Altair said:
Naturally, however, I do trust that these refugees are pretty resourceful. https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/03/22/immigrants-canadians-business-statistics-canada_n_9519690.html
Some are. Some, not so much.
The Syrian family next door to me are in the former group. The father and two oldest sons are working, and those two sons plus the other children at school are speaking passable English after being here for a couple of years. The youngest children cannot, yet. The father can get by, with difficulty.
Their jobs are low-paying and unskilled, but they support the family and will enable the younger children to get better educations and do well.
They were privately sponsored, and have been very well supported by their sponsors. They still receive a fair amount, but that is largely social interaction from their sponsors/now friends.
They are a good family, very happy and grateful to be here, are determined not to be a burden, and want to pay back in any way that they can.
And, from time-to-time, they feed me.
I have read numerous tales of others, government-sponsored, who have been essentially left to fend for themselves after the support period ended (one year, if I remember).
It's not easy to be "resourceful" when one does not know the language and cannot communicate, when one does not know the laws and customs, and when one has little financial or social support.
Altair said:
"The StatsCan report, which was compiled in partnership with researchers at UBC and the Institute for Research in Public Policy, is the first to address "business ownership and job-creation activities of immigrants," it says.
Its main finding was that immigrants, including refugees, tend to surpass Canadians at private business ownership and self-employment — proportionally, anyway.
Yes, generally out of sheer need plus no background in the host culture that would enable them to find more traditional employment, coupled with some imagination, a particular talent or skill, a hospitable environment, above-average drive, and a fair amount of good fortune in many cases. How many Nigerian restaurants can Newfoundland support? Vietnamese restaurants sprang up all over Canada following their arrival. I quickly became addicted. Most of the owners (generally a couple, with one cooking and the other serving, sometimes aided by older children) spoke fairly good to excellent English or French when they arrived. I found another excellent one in Louisville Kentucky in the early nineties. Dinner was often accompanied by some fascinating and educational conversations.
I found an Afghan restaurant in Downsview near the former base a year or two ago, adjacent to a Vietnamese restaurant that I frequented while at LFCA HQ, and had a hard time deciding (I opted for the Afghan restaurant, and would definitely eat there again).
Old joke: How does one find a doctor in Toronto? Call a cab/order a pizza.
Success/self-sufficiency does not come easily, can take years, and is never guaranteed.
There is always the option of crime, though. We have such wonderful diversity in gangs now in many areas, now.
Have you ever lived in a non-English-speaking country? How well do you think that you would do in one? How would you survive?
Altair said:
With Newfoundlands population stalled or shrinking, there are more available living spaces, school spots, and instead of closing medical facilities, these facilities can provide services for this new population
And why is the population stalled or shrinking? Reduced services, increased taxation, unwillingness of businesses to undertake investment perceived as risky, and inability to attract and/or retain educated/trained talented people who could find better employment in cheaper, better-served, and more desirable areas (the latter almost seems like the current situation in the CF).
How are unqualified people who cannot communicate adequately and do not understand their host society going to (someday) pay for these services with basic labour/service jobs, and who, with a stalled or shrinking population, is going to employ them/support their businesses/eat at their restaurants?
Who pays for their needs until they find "success", or if they don't?
And, if they do, what's to stop them from also leaving for better places?
Toronto is at its limit. How many can Newfoundland and Labrador, with fewer resources, support?
Altair said:
Well, I guess they would rather be bankrupt then.
People are not happy when made to feel like strangers in their own land. Resentment of excessive uncontrolled immigration is building in Great Britain and Europe because of that. A population can only absorb so many so quickly before problems, up to and including violent backlash, occur.
John Tory must be a complete idiot, though, if he cannot figure out how to solve this simple little puzzle.
Perhaps you should seek his job in the next Toronto election.
Or seek election in Newfoundland and Labrador, where you can restyle it as you just suggested, thereby curing all of its ills.