Two separate items in the Vancouver Sun newspaper are rather disturbing . . . . Hope these aren't an indication of the Torie's policies for us . . . . . Let's hope bush's repuglicans aren't successful in slowing our efforts to get out of bushland . . . . .
Canada should end immigration until security fixed: Congressman
Indiana Republican also says border should be shut down in event of another terror attack
BY BETH GORHAM
Canadian Press
WASHINGTON — A U.S. congressman who says Canada’s in denial about terrorism is applauding as “sound advice” the idea of shutting out immigrants and refugees until the country fixes its security risks.
Indiana Republican John Hostettler, who held a hearing Thursday on Capitol Hill, also said the House of Representatives shouldn’t agree to delay strict new border identification measures in light of Canada’s sweeping anti-terror arrests last week.
“We do not want to have to worry about a neighbour that has a very different attitude than we do about terrorism,” Hostettler said after the meeting.
Americans, he added, would demand the Canada-U.S. border be shut down in the event of another terrorist attack like the one on Sept. 11, 2001, even if Canada played no role.
He accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper of “laughing off” an alleged terrorist beheading plot when he quipped last week that he can “live with all these threats as long as they’re not from my caucus.”
And Hostettler, who chairs a judiciary subcommittee, had nothing but praise for the views of David Harris, a Canadian security analyst, who used to be with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
Harris told the legislators that Canada’s immigration system is a big part of its terrorist problem, noting the country takes in double the number of immigrants and three or four times the refugees as the United States.
He suggested a moratorium on newcomers and opposes extending a deadline requiring a passport or high-technology identification card at land crossings beyond Jan. 1, 2008.
Solberg under fire for comments about Asian immigrants
Immigration minister says they have more difficulty learning English and French
BY ELIZABETH THOMPSON
Montreal Gazette
OTTAWA — Federal Citizenship and Immigration Minister Monte Solberg came under fire Thursday after he suggested immigrants from Asian countries have more difficulty learning English and French than immigrants from European countries.
“To make that kind of statement and to label people is clearly bad,” said Liberal MP Denis Coderre, a former immigration minister. “This is the ministry of Canada, for God’s sake. You’re supposed to be inclusive. You’re not supposed to make those kinds of statements.
“It’s a slippery slope when you try to talk like that ... to say it is because of your ethnicity whether you learn fast or not.”
“It’s absurd,” said Bloc Quebecois immigration critic Meili Faille, whose mother hails from Taiwan. “It makes no sense.”
Faille said the Immigration Department is doing the right thing in investing more money in language courses for immigrants but Solberg’s comments showed a lack of leadership.
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When studying how children learn languages at local universities, they have discovered that children learn all sounds in their language in the first 3 years. This would make it more challenging for English-speaking children to learn mandarin/cantonese and harder for mandarin/cantonese speaking children to learn English. No offense to either party. What is the big deal? My parents are German, have lived in Canada over 30 years and STILL have an accent! Why? Because they learned English when they were in their teens.
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