Food Banks For Fun People

Written by Paul Fromm

Tuesday, 29 January 2013 02:55

Food Banks For Fun People In a typical CBC spin, an improvident single mother is offered up as just one more immigrant victim of Canadian heartlessness: "Every Saturday morning, like millions of other Canadian families, Quxia Lin and her children, Emily and Aiden, do their grocery shopping. But it's not like Lin, who was born in China, gets into a car to drive to the supermarket. She has to bundle her kids up for the 30-minute walk from her one-bedroom apartment to the local food bank. [Well there you go; a lifetime clearing homestead land was a jaunty walk in the park weighed against Lin's weekly 30-minute forced march in pursuit of free food!] Right now, Lin makes a thousand dollars a month on maternity benefits. Before two-month-old Aiden was born, Lin made minimum wage in a clothing factory and Emily, 3, went to subsidized daycare. They share a small apartment in downtown Toronto with Lin's sister, Lisa, who pays half the rent. The $600 a month that Lisa gets as a refugee claimant is the only way they can afford to live in the flat. ... The only way Lin can make ends meet now is by stocking up at the local food bank on things that she can't afford to buy, such as diapers, fresh milk and formula. After rent, she has only a couple of hundred dollars a month to live on. ... Lin says she had high hopes when she first came to Canada as the new wife of her Chinese-Canadian husband in 2001. But she says the marriage broke down in 2006 when she brought her mother from China to stay with them. [Three years after the breakdown of marriage (and again three years later), the pauperized Lin chose to have a child. We are not told with whom, or how many fathers contributed - biologically speaking.] When her mother got sick with cancer, Lin’s brother and sister came over and applied for refugee status; both were denied. [Sorry, did we miss something? Aren't relatives meant to be sponsored under family reunification legislation, rather than offloading their care and feeding onto the hapless taxpayer? If the family was poor enough to try on the old 'refugee' dodge, how did they manage to pay for three separate plane tickets?] Their mother died in a Toronto palliative care hospital in 2010. Lin’s brother was sent back to China in November 2011, and now her sister will go back in January. Quxia is understandably worried about where she will live when her sister goes back to China in January. 'Maybe I need to move out soon because my sister is going back to China and the rent is so expensive,' Quxia says. ... Statistically, Lin and her kids are more likely to rely on food banks than the average Canadian. Recent studies show that a disproportionate number of recent immigrants use food banks. ... Among the million people in Canada who used food banks on a daily basis this year, almost half of them were children and new immigrants. Some experts suggest that poverty in Canada is becoming more 'racialized,' especially in urban centres like Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. ... On any given day, almost half the people lining up at the Fort York Food Bank in west-end Toronto are recent immigrants. ... Every Saturday, the Fort York Food Bank is buzzing with people — many of them Chinese seniors — in need of food and camaraderie. [President Ravi] Sreedharan says isolation among older immigrants is almost as problematic as the concern about going hungry. 'A good number of [the people who come in] are surviving on limited pensions from China, and this is where they socialize,' he says." (CBC, December 23, 2012) [image: Photo: Food Banks For Fun People In a typical CBC spin, an improvident single mother is offered up as just one more immigrant victim of Canadian heartlessness: "Every Saturday morning, like millions of other Canadian families, Quxia Lin and her children, Emily and Aiden, do their grocery shopping. But it's not like Lin, who was born in China, gets into a car to drive to the supermarket. She has to bundle her kids up for the 30-minute walk from her one-bedroom apartment to the local food bank. [Well there you go; a lifetime clearing homestead land was a jaunty walk in the park weighed against Lin's weekly 30-minute forced march in pursuit of free food!] Right now, Lin makes a thousand dollars a month on maternity benefits. Before two-month-old Aiden was born, Lin made minimum wage in a clothing factory and Emily, 3, went to subsidized daycare. They share a small apartment in downtown Toronto with Lin's sister, Lisa, who pays half the rent. The $600 a month that Lisa gets as a refugee claimant is the only way they can afford to live in the flat. ... The only way Lin can make ends meet now is by stocking up at the local food bank on things that she can't afford to buy, such as diapers, fresh milk and formula. After