Close Reading

I was the lawyer invited to this interview, and after reading some comments celebrating the end of the PEQ, I feel the need to clarify a few things. The people affected by this are not “abusing the system.” this was the program for people that came here legally and are working. To qualify for the PEQ, they had to be working full time, they pay taxes, they speak the language. They’re fixing our roads, keeping hospitals running, welding, machining, doing the jobs most of us take for granted every single day. The hard truth is that Canadians have stopped having enough children, and we simply don’t have enough young people with the skills to fill these roles. Yes, we absolutely should invest more in education and trade programs for our youth — my employer clients are begging young people to become mechanics, welders, skilled workers, often in the regions. Most don’t take those jobs, and even when they do, training takes two to three years. Our industries need people now, or parts of the economy will stall, and that affects all of us as Quebecers and Canadians. These workers are not asking for charity. They are already on the front lines keeping key sectors alive. Ending programs like the PEQ doesn’t punish “illegals” or “free riders”; it punishes people who are already integrated, working, and contributing to the society we all share. Also, all they are asking is for the new rules to not be applied to them retroactively, only for those coming new into the country, otherwise it is rug pulling those already here that played by the rules, and when the government does it to us we don't like, on principle of fairness, whatever you think of the numbers, too high too low, doesn't matters, it is the least we can all get behind as humans.

Quebec doesn't have any jobs . What do you mean Job visa ?😂😂😂😂

1/2: Myself and the saner half of the US that read, understood, and voted against Proj 2025 understands why they need to levy retaliatory tariffs especially as a Michigander who's lived less than 4 hours from Canada all her life, who has family in Quebec and Ontario, and is a job-seeking policy professional and international trade nerd who now cannot in good faith seek a job in the federal government. We have been looking and still do look to Canada as a model quite a bit and love Canada and Canadians to pieces. We Michiganders especially in the central and eastern UP and Detroit and Ann Arbor area are friends, coworkers, and family of Canadians. Some are even dual citizens. It is sad that it's come to this. \n\n2/2: I still personally just can't wrap my head around how a trade deal Trump put together himself and called the best (the USMCA in question) is all of a sudden so bad. Logic doesn't work with these types of people... I really want **someone!!** to ask him/ admin officials about the USMCA **to their face** and see what they say because I am so upset by this nonsensical and corrupt administration.

I agree with you leaving. I am a 3rd generation retired Canadian who used to be proud to be so. Now I am not, in fact I am embarrassed to say I am Canadian as it is nothing to be proud of. I think of how good things were in the 70's and 80's while I was young and now how bad things are today and it is truly depressing. Back then if you are willing to work, you could make a decent living, buy a car, a house and raise a family - today, good luck with that. The people in the west have had no say in the faulty governments we have had as Ontario and Quebec have put the final nails in our coffin when they elected that buffoon JT for a third consecutive term and then the NDP kisses his butt to join up and torture us more when most sane Canadians did not ask for this. JT is truly an embarrassment for this country although the US is in step with comatose Joe. I feel sorry for the kids and many others that are trying to survive, make a living and buy houses. Reverse discrimination has been at play for 20 years or so but is really out of control these days when a white Canadian kid that has got 5 yr honours degree in University has trouble finding a job today because you are the wrong colour. Our national anthem was changed a number of years back for no good reason. Immigrants are being imported by this idiot called our PM and handed out living accommodations, jobs and our hard earned $$ that he stole from us while our own people fall deeper into the quagmire. Many of these immigrants are bringing their hatreds and views with them to are country and are causing chaos. We are heavily taxed for driving our cars and heating our houses on FALSE pretenses with the govt saying it is to save the world - nice try - BS. The government and schools are pushing the alphabet children protocol per the WEF. These are just a few things that are wrong with this country that is sinking quicker than the Titanic. Everything this country stood for is now gone. It is so obvious to anyone that doesn't consume the main stream medias programming what is going on here (and when you do look at it you see how ridiculous what they report, how they report, they are no longer reporters but merely reading the scripts they have been handed by the powers that be) , however there are far too many people with their faces in their phones that are zombies today which is what the governments want. Good luck to you and anyone else left that is sane. Unfortunately too many people are simply programmed beyond repair and will continue to keep their faces buried in their phones, consume the garbage the main stream media is pushing on behalf of the powers that be and continue to vote to keep the same idiots in power.

