'We love Canada but we love our families too': Polish couple in Manitoba 'heartbroken' over long wait to stay

Julian Binc, 26, moved to Brandon in 2014 and is now considering moving back to Poland

By Riley Laychuk, CBC News Posted: Dec 21, 2015 5:00 AM CT Last Updated: Dec 21, 2015 3:04 PM CT

Julian Binc and his girlfriend Marta are considering packing up their dream life in Canada and moving back overseas due to lengthy wait times to process permanent resident applications. (Riley Laychuk/CBC)

For Julian Binc, Canada was a dream, a place he has wanted to live since he was a boy growing up in Poland.

His Canadian dream came true in November 2014. But now he is conflicted about whether or not to leave. 

Binc said while he's happy to see Canada opening the doors for Syrian refugees, he's troubled by the feeling that other newcomers to Canada who have gone through the long process to get where they are have been put on the back burner.

"When they [refugees] came to Canada it was a motivation for me because I've seen families reunited at the airport," said Binc. "I've seen tears of joy in the people's eyes when they came to Canada and I've seen that the Canadian government did a lot to help families to reunite."

• Welcome Place ready to house Syrian refugees in Winnipeg
• Settlement workers prepare to help Syrian refugees in Manitoba
• Canada's welcoming refugee response praised in Arab media

But Binc said the 18-month-wait he's been quoted for a permanent resident application to be processed has him seriously considering packing up and moving back overseas.

His dream was to eventually sponsor his parents to come to Canada too. 

"The problem right now is that we miss our families," Binc said while choking up, his girlfriend also in tears sitting next to him. "We are here, just me and my girlfriend. We have seen how great people can live in this country and we kind of suffer because we miss our families and we wish they could be here with us."

Binc, 26, works in administration in Brandon, Man. His girlfriend, Marta, works in a local daycare. They have work visas and have been nominated for permanent residency. But it's that process that Binc is unsure about completing.

"I wish I could stay," he said. "The biggest dream would be to become a permanent resident of Canada and get my parents here... [but] who knows what's going to happen in two years." 

Binc said his parents are alone back home and if something happened to them, he worries he'd never know. 

"I could call my parents and no one would pick up the phone because maybe something would happen to them while we wait." 

Binc said being forced to choose between his parents and Canada has left him heartbroken.

"We love Canada but on the other side we love our families too."

Living the Canadian dream

Moving to Canada has been a dream come true for Binc.

The first few days, he said, were tough. But he has since adjusted to life in Manitoba and everything is as he imagined it would be. 

"We don't really feel homesick. Everyone has been nice to us," he said. We have driven to a lot of places... provincial parks, lakes, small towns. We really do enjoy every single day."

Binc estimates he has driven more than 8,000 kilometres visiting different attractions and destinations in Manitoba alone. 

"On your cars it says 'Friendly Manitoba' and I do think it's true," said Binc. "Everywhere we went everyone has welcomed us with a smile on their face." 

Binc is proud of Canada for its handling of the Syrian refugee crisis. 

"I think Canada did another great thing by setting an example."

But he also believes there are thousands of others in situations similar to his, waiting to be reunited with family. 

Citizenship and Immigration Canada currently lists wait times for processing provincial nominee applications from Poland of 29 months. Express entry applications can be processed in as little as six months, however Binc does not qualify for that option. 

"I just wish someone could do something for people like us," he said. 

The Source:http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/we-love-canada-but-we-love-our-families-too-polish-couple-in-manitoba-heartbroken-over-long-wait-to-stay-1.3372238

Angola disponibiliza dinheiro para pagar salários a expatriados

16 Dezembro 2015, 10:16 por Celso Filipe | cfilipe@negocios.pt

O Banco Nacional de Angola vendeu à banca comercial 62 milhões de dólares (56,2 milhões euros), para que esta possa fazer a cobertura de operações de salários dos trabalhadores expatriados.

O Banco Nacional de Angola (BNA) disponibilizou, no espaço de uma semana, 62 milhões de dólares (56,2 milhões de euros) aos bancos comerciais, montante destinado à cobertura de operações de salários dos expatriados, noticiou a agência Lusa.