rent, she has only a couple of hundred dollars a month to live on. ... Lin says she had high hopes when she first came to Canada as the new wife of her Chinese-Canadian husband in 2001. But she says the marriage broke down in 2006 when she brought her mother from China to stay with them. [Three years after the breakdown of marriage (and again three years later), the pauperized Lin chose to have a child. We are not told with whom, or how many fathers contributed - biologically speaking.] When her mother got sick with cancer, Lin’s brother and sister came over and applied for refugee status; both were denied. [Sorry, did we miss something? Aren't relatives meant to be sponsored under family reunification legislation, rather than offloading their care and feeding onto the hapless taxpayer? If the family was poor enough to try on the old 'refugee' dodge, how did they manage to pay for three separate plane tickets?] Their mother died in a Toronto palliative care hospital in 2010. Lin’s brother was sent back to China in November 2011, and now her sister will go back in January. Quxia is understandably worried about where she will live when her sister goes back to China in January. 'Maybe I need to move out soon because my sister is going back to China and the rent is so expensive,' Quxia says. ... Statistically, Lin and her kids are more likely to rely on food banks than the average Canadian. Recent studies show that a disproportionate number of recent immigrants use food banks. ... Among the million people in Canada who used food banks on a daily basis this year, almost half of them were children and new immigrants. Some experts suggest that poverty in Canada is becoming more 'racialized,' especially in urban centres like Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. ... On any given day, almost half the people lining up at the Fort York Food Bank in west-end Toronto are recent immigrants. ... Every Saturday, the Fort York Food Bank is buzzing with people — many of them Chinese seniors — in need of food and camaraderie. [President Ravi] Sreedharan says isolation among older immigrants is almost as problematic as the concern about going hungry. 'A good number of [the people who come in] are surviving on limited pensions from China, and this is where they socialize,' he says." (CBC, December 23, 2012) Leaving aside the improvident Lin and her indigent family for a moment, the story otherwise hits so many jangling notes, asking "what's wrong with this picture?" How, for instance, did we overload on lonely, newly arrived (they must be newly arrived if they don't yet qualify for Canadian pensions), Chinese seniors? Presumably their families sponsored them, and then what? They jettisoned them from a still moving car outside a taxpayer-subsidized senior centre? As for Lin, it is provoking to think that Canada's birthrate has plummeted precisely because prudent Canadians felt they could not afford to have children. But Lin could. Finally, her finances are undoubtedly healthier than CBC suggests; single mothers are beneficiaries of much more than $1,000 a month - including the Child Tax Benefit, a healthy kids benefit and quarterly GST rebates for starters. [This article appears in the January, 2013 issue of the CANADIAN IMMIGRATION HOTLINE. Published monthly, the CANADIAN IMMIGRATION HOTLINE is available by subscription for $30 per year. You can subscribe by sending a cheque or VISA number and expiry date to CANADIAN IMMIGRATION HOTLINE, P.O. Box 332, Rexdale, ON., M9W 5L3.]] Like <https://www.facebook.com/frederick.fromm.3#> · · Share<https://www.facebook.com/ajax/sharer/?s=2&appid=2305272732&p%5B0%5D=100004687473766&p%5B1%5D=200064> Leaving aside the improvident Lin and her indigent family for a moment, the story otherwise hits so many jangling notes, asking "what's wrong with this picture?" How, for instance, did we overload on lonely, newly arrived (they must be newly arrived if they don't yet qualify for Canadian pensions), Chinese seniors? Presumably their families sponsored them, and then what? They jettisoned them from a still moving car outside a taxpayer-subsidized senior centre? As for Lin, it is provoking to think that Canada's birthrate has plummeted precisely because prudent Canadians felt they could not afford to have children. But Lin could. Finally, her finances are undoubtedly healthier than CBC suggests; single mothers are beneficiaries of much more than $1,000 a month - including the Child Tax Benefit, a healthy kids benefit and quarterly GST rebates for starters. [This article appears in the January, 2013 issue of the *CANADIAN IMMIGRATION HOTLINE*. Published monthly, the *CANADIAN IMMIGRATION HOTLINE*is available by subscription for $30 per year. You can subscribe by sending a cheque or VISA number and expiry date to *CANADIAN IMMIGRATION HOTLINE*, P.O. Box 332, Rexdale, ON., M9W 5L3.]

