Americans going to Canada for jobs

[Liberal_in_LA]

“I’m looking for a quiet, calm, sane, civilized society to start the next phase of my life,” said Michael, an out-of-work, white-collar professional from Michigan who is seeking a temporary visa to come to Canada.

Like several others interviewed for this article, he did not want his full name used for fear of drawing unwanted scrutiny to his application.

Though he describes himself as both patriotic and a conservative, Michael says he’s lost faith in U.S. leadership — “on both sides of the aisle” — for failing to stem the excesses that led to the collapse of Wall Street, and for the current political brinkmanship over the debt ceiling.

“I’m looking for a country where the first role of the government is to protect its citizens,” he said. “It looks to me like all three major political parties seem to have proven that they are much more responsible than our leadership.”

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/08/america-canada-jobs/?hpt=hp_bn3

[aquart]

1. That's embarrassing.

Pity our Congress can't feel shame.

[NJCher]

2. I rec'd this from a friend who blogs at Huff Post

Illegal Aliens crossing into Canada from the US



From The Manitoba Herald

The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop the illegal immigration. The recent actions of the Tea Party are prompting an exodus among left-leaning citizens who fear they'll soon be required to hunt, pray, and to agree with Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck.

Canadian border farmers say it's not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors, animal-rights activists and Unitarians crossing their fields at night. "I went out to milk the cows the other day, and there was a Hollywood producer huddled in the barn," said Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield , whose acreage borders North Dakota . The producer was cold, exhausted and hungry. He asked me if I could spare a latte and some free-range chicken. When I said I didn't have any, he left before I even got a chance to show him my screenplay, eh?"

In an effort to stop the illegal aliens, Greenfield erected higher fences, but the liberals scaled them. He then installed loudspeakers that blared Rush Limbaugh across the fields. "Not real effective," he said. "The liberals still got through and Rush annoyed the cows so much that they wouldn't give any milk."

Officials are particularly concerned about smugglers who meet liberals near the Canadian border, pack them in Volvo station wagons and drive them across the border where they are simply left to fend for themselves.

"A lot of these people are not prepared for our rugged conditions," an Ontario border patrolman said. "I found one carload without a single bottle of imported drinking water They did have a nice little Napa Valley cabernet, though."

When liberals are caught, they're sent back across the border, often wailing loudly that they fear retribution from conservatives. Rumors have been circulating about plans being made to build re-education camps where liberals will be forced to drink domestic beer and watch NASCAR races.

In recent days, liberals have turned to ingenious ways of crossing the border. Some have been disguised as senior citizens taking a bus trip to buy cheap Canadian prescription drugs. After catching a half-dozen young vegans in powdered wig disguises, Canadian immigration authorities began stopping buses and quizzing the citizens about Perry Como and Rosemary Clooney to prove that they were alive in the '50s. "If they can't identify the accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show, we become very suspicious about their age," an official said.

Canadian citizens have complained that the illegal immigrants are creating an organic-broccoli shortage and are renting all the Michael Moore movies. "I really feel sorry for American liberals, but the Canadian economy just can't support them," an Ottawa resident said. "How many art-history majors does one country need?" In an effort to ease tensions between the United States and Canada, Vice President Biden met with the Canadian ambassador and pledged that the administration would take steps to reassure liberals. A source close to President Obama said, "We're going to have some Paul McCartney concerts. And we might even put some endangered species on postage stamps. The President is determined to reach out," he said.


Cher

[Tesha]

3. Myron Floren. Do I get in? (NT)

[OswegoAtheist]

25. +1

Oswego "Not domestic beer! The HORRORS!" Atheist

[treestar]

4. Does he know much about Canadian leadership?

And whether or not faith should be put in them? I can't imagine leaving this country because of its leadership. Well, I stayed throughout the Bush Administration.

Maybe he's just trying to justify a move for a better job.

[Harmony Blue]

7. They still have a lot of strong barriers to protect

Canadian society from right wing Hawks of their own country unlike ours. Canada is in very good shape compared to the U.S. especially with a middle class that is growing. There is a reason why the U.S. purposefully side steps the issue of clearly defining who is middle class as it would really open a lot of Americans' eyes to be hit by the truth.