There are now quite a few news stories in Canada of immigrants leaving the country - some back home and others to the USA and other places. Many just get a Canadian passport and then leave. There are public health care and pensions, so it can be an asset and also a convenient travel document to have. A lot of Canadian university graduates have a very hard time finding work in their fields and a lot of them look to the US for a better future. Both immigration and unemployment in Canada are much higher that in the US - so more people are chasing fewer jobs that often pay less and are taxed more than in the USA. Opportunities are generally a lot fewer in Canada than the US, and the business environment is not as favourable, and taxes significantly higher. You would be getting some of the entrepreneurs from Canada moving to the US for more favourable conditions as well to launch a business and also now a lot more rich investor types, so-called high net worth individuals wanting to relocate, because they just raised the capital gains tax in Canada. Capital gains is also triggered on inheritance in Canada with a deemed sale of property and assets, so rich people would prefer the American system and want to be residents there for tax purposes and have their assets grow in value in the US compared to Canada. There are very large numbers of foreign students and other categories of immigrants which may have as their goal going to the US after getting a temporary visa to Canada which is easy to get - maybe something like half a million to a million people in those categories depending on the year, plus around another half million regular immigrants and refugees now. The Trudeau administration has increased immigration to record numbers. It has been steadily going up over the years for several decades since 1990. Because of family re-unification it can have a snowball effect and could significantly exceed 1 million per year. A lot of the sending countries have much larger populations than Canada, so there are a lot more that can be potentially sent to Canada in the future. About 1/4 of the population of Canada has been added in the past few decades. Add to that visitors and temporary visas - that is a lot of people potentially moving to the US. Before the 1990s Canadians visiting the US were not required to have a passport and a drivers' license or birth certificate was adequate. Now a passport is required. It is impossible to effectively control the long Canada-US border, so there could be some unified policies in that area agreed on between Canada and the USA on immigration and refugees. Canada currently has a very open immigration policy with the government actively seeking out more immigration beyond its current processing capacity and trying to take rejected immigrants from other countries. The Canadian government, especially in recent years under Trudeau is immigration hungry. It might be the only country in the world doing that. What some news reports are now saying is that some immigrants are actually leaving, since they find it so difficult in Canada and some are worse off than they were in the countries they came from, which were considered to be less developed than Canada. \nWashington currently has more immigration controls and administrative competencies than Ottawa, so US pressure and influence is a faster way to get reforms into the system than waiting for local politicians to do anything, which is unlikely. Canada is seen by some as a backdoor into the US. Biden's immigration policies could be seen as very conservative in Canada compared to Trudeau's. It used to be in the news about how refugees were trying to get to Canada and walking across the border in Quebec and out west from the US earlier, but now there are more news stories of immigrants leaving Canada trying to go the other way, probably due to high costs and unemployment because the government took in more people than it could absorb into the economy. They have the idea that immigration drives GDP growth so that they can borrow and spend more, expand the civil service, etc. without making any cutbacks or efficiencies, supposedly without the Debt to GDP ratio getting worse, just by bringing in more people as if that would drive the economy. A lot depends on who you bring in as well. Are they going to go on welfare, are they going to increase crime, will they somehow contribute to society, are they a net tax benefit or cost in terms of government services, will they invest money, will they start a business and create jobs for others ? Those issues do not factor into government decision making in Canada for the most part. Ontario Premier Doug Ford did say there were too many foreign students. It is bad planning not to consider those factors since there are other costs that grow with those policies as well, and infrastructure has to be expanded. I think that the real immigration numbers to Canada are not transparent or made public, nor are the costs involved, if anyone even knows what they are. Nor is the impact on crime. You can guess from what the reports are in other countries. The Fraser Institute has made some estimates on the net costs of immigration to the government budget a few years ago, which were very high and which by now have increased - the cost equivalent of several new aircraft carriers each year. They are big numbers which are not publicized, but it amounts to the fact that immigration is subsidized by the taxpayers in Canada and it is not paying for our pensions as an ageing society as has been claimed. There is less money for education, health care and pensions per person, and those social benefits will probably have to be reduced over time. Social programs can only be delivered to the extent that the government has money. The bigger social system a county has, the more such immigration policies are going to cost. Trudeau has been expanding various social programs as well, so higher taxes and debt are likely with that approach. Then more productive people and companies will want to leave Canada and go to the US. Probably the government does not know what the actual numbers and costs are and doesn't actively keep track of that information beyond what is required. Probably nobody knows what the true immigration figures and their associated costs are in Canada, and hardly anyone has even studied those issues. If they can just walk across the US border and get papers so easily making an asylum claim, it is not surprising, since it would take them longer to get a regular visa and work permit if they did it legally. You could call that a loophole in the US immigration system which is being exploited. The US is better governed in general and has a better system in many ways, but I am not sure if it is the same on that. People have arrived on boats and have not been sent back. At least in the US you have more open information about those issues. In Canada it is hard to find out anything about it. Deportations from Canada are very few. \nOn other issues in Canada when voting in federal elections you have to show a government issued photo ID like a drivers' license or passport to vote and bring a card that was mailed out to eligible voters that gets updated addresses when a person files their taxes. I have never heard of mail-in ballots in Canada, but there are remote areas of the country in the far north who may have special system for voting. It is easier to get a Canadian citizenship than US and many more citizenships are handed out in Canada each year in proportion to the population than in the US. Canadian might be one of the easiest citizenships to get in the world. The official line now is that it is a country of immigrants. Based on current trends, will very little opposition to it in the parliament and most MPs supporting it, future immigration to Canada could increase to several million per year because of the rapid growth of population in the world, and the momentum already growing of immigration to Canada, so it may change significantly in the future. Historically around the world you can see many examples that country names, borders, flags and languages change over time with population changes, so it might not be called Canada anymore in 50-100 years. For example, Bulgaria used to be called Thrace which had been a powerful kingdom in antiquity and had a different language which is barely known about anymore. Over the past 2,000 years it has gone through a number of changes and had various regimes governing it, has been independent and also part of several different empires. Canada has only been a country for a short time in comparison and has been been going through significant changes. Trudeau has said that Canada is a post-national country. Canada is also going through a period of critical self-examination and deconstruction-revisionism. A lot of what had been viewed as positive from its history now is seen more critically, with re-naming and removing historical figures now seen as negative.\nDiscussing immigration policy critically is considered by many to be taboo in Canada, unless a person is saying good things about it in general. You can hear people say that the government isn't processing enough people, for example, but not often that there are too many or that it costs a lot of money. The trend of migration from Canada to the US would only increase much more in the future as it is going currently, and its role as a stepping stone to migration to the US could increase. The way this would be seen by many in Canada is that they are losing valuable people to the USA whom they consider assets, since a lot of officials have been trying to bring in more people into the country, but not everyone wants to stay in Canada nowadays because of a lack of jobs and opportunities. Canada is quite laissez-faire about migration, with Toronto being a sanctuary city as well.

