By Ramon J. Farolan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:54:00 04/04/2010
A lot of people would normally associate a “loonie” with some crazed fanatic. But in Canada
, loonie refers to the Canadian dollar, which today is almost at par with the US dollar. The loonie is a copper coin with Queen Elizabeth’s portrait on one side and the depiction of a loon—a water bird found in Northern Canada—on the other. Canada’s two-dollar coin, which has a polar bear on its face instead of a loon, is called a “toonie.” It is similar to our 10-peso coin with a copper center surrounded by a silver border. In terms of paper money, the smallest denomination is a five-dollar bill with a picture of youth playing ice hockey, Canada’s national sport.
Another interesting fact about Canada is that in terms of official independence, it is probably one of the youngest in the community of nations. It was only in 1982, upon the signing of a new Constitution Act by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Queen Elizabeth that Canada officially became an independent country. The Philippines will be marking its 112th independence anniversary on June 12. “O Canada” was an old French marching song dating back to 1880. It became Canada’s national anthem 100 years later in 1980.
Canada is the largest country in North America with roughly 10 million square kilometers in land and water area, but with a population of merely 34 million. This is one reason Canada is one of the few countries that conduct seminars in various parts of the world in a bid to attract more immigrants. The waiting time for qualified applicants is anywhere from 16 to 87 months. In the case of my daughter, who has a master’s degree in Journalism from Northwestern University, she made it in 18 months, a reflection of an immigration point system geared towards people with high educational and professional qualifications. She now resides in British Columbia, where she teaches Academic English and Business Communication to college students mostly from Asia and the Middle East.
Canada is an example of a federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy. The country has 10 provinces each with its own parliament and premier, along with three territories—Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. The national government in Ottawa is headed by Prime Minister (head of government) Stephen Harper of the ruling Conservative Party. The governor general, representing the Head of State Queen Elizabeth, is appointed by the Queen on advice of the prime minister. Michaëlle Jean, an immigrant born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, is the current governor general. For Charter change enthusiasts, the Canadian model should be studied closely.
Filipinos in Canada
Statistics Canada or StatCan, the federal agency that comes up with statistics used in the formulation of national policies, reported that there are approximately half a million Filipinos in Canada. Among the more prominent members of the Filipino community is Aprodicio Laquian, former chief of staff of Joseph Estrada and an emeritus professor of human settlement at the University of British Columbia. Laquian recently co-authored a book “Seeking a Better Life Abroad: A Study of Filipinos in Canada 1957-2007.” He believes that a united Filipino community can be a strong political force in Canada. As of today, 15 Filipinos have been elected to public office, including two in the province of British Columbia.
How is Canada faring in the current recession?
All reports indicate that Canada is moving from recovery to expansion. The Globe and Mail, a national broadsheet, reports: “the economy is in overdrive, growing faster than anyone expected. Spending, housing starts, and job creation are surging. House building, hiring and even car buying has surpassed the most optimistic expectations. A year ago, General Motors was facing bankruptcy. Lately, the automaker announced plans to hire more workers and boost production because of a growing demand for certain models.”
The National Post, another daily, highlighted a GDP growth of 0.6 percent for the month of January, the strongest gain in more than three years. Manufacturing made gains for the fifth consecutive month.
Two sectors have been driving the turnaround—the labor market and housing. Unlike their US counterparts, Canadian companies have been hiring; unemployment is down to 8.2 percent in February. Roughly 60,000 full-time jobs were created last month alone. While some of the hiring could be attributed to the Vancouver Olympics, economists credit the private sector for playing a significant role in the upturn.
In the case of housing, home sales jumped 44 percent over last year’s numbers with the average price of homes rising to $335,000, up by 18 percent from a year ago.
