50,000????????

[slowandeasy]

As good news start coming from lebanon in recent years, being stable and safe again after years of civil wars, many canadian of lebanese origin decided to visit this year. lets not forget that lebanese came to canada in huge numbers back in the eighties due to civil war, after 20 years many of individuals who could establish themselves in canada chose to build families, homes and businesses in canada. They even employ canadians. if we do the math, canadians from lebanese origin multiplies in numbers over the years in canada in particular in quebec, montreal due to french language that is very commonly spoken in lebanon. For that reason we find many canadians of lebanese origin visiting lebanon this year.

As stated that many canadian from lebanese origin live in lebanon after they became canadian citizins and collect benefits from canada, thats is overstated statment. yes there are some living in lebanon, these people are not asking to be evacuated because they have no place to go to in canada, but those who registered with the canadian embassy in lebanon are counted to be in the range of 25000 who have life in canada and have homes and businesses and pay taxes like every one else in canada. They deserve the help because they are canadians who live and work in canada, respect and love canada like any proud canadan.

Pro419

Well written pro.... I am all for those living, working and contributing to Canada, both socially and economically.... I have some degree of sympathy for those caught up in this conflict.... This is a better situation, than when we rescued people who flew into a hurricane zone....

There are two issues here:
1. 50,000 is a huge number... how many Lebanese/Canadians do we have
living in Canada today... Is 50,000 a realistic number??
2. How many of this 50,000 actually pay taxes in Canada or live here for
6 +months/per year...

How have they verified these numbers???

My biggest issue is with those who only hold Canadian Citizenship as a convenience... IMHO we need people who are contributing to our country not using it as a pit stop for thier grand plans... I would rather have a bunch of unskilled immigrants who are proud to be Canadians and cherish our way of life over many of the " educated, rich" immigrants that we have accepted over the years..

I just realized why I have really been frustrated by recent immigrants to our country... many really don't want to be here...

 

[dj1470]

In Canada we have terrorist organizations, street gangs, and other various criminal organizations that the government for the most part, allows to operate without much intervention. When the innocent young girl in Toronto got killed last Christmas, are we getting what we deserve? According to your logic we are! We need to clean up our own back yard before we start condemning other countries for their internal strife.

Yes we are getting exactly what we deserve. We elect weak ass politicians and tolerate pussy liberal policies that let criminals thrive. The Youth Offenders Act is a prime example. Or the fact that David Miller the Toronto Mayor ignores the Guardian Angels. Who only want to clean up the streets and make them safer? The majority of Canada is the most safe and greatest place to live in the world which is WHY people want citizenship in the first place. As for cleaning up our own backyard. . . well. . . the only real cesspool in Canada is Toronto itself maybe we can start there you are right it really is becoming a hellhole.

 

[Primetime21]

Part of this problem is that we allow people that come here to keep their citizenship from their homeland. We should be like the US, you want to come here you give up your citizenship from back home. And we make them become a Canadian citizen if they want to come here. None of this BS of living here and not becoming a citizen. I don't know how many people i see when i'm doing their tax return and ask them if they want to be on the voters list and they say they aren't able to vote because they aren't citizens. And these people have lived here for up to 20 years in some cases. Let's make them become citizens and maybe we wouldn't have another situation like this in the future.

 

[Meesh]

Part of this problem is that we allow people that come here to keep their citizenship from their homeland. We should be like the US, you want to come here you give up your citizenship from back home. And we make them become a Canadian citizen if they want to come here. None of this BS of living here and not becoming a citizen. I don't know how many people i see when i'm doing their tax return and ask them if they want to be on the voters list and they say they aren't able to vote because they aren't citizens. And these people have lived here for up to 20 years in some cases. Let's make them become citizens and maybe we wouldn't have another situation like this in the future.

http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/dual_citizenship.html

From paragraph 2 of the above site: "The U.S. government allows dual citizenship. United States law recognizes dual citizenship, but the U.S. government does not encourage it is as a matter of policy due to the problems that may arise from it. It is important to understand that a foreign citizen does NOT loose his or her citizenship when becoming a U.S. citizen. An individual that becomes a U.S. citizen through naturalization may keep his or her original citizenship."

Carry on...

 

[slowandeasy]

Part of this problem is that we allow people that come here to keep their citizenship from their homeland. We should be like the US, you want to come here you give up your citizenship from back home. And we make them become a Canadian citizen if they want to come here. None of this BS of living here and not becoming a citizen. I don't know how many people i see when i'm doing their tax return and ask them if they want to be on the voters list and they say they aren't able to vote because they aren't citizens. And these people have lived here for up to 20 years in some cases. Let's make them become citizens and maybe we wouldn't have another situation like this in the future.

I am quite shocked that people live here and do not become citizens.... but I would NOT agree that we should force people to become citizens or to give up their country of birth... Obviously you were born here, live here and will die here so you cannot possibly understand what it means to give up everything that you know and have to move to a different country, culture and/or language...

 

[pro419]

Canadians of lebanese origin

Illaborating to the questions about the huge numbers of canadians of lebanese origin living in canada and those who are visiting lebanon or living in lebanon, here is some food for the thought.

