Immigration. So many Lebanese-Canadians arriving here have made me question our immigration policies. Why aren't they Canadian-Lebanese? Nope, all media are calling them Lebanese-Canadians. Can I be a Canadian-Canadian?? Even Stats Canada does not let me label my children as Canadians. They had to be classified as English/Ukrainians, even though their Dad is not sure his people really were from England, they think they are but, mostly they think they are Canadian. My family was from both the Ukraine and Poland, but that was generations ago.
I have always been and always will be a Canadian. Check your census form, that is not an option. You can not check off Canadian as your ethnic choice. It is not there, so there are no Canadians according to Stats Canada.
Until our government starts to acknowledge the fact that people born here are Canadians, we do not exist.
So, is it any wonder that Lebanese-Canadians feel torn because they left parents behind in Lebanon? One of my kids friends is spending the summer in China, because that is where his Father works. Seems his Father only comes back to Canada often enough to get his wife pregnant again. She and the kids live here, the Father lives elsewhere.
Immigration is a great idea, but only if the people coming here become Canadian-Canadians.
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