Nas últimas semanas têm sido recorrentes as queixas de portugueses a trabalharem em Angola com salários em atraso. No final de Novembro, o Sindicato da Construção Civil (STC) denunciou ao Jornal de Notícias que cerca de 80 mil trabalhadores portugueses deste sector tinha salários em atraso em Angola, entre dois e seis meses. O STC estima que existam 200 mil portugueses a trabalhar no sector da construção civil, sendo que todos os meses estarão a abandonar este país cerca de 500 trabalhadores.

No total, calcula-se que mais de 250 mil portugueses estejam a trabalhar em Angola, nos mais diversos sectores de actividades, sobretudo concentrados na província da Luanda, a capital do país.

Além de ter disponibilizado dólares para o pagamento de salários, o BNA vendeu à banca comercial 87,4 milhões de dólares (79,3 milhões de euros) para pagar operações de telecomunicações e 48,7 milhões de dólares (44,2 milhões de euros) para cobertura de operações de companhias aéreas.

Somadas estas três rubricas, o BNA injectou 356,1 milhões de dólares (323,4 milhões de euros) na última semana, um aumento de 215% face ao realizado na semana anterior. "Este volume de divisas destinou-se fundamentalmente à cobertura de operações de natureza prioritária", explicou o BNA no seu relatório semanal.

Um relatório da Moody’s, publicado a 15 de Dezembro, aponta Angola como o país da África subsaariana mais afectado pelo aumento da dívida denominada em moeda estrangeira. Uma situação que resulta da dependência de Angola face ao petróleo, , cuja produção e exportação valia mais de 75% das receitas fiscais e representava mais de 95% das exportações do país antes da crise

The Source:http://www.jornaldenegocios.pt/economia/mundo/africa/angola/detalhe/angola_disponbiliza_dinheiro_para_pagar_salarios_a_expatriados.html

Comment:

"Canada beats Angola for the gold medal in the

exploitation of skilled European construction workers

Europe exports a lot of skilled construction trades workers. This is no surprise given the tradition and training of Europe’s skilled trades.

Until recently, Canada and Angola stood 1-2 in to refusing to follow the rules in paying their European construction workers.  

The attached article confirms that President Santos’ family kleptrocracy in Luanda has thrown in the towel. Canada has won the race. Canada rules over European trades workers as the biggest thief on the planet.

Each of the 80,000 European workers in Angola had a legal work permit.

Angola will now pay their 80,000 European workers. President Santos, his daughter and their related corrupt intermediaries clearly buckled under political pressure from Europe.

When it comes to scamming European workers, the Angolans could have learned a lot from Canada’s champions:

Canada’s first rule is to deny the existence of a skilled labour shortage in the construction sector. The existentially absurd fairy tale from Ottawa is that there is no shortage of qualified skilled construction trades workers in Canada. Since there is no shortage, there is no need for work permits.

Canada‘s second rule is to deny the existence of Ontario’s 100,000 skilled European construction workers. Since Canada does not issue work permits to 99.9% of the trades workers, therefore they do not exist. Since they do not exist, there are no statistics confirming their existence. If there are no statistics then there is no problem.

Canada’s third rule follows up on the concept of “non-existence”. Since the 150,000 European construction workers do not exist, then how can Canadian employers and unions pay them a fair wage, overtime or  pension benefits? You can’t pay someone who does not exist. Since you can’t pay them, you have every right to, annually, pocket the $ 2 billion.

Canada’s fourth rule is to be compassionate. We feel sorry for the 150,000 European construction workers. Thus, we declare Toronto and Hamilton to be “sanctuary cities”. This compassion assures that most of the illegal Europeans will not be deported during construction season. After all, deportation would hurt the big contractors and unions. A little “compassion” pays big dividends.

Canada’s fifth rule is to keep changing the work permit and immigration rules for trades workers. The constant change guarantees that 99.99% of European trades workers will eventually be illegal and deportable.  

