Quote:
Originally posted by Taualumna
I live near an NDP riding, and trust me, it isn't very nice over there. Olivia is a candidate over there. In any case, I'm an old fashioned gal, likely influenced by my immigrant parents. They're pretty much die-hard (social) Conservatives, and are happy with the merger.  I don't think I live in "paradise" other than the fact that I'm close to a good shopping area. My riding isn't as left as Trinity-Spadina, but it's getting close, especially with the new division lines.
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I'm an immigrant too, Taualumna. Granted I didn't come from Asia, India, or the Caribbean, but I'm still an immigrant.
When I said paradise, I wasn't talking about in terms of financial realities. MisterMadly and I are struggling -- we're still paying the bills from my relocation almost four years ago, and I just finished getting a Master's degree, mainly because I knew that it would be easier for me to find work here if I had a degree from a Canadian university.
Where it feels like paradise to me is in terms of human rights and individual freedoms. In the United States, we talk a brave game about multiculturalism and the American Melting Pot, but it's all just a myth. People are more segregated than ever, even though that segregation isn't legally sanctioned anymore. It doesn't matter if you became a citizen last week or if you are a fifth generation American -- in some parts of the United States, if you're not white, you're not considered a "real" American. I don't get that feeling living here. I don't get the sense that I have to conform to some mythical Canadian "ideal" in order to be considered Canadian; as a matter of fact, I appreciate that there isn't some sort of myth that looms large in the Canadian imagination that by its very nature keeps certain people on the outside.
I love that I can walk through my neighborhood and see people who don't look like me, who don't sound like me, and who may not even think like me, but who all get along peacefully and respect each others' differences. I love that my ultra-religious mother-in-law supports my religious beliefs (or lack thereof), and doesn't feel a need to try to "save my soul from burning in Hell" -- complete STRANGERS would do that where I came from, and it always felt invasive and wrong.
To this new Canadian, this country has given me more opportunity, more freedom, and a greater sense of possibility than I ever thought possible while living in the United States. It might sound like hooey, but I
love Canada. I love Canadian openness, and I love Canadian tolerance. I love the multitudinous ways that people show their Canadianness here, and I love that there's no one "right" way to be Canadian. You have a goldmine here, and this country truly is, in my opinion, the moral centre of Western society.
Ya'll have a beautiful thing here -- treasure it always.