 

A German WW II Survivor Blasts the Toronto Star & Sets the Record Straight

Written by Paul Fromm

Tuesday, 29 January 2013 01:08

*A German WW II Survivor Blasts the Toronto Star & Sets the Record Straight* To the *Toronto Star* *Gentlemen;* As per the above subject matter; Greg Quill, Books Columnist wrote about the latest "HYPE" going on in Germany's winter book season. Here is the other side of the coin: The letter below had been sent to the Editor. However, it is a hot topic. Even though we are living in a so-called democratic country and everyone by law should be allowed to voice their opinion without being snubbed or persecuted, it is unfortunate that only the opinions that are considered "politically correct" will be published. "The *Toronto Star* welcomes submissions for the Editorial and Opinion pages", providing they are 800 words or less. Therefore I am sending you also a copy of my letter to find out if all are considered "equal". Yours very truly, Rosemarie Rohrbach-Gabriel *Subject:* *Toronto Star*, January 25, 2013 front page – Germans lapping up Nazi satire – taking a novel approach to Hitler January 27th, 2013**** ** ** Letter to the Editor**** *Toronto Star* ****1 Yonge Street******** ****Toronto** **ON** **M5E 1E6******** ** ** Dear Sir:**** ** ** *Re: Toronto Star, January 25, 2013 front page – Germans lapping up Nazi satire – taking a novel approach to Hitler* ** ** The *Star* reported on the novel *Er Ist Wieder Da (He’s Here Again)* a novel that caused a debate throughout **Europe** about whether it’s Ok for Germans to laugh at Hitler.**** ** ** I was born on April 26, 1942 in **Cologne** ****Germany**** in the middle of a bombing raid, one of thousands, which eventually devastated the entire city. Born in a horrible war that left millions dead and millions with emotional scars that still linger on after 70 years. A war that was unavoidable and predictable after the **Versailles** treaty was forced unto **Germany** by the Allies, which gave **German** territory** to ****Poland** **. The German population was being slaughtered and driven out by the Poles. For this reason Hitler went into ****Poland**** to save his people. Due to this humane action of trying to save his people, **Britain** and ** France** declared war on **Germany**, although it was **Polish Cavalry**that attacked ****Germany's border towns**** first.**** ** ** Hitler made several attempts to establish peace with the Allies starting in May 17, 1933 to October 6, 1939 which were ignored .**** ** ** It amazes me to no end that individual people, the media and especially **** Hollywood**** are still harvesting endless profits 70 years later on the distortion of the actual facts. Why does not anyone write a satirical story on Churchill, conducting meetings in the nude only wearing his silk underwear ? Perhaps the historians should have a look at the real facts why it all started and who started it, not the Hollywood version, and have the courage to publish it. Some have had the courage. However, they are banned in the so-called democratic country of Germany, that to this date does not have a signed peace treaty. For that matter, Historians other than German who have written the actual truth, have also been banned in the “democratic” countries of **Canada** and ****USA****. **** ** ** The truth fears no questions, only the lies do !**** Sincerely yours,**** ** ** A Survivor, Rosemarie Rohrbach-Gabriel

 

No Apology for the Head Tax or Komagata Maru, Says Immigration Critic

Written by Paul Fromm

Friday, 25 January 2013 06:20

** *No Apology for the Head Tax or Komagata Maru, Says Immigration Critic* ** *The Vancouver Province* (letters) January 15 2013 *Not Racism* Re: All we're asking for is an apology, Jan. 13. The article reporting on demands by members of the Sikh community for a formal apology from the government for the 1914 Komagata Maru affair would have benefitted from more balanced coverage of the issues. While the refusal of Canadian authorities to let most of the passengers from the ship land in Canada is often depicted as an act of racism because they were from India, the fact is that they were refused entry primarily because B.C. workers were concerned about being overwhelmed by large numbers of workers from Asia prepared to accept much lower wages than Canadians could live on. The same cries of racism have been raised in connection with the Chinese head tax. What is conveniently overlooked in that case is that the head tax was applied to discourage masses of low-paid Chinese workers from flooding the labour market - but was not imposed on merchants or students from China since they did not pose a threat to the living standards of Canadian workers. In referring to the violence that broke out when the Komagata Maru's passengers arrived back in India (that resulted in the deaths of 20 of them, along with a number of British officers and Indian policemen), the article failed to mention that there were radicals and anti-British agitators among those on board the vessel. A British intelligence officer, William Hopkinson, had in fact been tracking the activities of the extremists while they were trying to land in Canada and for his efforts was shot dead on the steps of the provincial courthouse in Vancouver on Oct. 14, 1914, by a supporter of the radicals, Mewa Singh, who has since been celebrated as a hero in the Sikh community. Martin Collacott, Vancouver _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ *C-FAR is proud to have published three booklets by the Bob Jarvis about the Komagata Maru and the opposition to mass Asiatic immigration. You may wish to buy them and order them from C-FAR Books, P.O. Box 332, Rexdale, ON., M9W 5L3, CANADA.* *__ The Workingman's Revolt": The Vancouver Asiatic Exclusion Rally of 1907 * by Robert Jarvis. The fascinating story of the broad-based and, indeed, union-led protests against mass, uncontrolled Asiatic immigration to British Columbia. $5.00 *___ The Komagata Maru Incident: A Canadian Immigration Battle Revisited*by Robert Jarvis. The story of an intrepid government undercover agent William Hopkinson, who infiltrated Sikh radicals and developed the information that led the government to expel the *Komagata Maru* illegals in the summer of 1914. Shortly, afterwards Hopkinson was assassinated by a Sikh terrorist, Mewa Singh, whose portrait still hangs in some Sikh gurdwaras in Vancouver. $5.00 *___Harry Stevens: Immigration Reformer, Reconstructionist, Canada Firster*by Robert Jarvis. the story of a real Canadian hero and immigration reformer who, as a young MP, helped stir the Dominion Government to expel the shipload of Indian illegals on the *Komagata Maru* in 1914. $6.00