Canada’s sixth, and most culturally innovative, rule is to blame the European construction workers for exploiting Canada’s immigration and foreign worker rules. Ottawa is without equal in faking sincerity when it, with a straight face, demands respect for the “integrity of the system”. Ottawa knows that its role on behalf of Ontario’s big contractors and unions is to assure that there is no “integrity” and no “system”.   

The Santos family in Angola lost the theft game to Canada because of a fatal flaw in Angolan “democracy”. The Angolans exposed themselves by allowing the President’s family to “take envelopes” from the construction industry.

In Canada, we do not need a direct, illegal Presidential envelope system. It’s messy. Instead, we have a two-step process:

First, the construction industry makes big political contributions.

Second, the construction industry’s government relations consultants sit in the Minister’s office making sure that every law in the book is broken in order to assure that European workers remain illegal. After all, for $2 billion why not allow few consultants into the room to help in pointing out which laws are irrelevant?

Our African brothers have a lot to learn about stealing while, concurrently, “maintaining the integrity of the system”.

With time, Angola may embrace the above finer points and once can again challenge Canada’s undisputed 30 year leadership in the big time scamming of European workers.

Congratulations Canada!"

Richard Boraks, December 17 2015

Don’t Fall Into the Scapegoat Trap

December 15, 2015 by Fr. Dwight Longenecker

The Scapegoat – Wm. Holman Hunt

Don’t fall into the scapegoat trap.

In the Old Testament the scapegoat was literally a goat onto whom the people projected their sins. The goat was then sent out into the wilderness to wander alone until it died of thirst or was devoured by the wild beasts.

Here’s the passage from Leviticus 16 where this is commanded as part of the Old Testament religious ritual.

“When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. 21 He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. 22 The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.

There is a powerful symbolism here because this is what we automatically do within our families, within our schools, our parishes and our larger communities. We  project our fears, insecurities, sins, anger and rage on to an innocent victim. We put our trash on that other person or group of people.

We demonize them. We blame them. They are the problem and we are okay. Notice that this process is not rational. It is sub-rational. It is a deep instinct in the human condition and people from every society from the most primitive people in the jungle to the most primitive people in Manhattan do this.

We identify a particular person or category of person onto whom we shift all the blame. “Its all the rich people’s fault. It’s all the poor people’s fault. Its the white people’s fault. The problem is the blacks. Its the immigrants who are to blame. Its the comfortable rich Americans who are at fault. Its the politicians. Its the political outsiders. Its the Muslims. Its the Jews. Its the Christians. Its the atheists.”

Everybody finding somebody to blame, and the instinct is always with us and it is always of the devil.

The reason we look for someone to blame is because we don’t want to blame ourselves. We don’t want to take responsibility. We don’t want to admit that most of our problems are caused by our own inadequacies, our own greed, our own immaturity and insecurity.

Be wary of falling into the Scapegoat Trap.

Be especially wary of any religious or political leader who plays on this instinct. One of the weird things I am unhappy to find among some traditionalist Catholics, for example, is anti-Semitism. No it is not right to blame the Jews for the world’s problems. No it is not right to spin conspiracy theories about how “the dirty Jews” control the politics, the media and everything. No it is not sane to imagine that all your enemies are either Jews, Jew sympathizers, in the pay of the Jews or are secret Jews.

In America down the years there has been one long list of scapegoated groups of people. It was the Catholics. It was the Irish. It was the Italians. It was the Russians. It was the negroes. It was the Jews.

Now it is the Muslims.

If you are inclined to scapegoat all Muslims. Stop. Stop and think. Inform yourself. Read this article about Islam by a Christian Islamic scholar.

You don’t have to like Islam. That’s okay, you can  understand and be opposed to the negative things about the Islamic religion and culture, but do not demonize all Muslims.

For example, be opposed to jihadists. Muslims themselves repudiate the claims and activities of ISIS. Go here.

Learn about the different traditions in Islam and how the Wahhabi and Salafi fundamentalist interpretations began and spread and how Saudi Arabian Muslims are one of the key players in the spread of Wahhabi Islam.

