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Political debate
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I've been trying for over two weeks now to organize a political debate at my college. Considering that I'm giving them a huge favour by allowing them to reach a whole body of electors, I wonder why they've been giving me such a hard time!!! Its so frustrating. Anyway, its mostly organized now and I just hope that after all the sweat I put into this, that there will be a bug turnout!

September 26, 2008 | 8:28 PM Comments  0 comments

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Living in Canada - A perfect life?
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

In August I had the chance to attend the World Youth Congress. It was an amazing experience, where I got the chance to meet other youth from around the world. It was great to see how so many people from such diverse backgrounds could come together and all work towards a common goal: reaching the Millenium Goals for development as much as creating a better world, more just.

As I talked with people from other countries, I started getting a better understanding of how other people perceived me, as a Canadian. However, I was not prepared to here my friend`s surprise when she learned that there was poverty in Canada. That`s when I truly realized how some people saw Canada as some sort of paradise.

Of course I was surprised. I am used to being very critical of the social system as well at the national and international politics of Canada. I know our health care and our education systems are often more affordable and allow better services to the "whole" population than in most countries. However, there are still so many lacks in the system and so many inequalities and injustices still remaining.

I have lived in Montreal all my life. Although I was lucky enough to live in a wealthier part of the island, all of my visits downtown had confronted me to the reality of poverty. Homeless people, sitting on the sidewalks, asking for money. This is even more heart breaking when winter comes, for our winters can be long and cold, sometimes reaching temperatures as low as -30 degrees C. Many of these people don't have the proper clothing to stay warm during those cold periods and struggle to find somewhere decent to sleep.

Of course we have some NGOs who's mission is to provide help to the homeless. And they do a good job, for the means that they have. As for our provincial government, its social system has many lacks. We do have a social insurance which provides unemployed people with a job. However, the whole system has many lacks. For example, in order to be provided with any help, one needs to have a place of residence. For many homeless, this is a difficult task, for which many don't know how to go about. Also, the financial aid provided is very low, and often barely covers more than the basic costs of rent. This situation becomes even worst in the case of families. There are many schools where teachers see the children coming in without having eaten breakfest and without a real lunch in their bag.

On a report writting by a Montreal counsil, it is affirmed that one third of Montreal's population lives in poverty (do not confuse with extreme poverty). The most at risk groups are single-mothers, immigrants and, in other regions of the country, natives. Some progrest has been made in getting some people out of poverty, however, like in many other regions accross the planet, the difference between rich and poor become increasingly big.

Yes, Canada is in many aspects more advanced than many countries in terms of living conditions, but Canada is not a complete paradise. A lot of workk still needs to be done in order to make our society better. Many challenges await governments, NGOs and the whole population. Canada is priviledge, but it is not perfect. Governments still haven't started doing their best.

September 4, 2008 | 10:00 PM Comments  2 comments

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