It's a myth that Canada needs massive immigration, especially when Canada doesn't have enough affordable housing for everyone. The average Canadians aren't benefiting from immigration, only the corporations, fake colleges and immigration consultants are. It's disgusting the politicians are using desperate immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers for votes.\nThe future are robots and AI for most labour and manufacturing jobs. For example: Even the trucking industry will become self driving.\nIf the federal government stop taxing Canadians too death, and married couples will more children. Old stock Canadians really need to get back to raising children that value traditional families and not chase after careers and money. Put Canadian families first. For those who still think Canada is a huge country and we need massive immigration to keep the economy going. Go ahead lobby the federal government to bring in 10 million migrants from Pakistan and Afghanistan and put 2 million foreigners in each of the 10 provinces, right now. Then don't be shocked when civil war happens. Enough is enough. Canadians need to be like Denmark and Netherlands, who are saying no to massive immigration! Remember refugees and asylum seekers aren't supposed to work until their claims are approved. How many businesses are paying the migrants in cash? It's one thing if the immigration process was well organized and all the immigrates were working and paying taxes. But now the provinces are begging for funding to deal with all the new comers and only Quebec is getting support from the federal government. Most mirgants just come here to try to have a better life but in reality the politicians don't care if they end up on welfare. It's super sad Canadians are dying of drug addictions on the streets and the federal government is still insisting massive immigration is going to keep them in power or solve Canada's failing economy or prop up Canada's pension plan.