Realize that the jihadists’ actions are rooted in fundamental texts of the Quran, but also realize that their actions do not represent mainstream Islam. There are other interpretations of the violent and oppressive texts of the Quran just like there are alternative interpretations of the seemingly negative aspect of the Old Testament.

To do this is not to endorse Islam or be soft on Syrian immigration. Safeguards and restrictions are necessary and firm action against terror is vital.

Do all this not only to be informed, but to avoid the scapegoat trap because when a nation falls into the scapegoat trap they will eventually have to follow the logic.

The scapegoat logic is that the demonized person or group of people are the problem. If they are the problem, the problem needs to be solved. The way to solve the problem is to get rid of the people who are causing the problem, and if a certain person or group of people are causing the problem then they need to be got rid of.

Politicians who play on these fears and push the scapegoat button for political advantage are slime. They know what they’re doing and they’re playing you like a violin. They’re appealing to your ignorance, your fear and your self righteousness.

Be smarter than that.

All the immigrants are not the problem. Shipping them all back to where they came from is not the solution. Building a wall to keep them out is not the solution. All Muslims are not the problem. Keeping them all out simply on the basis of their religion is not the solution.

It’s not the solution because after they all go you will still have problems, and if you’re convinced that all the Muslims or all the Mexicans are the problem, then the next thing you’ll have to do is round them up and put them behind barbed wire somewhere, and once that’s done it’s not long before some maniac will call for “the final solution”

And when that happens you’ll turn a blind eye and ignore what is going on, and if you don’t think it can happen here you’re dangerously naive.

Don’t Fall Into the Scapegoat Trap

				Don’t Fall Into the Scapegoat Trap   For example, be opposed to jihadists. Muslims themselves repudiate the claims and activities of ISIS. Go here.
				View on www.patheos.com	Preview by Yahoo

I’m a former Evangelical, then an Anglican priest, now a Catholic priest. 

Comment:

"Immigration and “slime”

Please consider the attached article from a well-regarded Catholic priest in the US.

The priest pulls no punches when describing self-serving politicians who pander to stereotypes when deciding immigration issues. “Slime” is the word used by the priest.

As we enter a new phase of political leadership in Canada, we can only hope that our European trades workers will no longer be treated as scapegoats in the name of protecting identifiable economic interests. Naturally, said interests are heavy political contributors.

The new leadership must choose between doing the right thing or doing the slimy thing. The options could not be clearer.    

The Federal Court has opened the door for the new government to do some good. The Court has already ordered that Jason Kenney and Chris Alexander  acted “in bad faith” towards our Italian, Portuguese and Polish trades workers. The Federal Court has ordered the government to be ready to compensate trades workers for the politically “slimy” treatment exhibited by Alexander and Kenney.  

For the Liberals, doing the right thing should be a no brainer. But never underestimate the “slime” power of heavy political contributions. 

Let us pray that the Liberal treatment of the 25,000 Syrians reflects the spirit with which Ottawa will review the impending removal from Canada of tax paying, well established European trades workers.

As we pray, let us also prepare."

Richard Boraks, December 15 2015 

Idea that Syrian refugees not interested in Canada is ‘crazy,’ immigration minister says

Giuseppe Valiante, The Canadian Press | December 4, 2015 | Last Updated: Dec 4 8:37 AM ET
More from The Canadian Press

Immigration Minister John McCallum: “There are a huge number of people who want to come."

MONTREAL — The idea that there are many refugees who don’t want to come to Canada is “crazy,” said federal Immigration Minister John McCallum on Thursday, in response to reports that only a small percentage of Syrian refugees are interested in relocating to this country.

McCallum had just returned from visiting a refugee camp in Jordan, where he said there is “huge enthusiasm — a great hunger to come to Canada.”

He was responding to questions about comments his own immigration officials made on Wednesday, which were reported by several Canadian news organizations.

The officials reportedly said during an off-the-record briefing with reporters that fewer than five per cent of people the United Nations tried to contact wanted to come to Canada by the end of December.

McCallum suggested there might have been technical problems contacting people in camps, and that some refugees might want to stay out of hope the situation in Syria would improve and they could move back home.

