Talking of the weather, there's a heat wave doing the rounds of the city during the last two weeks. Temperatures are hovering at about 30 degrees C or more, with the humidex at a much higher level. Today's heat promises to break the record from 1948 which is when records commenced. The temp will be 37C with the humidex at 50C. Humidex is a Canadian number which indicates the actual temp effect on the human body combining heat and humidity. Now 50C is a number that hits the Persian Gulf countries in summer and you cannot see anyone walking there on roads in that heat. In Toronto on the other hand, there are people always walking the streets even in that weather. On the other hand the older generation of Torontonians don't have air-conditioning in their homes. In the 50s to the 80s there was no need for it, apparently. I feel sorry for the construction people who have to labor under these conditions. Another oddity in Toronto is that the temperature goes higher at about 4 pm than at noon. While Canada is well prepared for the cold, it is not, for the heat.
Usually about 250 thousand new immigrants are planned for Canada every year but the numbers are considerably down for the past few years. That is not due to less applications (those are increasing) but a stricter policy put in place by the current Conservative regime whose MPs come from rural constituencies and are generally less convinced about the need for immigration as compared to say urban, more informed politicos. Just yesterday the Immigration Minister has dropped a bombshell about 1800 Canadian citizens to be deported. Now that is a serious matter. The only reason citizenship can be revoked is on grounds of fraudulently obtaining it. Most of the 1800 it seems were not eligible for the honor. It happens that quite a few of them are permanently living abroad. There are arguments on both sides. Citizenship requires living in Canada for 3 out of the past 5 years at time of application. But the Govt is partly to blame. There is no stamping of the passport on exiting the country (like the US) and therefore no clear record of amount of time spent in Canada. I personally know of more than a few Goans from the Gulf countries who have been working for most of the year in the Gulf and falsely declare they have been resident in Canada and get their citizenship on that basis. While Canada has largely escaped the financial troubles that are hitting the United States (the regulatory environment is much stricter than in the US - they deride us as a Socialist country), there will be no escape if the US actually hits a brick wall. Our commodity-rich trade is too closely aligned with our neighbor and only now is Canada trying to diversify their commodity exports to other countries. It was funny when on the occasion of trying to enhance trade with India, an Indian official told the Canadian delegation "you are too late". Sigh. Our unemployment rate is less than 7% while the US number is a horrific 11%. That was exactly the reverse when I came here in 1992 and jobs were well nigh impossible to get for a new immigrant. But opportunities always exist for the enterprising. I did several exams and licenses and went into private financial practice. It is summer in Canada and this is the time of year people use to go on picnics, cottage weekends and travelling all around Canada and the US. The seniors who had flown to warmer climes in winter, mostly Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean are all in the city now and enjoying the heat, although definitely not the current wave. Many Torontonians, Goans included, have bought houses and properties in Florida, taking advantage of lower real estate prices during the recession there. A large beautiful house on the Florida coast that was valued at USD 600 to 700K before is now available for 250K or less and the cash rich Canadians are going shopping for them. A lot of the East African Goans who came to Canada in the 70s from Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania and even India are now retired. They have the money and buy these Florida homes for the enjoyment of their children and grandchildren. Another phenomenon is the current immigration of older Goans from Bombay and Goa to Canada. These folk have big money from the stratospheric sums obtained from sales of flats in Bombay and houses and ancestral properties in Goa and they find houses comparatively cheap in Toronto. Vancouver is too expensive and other parts of Canada are not comparable to these two cities. When I ask them why they needed to do this even though they enjoyed wealthy lives in India, the unanimous answer is a combination of quality of life and future for their recently graduated children. Many of them visit their relatives in Toronto during the summer, using their time not only to enjoy their international trip but also to recce life in this country for possible immigration in the future. And so the Toronto world goes, on a Thursday morning in July in the year of Our Lord 2011. Roland Francis