[arikara]

31. Maybe the tar sands in Alberta

if anyone could stand to work there, but good jobs here in BC are few and far between too. I don't think we are as bad off as you are, but there are a lot of people hurting. We face the same obstacles, downsizing, outsourcing, union busting. Free trade has left its mark here too, leaving us with mostly low paying crappy service jobs. The construction boom that was driving the economy has pretty much tapered off, there are lots of unsightly, unfinished projects sitting around all over the place.

We also have concerns over what that nut Harper is plotting when parliament sits again very soon, an even bigger concern with the sad and untimely death of NDP leader Jack Layton.

[SoCalDem]

5. I'm encouraging my son to move there. He lives in Seattle

and has been marginally employed for a while now after the steel mill he worked at laid him off.. He's a crane operator, and his fiancee is a laid-off teacher.. They are still young enough to emigrate rather easily and I know they would be better off..

[Harmony Blue]

10. Highly recommended if the cost of moving to Canada is reasonable

so each person must evaluate their situations to decide if it is worth it.

[marmar]

6. But now unemployment is ticking up in Canada......

Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.


..........


Canada's unemployment rate in August inched up to 7.3 per cent, rising by 0.1 percentage points from 7.2 per cent in July.

The country lost a total of 5,500 jobs in August — the second consecutive month that employment picture was little changed.

Economists had been expecting overall job growth last month to increase by 21,000 to 25,000. However, the loss of more than 31,000 part-time jobs overwhelmed the addition of 25,700 full-time positions.

The Canadian dollar took an immediate hit, dropping about half a cent to below 101 cents US. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2011/09/09/unemployment-august-jobs-canada.html

[Shagbark Hickory]

11. Canada has many of the same problems. There is no magical problem free place that canada is

portrayed to be.

[polly7]

16. Whoever said Canada is a magical problem free place? Just curious. nt.

[Shagbark Hickory]

18. Since around the 2000 election, the standard response is if X happens, I'm movin' to canada. nt

[polly7]

21. Oh, I thought someone actually said Canada was a magical, problem

free place.

Oh wait .............. they did.


Surely no-one here believes that, I think it's a bit of unnecessary snark against people who are free to move wherever they like, Canada just being one of the countries mentioned. jmo.

[Shagbark Hickory]

22. Pardon the snark.

I guess.

[polly7]

24. Pardon mine too, bad day I guess. I just get the feeling a lot of people

really don't like Canada much at all. Every time someone mentions us, it brings out the 'yeah, Canada's perfect' stuff, and maybe you don't realize it's scary for us to see ourselves headed down the same path, with our neo-con majority and Jack Layton gone. The whole world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket ..... or whatever that stupid saying is ..... including, us.

[Shagbark Hickory]

26. I understand.

FWIW, I do like Canada a lot. I've spent a great deal of time looking into it as a possible new home. I understand what you mean and I get equally irritated when people are so eager to leave what they have (face it, there's worse countries to be stuck in than the US) but rather than cite legitimate advantages to moving to Canada, they say things like the subject of the article did. People want so badly to believe there are greener pastures, especially when they feel they're stuck and not getting anywhere in life.

[polly7]

27. Yes, what you said makes a lot of sense. It's so difficult to know what to do anymore when

things get so bad. We all have good and bad, I just wish we could learn from one another and combine all the good things - wouldn't that be something!

Peace.

[Shagbark Hickory]

28. That would be something. Actually all the good things are combined in one country already.

And that country is France. :silly:

I kid.

[Robb]

8. Eight years of a Bush presidency*, and he decides to leave now.

Fuck this guy, frankly.

[Wabbajack_]

9. “I’m looking for a country where the first role of the government is to protect its citizens,”

Harper is making sure they put a stop to that! I dunno, try Greenland.

[Creideiki]

12. My partner has Irish dual-citizenship

We may end up going there in the not-quite-foreseeable future.

[Yo_Mama]

15. Uh, among countries with problems Ireland is high on the list

Housing bubble and banking crisis. Major cuts in benefits, etc. Unemployment over 14% this summer:
http://www.irishcentral.com/story/roots/ireland_calling/irelands-unemployment-at-143-percent---where-are-the-entrepreneurs-128786983.html

[area51]

19. 14% is lower than our unemployment rate

of 30½%.

[Yo_Mama]

20. It's about 5% higher than our unemployment rate of 9.1%

Eurostat unemployment:
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&language=en&pcode=teilm020&tableSelection=1&plugin=1

Ireland's budget deficit was about 32% of GDP last year and is supposed to fall this year to about 10%. Irish Debt/GDP ratio may even be higher than ours right now. The 10 year sovereign bond yield is falling, but is still around 8%, compared to ours which has fallen below 2% due to the Euro crisis.