It’s crazy the way people forget that Canada doesn’t end at the end of Quebec. I hate to break it to you, but there are still affordable places to live in this country, They’re just mostly not in the urban centres of Ontario, Quebec, BC or Alberta. If you actually choose to acknowledge the existence of the other six provinces, you can have a pretty good life in this country! with that being said, I also have a good friend who’s making $100k a year fresh out of university in downtown Calgary. Everyone saying salaries are too low, there are no opportunities in this country, I’m curious to know what opportunities we’ve actually lost? Just because they aren’t being afforded to you doesn’t mean they don’t exist, maybe this should spur some self-reflection. You do have to work hard to succeed after all! \n\nLife is hard, always has been. If you actually talk to your parents instead of trusting what others on the internet say, who also weren’t alive during that time, you might realize that things really aren’t that different now. Despite what the internet will tell you, a minimum wage job was not enough to afford a house and a car 40 years ago. Shockingly, a minimum wage job doesn’t pay enough to get you a house and a car now either! Crazy how that works

I’m born & raised in Montreal, Quebec and while it’s extremely multicultural and has an incredible education system, we have been experiencing a continuous housing crisis. Every year the rent prices and general cost of living are skyrocketing yet wages remain the same. It’s actually becoming a huge problem in Montreal. Young people are being pushed out as prices are starting to little by little be comparable to Toronto. \nAnd don’t get me started on the hate Anglophones receive here. Even Montreal natives like myself who are historically English get discriminated against every day. \nThe Quebec government is pushing the English language out of Quebec, making it harder and harder for Anglophones to be able to function and live practically here. You can’t even go to the hospital and get service. If you don’t speak French you can’t call and speak with any government services, and even businesses are forced to have French names, and only conduct their business in the French language. \nI myself am bilingual, but for someone who doesn’t speak the language, or is learning having trouble it’s nearly impossible to live in Quebec as they wouldn’t even be able to get a job. The discrimination Anglophones receive is insane and we are seen as a ‘bottom of the barrel’ minority, which is so sad seeing that this is where I was born and raised and where I call my home. \nThey’re taking away more and more public & social services and literally funnelling multi millions of dollars of funding , which is desperately needed for homelessness and many other social problems we have within Montreal and it’s all now going towards pushing the French language in Montreal (we literally have what’s called the ‘language police’ who’s job is to enforce French. They will give businesses thousands of dollars of tickets and even shut them down all because someone is caught speaking English) \nHopefully something will change soon or else Montreal is going to continue to become a place completely taken over by hate and discrimination and it will experience a MASS exodus (which is already starting).

These ladies are learning about tax and spend liberalism. There is NEVER enough tax money. You take Quebec that has the highest taxes in North America. They also run the weed sales, the casinos, and all the alcohol sales, and they are still deep in debt. Whatever you are paying in taxes is never enough. It doesn't take much digging to figure out why. The government administration in every ministry is bloated with people who do very little to add value but get paid big salaries. They can't be fired no matter how bad the economy gets or how badly they perform their job. They are also guaranteed a generous retirement that private workers do not get. You are working to support a parasitic class that feed off of your hard work.