“But there are a huge number of people who want to come,” he said. “Look at how many went to Germany — almost a million. The idea that they don’t want to come to Canada is crazy.”

McCallum was in Montreal Thursday for a meeting with Quebec Immigration Minister Kathleen Weil and about a dozen refugee, church and community groups working on the logistics of bringing refugees to the province.

Weil would not get into details of how the province will co-ordinate the settling of the more than 2,000 refugees who are expected to arrive by plane in Montreal by the end of the year.

Quebec has set aside $29 million until the end of 2016 to settle more than 7,000 refugees.

She said the money is enough to cover foreseeable costs, adding that the federal government has said it will help pay for any surprises.

“Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard spoke with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said the federal government would be there with respect to additional costs,” she said.

McCallum said that after meeting with provincial stakeholders, he is convinced “Quebec is ready,” adding that 13 of the 36 Canadian cities planning to welcome refugees are in Quebec.

He also called on individuals and companies to do what they can to help the country settle the 25,000 Syrians the Liberal government has committed to welcoming by the end of February.

Ottawa says the refugee program will cost $687 million.

McCallum said CN Rail has pledged a yet-undisclosed amount of money to help settle refugees.

“We hope CN is the first of many companies who will help,” he said.

The Canadian Press

The source:http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/idea-that-refugees-not-interested-in-canada-is-crazy-immigration-minister-says

Comment:

"Immigration: The boiling pot... Part 2

Immigration Minister McCallum is probably right. It is “crazy” to conclude that the Syrians do not want to come here.

But, as predicted, here we go with government, unnecessarily and quite ignorantly, whipping things up.

The last election was proof positive that the GTA does not want to engage in barbaric cultural profiling. The GTA is happy as long as the pie is shared. In the GTA, it’s all about making love and making money. There’s no percentage or pleasure in racism. Thus, the GTA is not racist. This why Trudeau scored big in the GTA with his commendable assertion that “a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian”.

Unfortunately, government’s refusal to deal with European worker immigration is leading to a cultural divide on the Syrian issue. The Anglo mind prefers not to link the two issues. A couple of million other GTA families see things differently. Put in intermarriage and all the other relationships and you have an even bigger chunk of the community. 

Canada’s inter bred Anglo political leadership elite sees the Syrians through a humanitarian and macro political-economic prism. Meanwhile, the GTA is home to at least a couple of million folks whose heritage includes dinner table conversations equating Muslims with wolves. Our Calabrese friends have some intriguing allegories on this subject.

The Italian/Calabrese, along with their families, friends and associates dominate the GTA. They serially elect, defeat and then re-elect politically tone deaf Anglos.  

Government’s failure to share the immigration pie is driving a lot of the GTA to interpret the Syrians’ arrival as follows:

• The Syrians have not paid any dues in Canada  but  are first class Canadians even before they get here at tax payer expense

• Families and tax paying employees from Europe are second class. They are deported in order to make room for the Syrians

The Liberals exploited the “shared cultural” arrogance delivered by Jason Kenney and Chris Alexander.

Here’s hoping that the Liberals deliver on “A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian”. Toronto is not anti-Muslim. Toronto is not racist. It’s just that everybody here wants a piece of the pie. It’s called: fair play. "

Richard Boraks, December 4 2015

NEWS TORONTO & GTA

MANDEL

Couple face deportation as Syrians rushed

BY MICHELE MANDEL, TORONTO SUN

FIRST POSTED: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 02, 2015 07:43 PM EST | UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 02, 2015 09:41 PM EST

Mathieu Cousin, Erika Mistiaen and their 22-month-old son, Nathan, who are faced with deportation back to France because of a bureaucratic backlog, are pictured on Wednesday December 2, 2015. (Michael Peake/Toronto Sun)As a hopeful immigrant himself, Mathieu Cousin supports Canada's decision to accept so many Syrian refugees in the next few months. The French native just hopes our generous welcome isn't coming at the expense of his young family and others languishing in the queue.

Because unless they get the initial immigration approval they need in the next five days -- a simple acknowledgement that their application is in order -- they'll be forced to give up their jobs and their apartment and return to France.

