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Friday, May 28, 2010

What Wolfgang Needs? A Business Plan

Woflfgang, to be prepared in the upcoming meeting with Wanda and her accountant, must be ready for the following ideas, issues and discussions.

Discuss briefly about how the business came into view (history)
Find out and discuss with Wanda why she is interested in selling the business
This information is helpful in determining the business’ health
Will help Wolfgang assess the difficulty of managing the business
Request for valuable files, if possible files including customer and supplier records
Helpful in the future if the purchase succeeds

The size of the business can be partially determined with this information
Request financial statements (even though it is not very well maintained) at least a comparative of the currently concluded year and the year prior to it (the tax return that Wanda made would be all right if no more other records are available).


Very important and relevant data can be found here such as sales, expenses, profits, cost of production, and net income


Also from this, the assets of the business, Wanda’s tailoring shop can be assessed, the liabilities as well and the net worth


The information contained here will be checked independently to assess its reliability and correctness
Request documents that relate to properties such as licenses and registrations
Determine if Wanda have valuable in angible assets such as licenses
Determine the legality and compliance of the tailoring shop’s existence
Discuss on the processes or internal setup of the business: How Wanda go around, prepare things in the shop, how she manages all and how she made the business successful all these years
Discuss existing and potential competitors of the business in the vicinity
Helps in pricing adjustment on the purchase if there are competitors
Discuss some restrictions regarding competition, such as Wanda not opening the same shop nearby, not working in the competitor’s shop, etc.
Request sample contracts with existing suppliers and customers, if applicable
Will be good bases for the assessment of business operation
Will be a valuable information in the future when the purchase succeeds
Discuss on the purchase agreement
Who will be responsible for drafting the contract
Who handles all the taxes and other impositions on the sale/purchase
The tentative price Wanda wants to sell the business/shop
Go around the shop to feel its ambiance and environment
Try to have some look at the existing assets like patterns and sewing machines
Inspect the room/shop location to get a feel on owning it
Discuss with Wanda if she would allow a due diligence engagement, at least from Wolfgang’s accountant and another auditor
To determine the salability and feasibility of the purchase
To independently assess the operation and profitability of the shop
To assist Wolfgang in determining the real worth of the business
To allow Wolfgang examine closely the business and compare the price that Wanda offers and
Finally to decide whether to finally purchase it or not


References
“Buying a Business.” NSW Small Business. 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2008. http://www.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au/smallbusiness/Starting+in+Business/Buying+a+Business/.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

The Secret Life of Water by Emoto, an Essay

the secret life of water image and very good essay













The Secret Life of Water by Emoto, an Essay

the secret life of water essay by emoto, a detailed article

I. Introduction
Spirituality, defined by Kelly (1995) is "a personal affirmation of a transcendent connectedness in the universe"(p.4). On the other hand, spirituality “addresses issues such as life purpose and meaning, from which may emerge a code of behavior” (Meyer & Lausell, 1996). In the book of Masaru Emoto, The Secret Life of Water, spirituality has been clearly illustrated. It is the affirmation of connectedness between humans and water and also the bond between earth and water in general. As the element of nature, and as the title suggests, the main focus of the book is about the power and mysterious capabilities of water. The presentation of facts in the book might be not so clear and can be a little subjective but the contentions of the author are, if based with everyday life and with common sense, the ideas of Emoto are very agreeable.

The claims in the book of Emoto are not strictly based on science but those claims have pragmatics and if believed, no harm can be done. This is what faith is all about, and in Emoto’s findings, it can be categorized as a product of spirituality in nature, in this case nature’s element which is water. Only faith can hold strong the claims of the book because faith does not question reason and evidence.

II. Water and Prayer, their spirits, powers and strengths
Water, according to the author, combined with prayer can cure. The cure as a reader may understood it, can be more than its literal meaning. Water flows like the life energy termed “hado” and without a continuous flow life would be nothing – without a meaning, without purpose. Hado’s flow, as stated in the book can be blocked with humans’ material desire, ego and ideologies, pride and other negative actions and characteristics.