ok I live in Canada in Quebec to be precise, I'm from Latin America originally but became a Canadian Citizen a few years ago. I'm not white, I can tell you that the examples that you chose to demonstrate silent or systemic racism are fallacies, that doesn't mean that there is no racism, there is racism in every country in the World. But to point out that because the leadership of mayor companies are mainly 'White', it's not prove of systemic racism, you didn't say anything for example of median age of the different populations, that is an important factor in economic advancement of a population and helps to explain why some groups may be more prevalent in higher paid jobs than others. For example, according to Statistics Canada and the latest census you can see that the black population is around 2% of the total population of the Country, but more over a huge chuck of that population is not only young, but recent immigrants from the last 30 years or so. Maybe you should read some Thomas Sowell to have a more broad perspective instead of 'denouncing' racism gratuitously

Quebec is not the best province. Each province have pro and cons. But nahh I'm not agree with you, I am born in Quebec. People doesn't want to speak more english. In my opinion It's the worst province in Canada to lives. Ontario looks much way better and have more opportunity job or busness.

You're not correct about the Quebec government banning the hijab - actually they ban all forms of religious expression in clothes worn at work by public servants - so don't criticize us unless you get the facts straight. All countries are facing public health crisis especially in the aftermath of a global pandemic, you mention how long it could take to get an MRI - weeks/months, but it's no worse than in the UK, or other western countries. I do agree with you about limited competition in banking and tech - but we're still a young and growing country, however, look at the global recession that took place in 2007 - Canada was least affected by mortgage default, the US was hit the worst and hundreds of thousands had their homes foreclosed by the Banks, yet in Canada because of our strict banking policies we were saved and the Banks worked with defaulters to try to keep their homes. Taxes, well most countries require you to file your own taxes at the end of the year - what's so strange about that? Yes sales tax is added onto the sales price depending on what province and what you are purchasing, same as US, just because it's not the same in Europe doesn't mean it's worse! Listen, when you're a newcomer to any country you need to fit in when looking for a job, put in the effort, take the time, do the work, any country is going to expect you to be able to speak the language and know the lingo, so I don't agree with your analysis that Canadians are risk adverse! You are 100% correct about the housing crisis, listen it's been going on everywhere for decades, and international investors in the past 10 years or so woke up and noticed that Canada was a great bet for investment, so the problem got really bad. The government just passed a 2 year moratorium on non Canadians buying real estate - as have many other countries, so fingers crossed no more new foreign landlords just regular Canadians buying their first homes, let's hope so!! I've lived many years in Europe - and I loved it! But the quality of life in Canada is better. If you don't live in the crowded city you can have a nice property with lots of space, good roads, not bad school system, very friendly and helpful people. Quebec has some of the best food on the North American continent, we have clean air and lots of water in Canada - I'm very happy here, so don't be so negative please!

You need to redo your video, dude! You underplayed Alberta and overplayed Quebec and Ontario. Alberta was the only province to keep its books balanced during Trudeaus tyrannical reign of covid and crime is wayyyy lower than others. Also, yes it is an oil province but it was squashed by Ottawa and still came out on top. It's better living for families, jobs vary in high paying between the two main cities and the people are very down to earth and friendly. People have been fleeing the east to Alberta for its freedom from government overreach as well. So, you're out of touch here by a lot. Alberta has deserts, beaches, more gorgeous mountain ranges than BC, farmland, glaciers that never melt despite the globalists so called maniac calls of global warming, as much sunshine as Saskatchewan, forests with many trails and campgrounds, the list goes on. I was born in Ontario, lived in almost every province but by far Alberta is number 1. If you want the juiciest steaks that melt off your fork and onto your tongue it's world best! It's industry is kept here and not finished somewhere else like every other province. Not to mention, farms sell and produce every food and craft beer/ liquor at their gates! Alberta has survived zero taxing its citizens until federal taxes came into here through NDP and Liberals, education is the best in all levels, and the people and governments are more sane and level headed now more than ever. The best rodeos worldwide and festivals count everyday in Edmonton. Who does that? It's self sufficient on its own and is the crown jewel of Canada. It's got multiple canyons all through the rockies! Wapiti are protected and plentiful in parks and if you want the best fudge, go to Jasper! Candy shops fan their delicious aromas down the streets! The most beautiful lakes in the world are in those rockies! The images from mountains are mirrored year round in those numerous lakes! It's picturesque postcard images! Economy is better than others and although rents and costs of homes vary all over you can still get a pretty decent city dwelling or cabin by one of its many cottage home communities that have more to offer for families than any in Ontario with low fees, outdoor and indoor pools, playgrounds, golfing and more. Then there's West Edmonton Mall where you can spend just window shopping 8 hours of not even going to Fantasyland, Galaxyland and more. \nYou will see men in business suits sitting next to actual cowboys/ girls in bars and restaurants. Edmonton uses goats to trim their weeds and high grasses every summer accompanied by a sheep herder and mosquitoes are ZERO nearly. Then the sunlight doesn't quit until 11pm at night and up again at 5am in summer.\nAlberta has tons to offer.