In British Columbia alone, Premier Gordon Campbell confirmed that the province would be getting a $450-million hotel casino addition to current gambling facilities. The new project is expected to generate 3,200 direct jobs, 1,300 indirect jobs during the construction period, and is expected to be completed by 2013. It is interesting to note that early in his political career, Mr. Campbell opposed the expansion of gaming operations. He now says that “the whole concept of gaming has changed dramatically,” citing entertainment and cultural opportunities.
Prove your love
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| Marriage Day (Photo credit: Fikra) |
Ryan Rosenberg
I could open this article by quoting from one of the thousands of love songs purporting to ask or answer a question about genuine love. Instead, since this is a column about immigration law, I’ll try to put it in simplified legalese. A person intending to immigrate to Canada as sponsored by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident spouse will not qualify for immigration if the underlying relationship is not genuine and was entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring status in Canada. Simpler yet, fake marriages don’t cut it and Citizenship and Immigration Canada is on the lookout.
Sponsorship rules
Under Canadian immigration laws, Canadian citizens and permanent residents may sponsor their husband or wife, common-law partner or conjugal partner. A successful and thorough sponsorship application will land your better half in Canada relatively quickly, as compared to other types of immigration applications. At the same time, a flawed, incomplete application can keep genuine spouses apart for an indefinite amount of time.
Aside from the many forms, police record checks and medical testing that an applicant must endure, CIC has made it a priority to keep fake marriages out of Canada. These regulations have been strengthened over the years to combat the high number of fraudulent cases, also known as marriages of convenience. As a consequence of these regulations, many applications based on genuine relationships are refused, forcing the applicant and the sponsor to appeal the decision, adding up to an additional year to the application processing times, plus the stress and cost of an appeal.
Prove it’s genuine
So when you complete an application to sponsor your spouse, make extra effort in gathering and submitting evidence to prove that your relationship is in fact “genuine.” I typically categorize evidence into two groups, “sentimental evidence” and “hard evidence.”
The primary type of sentimental evidence used is photographs. Submit a selection of photographs that capture the essence of your relationship. Photos of spouses together on vacation, with each other’s close family and at major life events (birthdays, holidays, vacations, etc.) are usually well received by the government. Do not make the mistake of only submitting photos from a single day or only photos where you are wearing the same outfit. Your photos should represent different milestones in your relationship and not just the wedding.
Other sentimental evidence to submit includes copies of birthday/holiday cards, email printouts, Facebook printouts, love letters, wedding invitations and reference letters from close friends or family that confirm the nature of your relationship. I had a client once who wanted to submit a racy video that he said confirmed beyond doubt that his relationship was real. I told him he was taking it too far.
More evidence
I classify all legal and third party documents as “hard evidence.” Hard evidence that you should plan to submit include copies of a power of attorney, copies of wills or life insurance policies, naming each spouse as the other’s beneficiary, copies of leases or land title certificates, showing both spouses as tenants or owners and copies of bank statements, showing both spouses as joint account holders.
It is also worthwhile to submit copies of boarding passes, hotel reservations, receipts for gifts and dinner, and passport stamps to prove that visits between spouses actually took place. Phone bills are an excellent way to confirm communication between spouses while separated.
Explain well
My final tip is to be thorough in explaining your evidence. Explain what each piece of evidence is and why you are submitting it. Handing a visa officer a pile of evidence without any explanation makes their job difficult. In submitting your application, your goal should be to make the visa officer’s job as easy as possible to approve your application as quickly as possible.
A thorough and complete application, leaving no questions to be answered, may even get you out of an interview and thereby speeding up your application processing. Visa officers are empowered with the discretion to waive interviews for applications where it is clear that the relationship is genuine. As such, the extra time that you put into gathering and explaining evidence will save you much hardship and hassle down the road.
While we all know that finding and maintaining true love is a lot of work, there is no need for an immigration application to follow suit. As when searching for that special someone, when completing a sponsorship application, be honest, open, convincing and thorough.
Source:http://www.canadianimmigrant.ca/settlingincanada/immigrationlaw/article/6701
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