Don't fool yourself and check carefully before going. They have had their own Great Depression with GDP falling on the the order of 20% over a few years. The government has had to cut absolutely everything. The good news is that the hard fall stage is past. The bad news is that unemployment is still rising.


PS: Unfortunately for Ireland, they cannot get a break due to the Euro problems. If they had the same situation in isolation, they might be able to get out of it. As it is, they will have a very difficult time.

[tsuki]

33. Our UC-6 is about 16%. It is a more acurate picture of our unemployment. nt

[quiller4]

30. Unemployment in Ireland nationally is 14% but because so

many Irish University grads leave for jobs oversees there are a significant number of unfilled positions available for those with a college degree. My friend spend 3 weeks in County Cork this summer--the longest trip home since she left Ireland in 1966. She is a retired teacher with a MEd and an Irish speaker. She had two offers for part-time teaching jobs before she returned.

On the other hand, you should not even consider the move if you wish to work in the building trades. With so many out of work in the Irish construction industries, an immigrant seeking a work permit in the building trades would face immediate denial.

Even after cuts in benefits, Ireland is still deeply attractive and the economic situation has already improved markedly http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110908-706452.html

The property bubble in Ireland began in 2000 and peaked in 2006, stabilized temporarily in 2007 and burst in 2008. From mid-2008 through 2010 property prices fell more than 35%. I'd still be leery about buying but rentals are widely available and housing costs are down dramatically from what they were.

[Shagbark Hickory]

13. Canada is not the magical problem free place it's portrayed as. 7% vs 9% unemployment?

And he thinks because there's a 2% difference, he's going to have an easier time finding work?

He can find lower unemployment in the northern plains states.

I look at country shopping much as a business decision, just like a corporation would.
What are the prospects for opportunity and benefits vs the cost of doing business there or living there.

If its lower crime you want and a more inclusive healthcare system and a media culture that doesn't make the politicians seem like they're from outer space, he'll likely be happier in canada. At least for a while. Things change.

The "protect its citzens" comment can mean anything. Protect them from terrorists? Protect them from job offshoring or trade deficits? Protect them from housing bubbles and banks and insurance cartels?

I encourage anyone to pick up and move if they thing they're going to do better somewhere else but things aren't always what they seem. Just like in the US, you can buy dirt cheap real estate in certain areas. Live there 6 months+ a year and you're a primary resident. Welcome to canada now go find a job.

[GoCubsGo]

14. I didn't realize they hired many Americans

Not without major hoop-jumping, anyway. I guess I may have to give some of those openings a second look. I loved all of my visits to Canada, especially British Columbia and Nova Scotia. I'd move there in a heartbeat, bad economy or not.

[treestar]

17. NAFTA may make it easier

Which is odd, because on DU generally, NAFTA is a bogeyman.

[WinkyDink]

36. Mahone Bay, NS, is wonderful!

[socialshockwave]

23. Stay in the USA. We've got enough Canadians out of work as is. n/t

[LadyInAZ]

29. I already applied to canada white

collar jobs. nothing. even applied to other countries jobs. nothing. unemployment is global. but i do see an alarming number of foreigns in white collar jobs in america. in fact i have been interview by foreigns for over a year now. including former co-workers tells me they do not do the job right... and they have to clean up the mess... if and when job market opens... and americans are back at work... i see lot of clean up work and less pay coming our way.... the only people are affected is the working class (lower/middle). and they say this is the land of free and opportunity. lol a joke

[pampango]

34. Canada has an even more "alarming number of foreigns in white collar jobs" since their immigration

rate is 4 times higher than that of the US and it is skewed towards those with more education and professional work experience.

But then my impression of Canadians is that, for the most part, they don't view immigrants as something that you can have an "alarming number" of. After all support for multiculturalism is a part of the Canadian constitution and immigration in general is quite popular, so they have the view that immigrants are good for the economy and jobs in the long run, not bad for them.

[Canuckistanian]

32. Damn. Now we'll have to put up a fence

A single-sourced, environmentally damaging and highly ineffective fence.

Won't someone think of the Canadian children? :D

[galileoreloaded]

35. Everything I know about Canada i learned watching the Trailer Park Boys n/t