
they benefitted from the beautiful, lush environement that the natives 
enjoyed before taking it from them. So what? Just like your ancestors 
contributed to building Canada, so did her parents. If they had degrees 
and work skills, that already put them above the average Canadian 
citizen. So Canada had a net GAIN from their immigrating here, just as 
Canada did from the immigration of my parents. 

			   _______________________
			  |      Neil Singh,	  |	 
			  |University of Arizona, |
			  |Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A.|
			  | *Vive le Canada uni*  |
			  |_______________________|