Traditionally lebanese people are know to be the most adventurers in the arab world, lebanon is a small place with less opportunities and continuous conflicts on its soil played by other powers. Many Lebanese people Immigrated to the americans in early 1900, due to the ww1 and ww2 north america attracted millions and millions of new immigrants from all over the world where people took refuge in seek of safety and economical opportunity. Lebanese people were part of that wave of immigration then.

When the civil war break up in lebanon between years 1975-1991 many lebanese families and individuals find again a refuge in other countries of the world. Canada was the greatest country in the world that facilitated the immigration of lebanese nationals during the years of civil war, that contributed to a huge increase in the numbers of immigration from lebanon in canada.

In the past 30 years I.E since the beginning of civil war till today those lebanese became canadians who could establish life and live like any other canadian and buy houses, operate businesses, have families and bring to the world real canadian who were born in canada same like any other community.

The numbers of canadians of lebanese origin kept multiplying and increasing over the years adding up to those who already existed since 1900 or so.

In my rough estimate there is almost 1.5 million canadians from lebanese origin living in canada, where whom have families, friends and ties to lebanon. Lets keep in mind that there are close to 15 million lebanese live outside lebanon who spread all over the world while lebanon's population is only 3 millions.

Over the years canadians of lebanese origin developed strong communities that is well visible in montreal due to the french language, where there are other communities in other canadian cities but on smaller scale.

Canadians of lebanese origin involved in trade, business,medical, engineering, and other parts of the canadian economy. some families are extremly successfull for an example the LEON'S and others who own and operate largest furniture retail chain in canada. many others are very successfull in many aspects of canadian life at same scale of LEON'S in many aspects of canadian economy.

Why there are so many canadians in lebanon, here we say again, canadian way of life and system produced many educated and skilled people among lebanese who immigrated to canada in the past 30 years or so, some of these canadians chose to go back and work in lebanon under canadian or american companies such as IBM, CiSCO, BELL, NORTEL, ETC. and other north american companies, as we know that lebanon been re-build in the last 15 years after its been destroyed by the civil war. in addition to canadians of lebanese origin who chose to live and work in canada, simply went there for vacation and this year they were exceptionally high in numbers.

So these 50,000 canadians who are talked about in lebanon, are in fact real numbers (while its shoking). Lets not forget that despite all the ignorance from some commentators that canadian lebanese ripping off canada, these canadians of lebanese origin pay fees and service charges to the canadian embassy to get passports, birth certificates, certification, and more and they buy many goods and services from canada to use in lebanon.

in other terms the great country of canada is home to almost 10% of total lebanese population who spread on earth who are estimated to be 15 million all over the world. can we be proud of canada's immigration policies and canadians of lebanese origin for the great achievement by the joint efforts of canada and lebanese people, yes we are.

Guess what, who will re-build lebanon after this ordeel, aren't those canadians of lebanese origin who are most skilled, educated, well connected to do the job after they done it in the past 15 years, canada will benefit and be great part of it to sell all the goods, supplies, services and experties lebanon need to rebuild again.

Lets hope for the best and hope that no one will be hurt in this conflict and always hope that peace will be upon lebanon again.

Pro419

 

[onthebottom]

Canada should be charging a fee to citizens who need "rescued" from Lebanon.. as the Americans are doing.

NPR reported today that US citizens "rescued" from Lebanon will not be charged. 1,100 left today.

OTB

 

[scouser1]

walk into a convenience store in Montreal and you will hear Arabic being spoken and you will understand the size of the Lebanese community in this country, you gotta remember they had a vicious civil war between 1975-1990 where something like a million people left that country and a huge number ended up in Canada, deciding to travel back and forth periodically when the war ended and the country underwent a boom in reconstruction, this great nation will surive and rise again in spite of the Iranians, Hezoballah and the Israelis

 

[Dev0]

Yes we are getting exactly what we deserve. We elect weak ass politicians and tolerate pussy liberal policies that let criminals thrive. The Youth Offenders Act is a prime example. Or the fact that David Miller the Toronto Mayor ignores the Guardian Angels. Who only want to clean up the streets and make them safer? The majority of Canada is the most safe and greatest place to live in the world which is WHY people want citizenship in the first place. As for cleaning up our own backyard. . . well. . . the only real cesspool in Canada is Toronto itself maybe we can start there you are right it really is becoming a hellhole.

I agree with most of what you state above. The point that I am trying to convey is that there are innocent people in Lebanon that want no part of Hezbollah or any other factions that promote terrorism-war. Israel attacked Lebanon with no regard whatsoever for innocent bystanders. Like the innocent girl that got killed in Toronto, these innocent bystanders are not getting what they deserve.

I also happen to believe that Steven Harper is making good decisions and handling the situation with decisive leadership. If Paul Martin was in power, he would still be analyzing the public opinion polls. I do not agree with Harpers pro Israel stance that he appears to be taking though. The "West " needs to realize that the Arabs are not always the bad guys. Unfortunately most of the media is controlled by the other side, so the information that we receive is far from objective.

 

[someone]

I also happen to believe that Steven Harper is making good decisions and handling the situation with decisive leadership. If Paul Martin was in power, he would still be analyzing the public opinion polls. I do not agree with Harpers pro Israel stance that he appears to be taking though. The "West " needs to realize that the Arabs are not always the bad guys. ...Edit

I think that you do a good job of summing up the situation. I tend to agree with this part of your post.