They've done everything by the book. Armed with master's degrees, Cousin, 32, and his partner Erika Mistiaen, 30, came here from Nice in June 2013 under the International Experience Canada program. He soon got hired as a business system analyst, she found work as a customer service rep -- and they welcomed their Canadian son Nathan 22 months ago. This is where they want to raise him and they applied to become permanent residents.

Cousin was originally told by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) that getting approval for the first step in their immigration paperwork would take about eight weeks. Now he's been told it likely will be 18 weeks -- meaning the first stage approval for their permanent resident status won't arrive in time to extend their work permits, which expire Dec. 8. Cousin and his partner will no longer have SIN numbers or health insurance.

No one at CIC will tell him why the sudden increase in the waiting period; no one will confirm it has anything to do with the decision to absorb thousands of refugees from Syria.

Still, it seems like quite the coincidence.

"I've been on blogs and forums on Facebook and a lot of people feel this pushback from CIC and are concerned that their applications, already in process, are being delayed," Cousin says.

He sympathizes with the refugees' plight and understands the urgency of settling them. He also recognizes the system must be overtaxed by these new demands. At the same time, it seems bitterly unfair that his family might have to leave Canada due to a processing backlog.

A CIC spokesman refused to confirm the delay. "We continue to process applications in other immigration streams, including other refugees, according to existing processing standards and to the greatest extent possible," she replied via e-mail in unintelligible bureaucrat-speak.

"We followed the whole process and it's a long process," Cousin complains. "We didn't start yesterday -- it was basically a full year of working on this."

Educated, employed, bilingual, they would appear to be the perfect immigrants. To increase their "value" under the Express Entry system, they paid to have their French degrees assessed according to Canadian standards. In July, they were invited to submit their application online. They were rejected a month later because they hadn't included their original French diplomas. They'd have to start again.

They were invited to resubmit in October. And they've been waiting ever since. All they need right now is CIC's "acknowledgement of receipt" confirming their application is complete. Without that, they can't get the "bridging" work permit they require to stay in Canada while they await the final determination of their status. "Why does it take 18 weeks to read a file and make sure I provided all the documents?" he asks.

They already consider themselves Canadians at heart -- and now they're faced with having to leave their adopted land, the unfortunate victims of Canada's goodwill.

"I have the Canadian flag on my balcony on July 1st," Cousin says. "I never want to miss the national anthem when I go to a Jays game -- even though I feel guilty not knowing all the words. I like when we come back from a trip and we clear the customs at the airport and the officer says 'Welcome home!' because that is exactly how we feel.

"I feel Canadian every day simply because I feel that my life is here now," he explains. "No matter what happens next, Canada is where my son was born and that will never change. Canada is part of us now and I just want that adventure to continue."

Read Mandel Wednesday through Saturday.

michele.mandel@sunmedia.ca

The Source: http://www.torontosun.com/2015/12/02/couple-face-deportation-as-syrians-rushed

Comment:

"Immigration: The boiling pot

There are two iron rules about immigration in Canada.

• First, you never complain publically about  the other guy getting his visa while your cousin or employee can’t get his

• Second , you never stop complaining privately

I would not be surprised if the Syrian refugee movement is a tipping point for the collapse of Iron Rule #1.

Any number of Canadian clients of European background are openly streaming about well-established, tax paying cousins or employees being kicked out “in order to make room for the Syrians”

The eruption of discontent appears to be tied to the election of Mr. Trudeau.

Under the Harper government, everybody assumed that it was natural that their families/employees were getting screwed. The perception was that nobody was extended a warm welcome.

Very quickly, Mr. Trudeau has poured the toxic mix of expectation and anger into the GTA ‘s Pandora’s Box of  immigration needs.

The GTA is a pretty simple place. You screw enough people and you’re out of a job. Jason Kenney and Chris Alexander screwed more than enough people.

I’m sure that Mr. Trudeau understands the above. The question is whether he is so beholden to the unions that he will do the wrong thing and risk racial discontent.  

This is dangerous."

Richard Boraks, December 3 2015