I'm from Quebec and moved to Alberta and I agree it could be a great province to live in, except if your job is in Montreal and you want to commute. The traffic of Montreal is horrible, even worse than Toronto's. The healthcare and education systems of Quebec are also inferior to Alberta, BC and Ontario because of the very heavy bureaucracy. Oh and heavy bureaucracy = Higher taxes than elsewhere in the country. But Quebec has a good quality of life in general because of its low cost of living in general and its strict controls on rent, car insurance and electricity prices, which prevent these from going up by too much. People tend to benefit from more government protections towards abusive businesses in Quebec than elsewhere in the country. Quebec also has cheaper beer, but wine and spirits are cheaper in Alberta. That province also doesn't have a lawsuit culture because of its no-fault rules in many aspects (For ex: You cannot be sued for causing a car accident or failing to clear snow from your driveway.) Alberta is more boring (At least, Edmonton. Calgary looks very cool.), but has better public services and better economic potential than Quebec. It's better in my opinion to raise a family in Alberta. And many people think you can move to Quebec without knowing French. That's false, except if you really wanna hate your time in Quebec. In terms of the climate, Quebec has a milder climate than Alberta but has more snow and their summers are very damp, while Alberta has more comfortable and dry summers. Owning an A/C is imperative in Quebec.

I don’t agree with Quebec as a whole being up so high on the list. They have their own tax and medical system , much higher cost. You must have your children in a unilingual French School unless you have substantial proof that they have a solid English background. English speakers for the most part are ostracized in most of Quebec except some areas of Montreal. All government work places speak only French and there are no English rights in Quebec unless you work for the government of Canada and then good luck getting a job in Quebec as they are designated a unilingual French language speaking province for Canadian government jobs and you won’t qualify unless you speak and read and write French. All signage is restricted to French and the province doesn’t follow any international standards. Even the air traffic controllers only speak French which is why most major airlines don’t fly into Quebec as the standard of language for them is English world wide except Quebec. They have different road rules, tax legislation and pension than the rest of Canada. Wouldn’t want to live there myself. I have a sister in Montreal. Don’t know why she stays.

Bro \nAre you even from Canada? \nSome REAL TIPS \n1) Canada is expensive as fuck. Good luck on a minimum wage job. Don’t bother coming if you don’t have degrees because with such little population jobs are extremely competitive \n2) doctors visits and emergency rooms don’t cost anything upfront but do expect an 8 hour wait or 12 in a big city. Doesn’t matter what your “emergency” is... get in line. We have the longest waits in the world for things like X-rays and MRI’s. True story look it up. \n3) we have the most expense cell phone plans in the world with the shittiest coverage. In all fairness we have a small population and a massive landmass. \n4) if you’re moving to BC, car insurance is government run. So it’s extremely expensive (I think also the most expensive in the world) and it’s awful... so don’t ever get into an accident) other provinces don’t run this way. \n5) gas in BC is also very expansive because of multiple taxes, it’s affordable most places in the prairies though \n6) drinking is 18+ everywhere except BC where it’s 19+ \n\nSo if you want to live somewhere “nice” move to BC. but you’ll be poor as fuck. \nWant to live somewhere affordable, move to the prairies but it’s awful. \nYou can’t move to Quebec if you don’t speak French fluently. Toronto is okay and you won’t fit in anywhere in the eastern islands so don’t even bother. \n\nThe end.