Prayer is powerful, according to the book, and it can greatly affect water and the status of the world in a broader sense. In the book’s theme, spirituality is strongly encouraged. It also aims to have the reader find peace within himself as well as it promotes peace all over the world. In this regard, this is where the practicality of the book’s claims get in: the world would indeed be better off if the majority, if not all, are spiritual and not as highly materialistic as the world that we live in today. As stated in the book,

the secret life of water essay by emoto, a detailed article
When it comes to the power of prayer, it does not necessarily mean that all prayers are answered, nor all the wants of human beings asked/requested in prayers will be provided. Instead, prayer is a powerful activity that can allow a soul to search within himself/herself in the presence of silence, relaxed mind and concentration when asking for guidance. According to the Reverend Margaret B. Gunnes of Explore Faith Organization, the “power of prayer is the constant renewal of perspective.”

However, this power of spirituality and prayer is not very discrete nor it is strong as it is observable in the present times. If many souls would however realize the overall effect of spirituality, if collectively utilized, the world would be a better place to live in.

Presently, spirituality and prayers are not very powerful to take and solve all the problems and cure all the illness of the weak world and. Why? Because humanity is broken and always at opposing ends, always wanting for more and more material things rather than having their spiritual needs get fulfilled. Is the book of Emoto enough to carry peace within the reader? If not, how can it carry peace all around the world? Or, if indeed the power of the spirit that strong through water and can convert the book’s reader into a peaceful being? How about the rest of the world? Is spirituality enough for the entire planet? Would the power of water sustain this world’s peace and existence?

The book alone is surely not enough to convert the world into a spiritual space. Nor spirituality alone can pacify the world. These factors however did not hinder this paper to believe in the purpose of the book and what it claims, thus this paper agrees with the author. Emoto’s effort can serve as a starting point for the humanity to look upon the spiritual side of life with water as one way to attain it. Even in the oldest philosophies of Taoism, the power (spirituality) of water was emphasized. Many have already agreed to the power of water, be it spiritual or not. Even in the Tao-te Ching by Laotze (604?-531? BCE), presented in the eighth Chapter is the text on water’s power and value. The following is the beautiful and inspiring text of the book that parallels to the claims of Emoto:

the secret life of water essay by emoto, a detailed article

Water, can serve as a mirror that has an ability to reflect- to reflect the human heart. Also, with the use of water the power of prayer was reflected upon it visually revealing its wonderful effect in changing the world.

In fact, one of the author’s researches have shown how positive words reflect in the water. Encouraging words such as wisdom, care, and love resulted to beautiful crystal formation when the water into which they were spoken was frozen. On the other hand when pessimistic and discouraging words are spoken such as “you fool" or "you're an idiot" (Massey, 2006, p. 4), resulted to a badly organized ice crystals. Moreover, the ice crystals formed from the water where the word “wisdom” was spoken in various languages such as Japanese, English and German look very similar to each other – a very interesting result and it is backed by experimentation and research! In this regard, water must really have spiritual power that cannot be easily identified by a naked eye nor by a wandering human soul.

Further, it was postulated that as humans grow, their materialistic desire grow and bad habits start to attach to them such as vices and pride. This explains the diminishing amount of water contained in an adults body, which is around 70%, roughly 25% lesser to that amount contained in a an innocent child’s body which can reach up to 95% water. The words that adults use was also accounted for this change and difference in bodies’ water composition..
Strange as the mentioned findings may be, water inhibit these characteristics that to those who are aware of this fact can only wonder and think in awe. The above findings, though conducted in some scientific/experimental basis, the author tends to convey to the readers the spiritual side of the results.

III. Conclusion
Prayer. This is the way according to the book. Water. This reflects human prayer. These two however are not enough as the obvious is visible and thoroughly observable in this world. But is the contention of the book agreeable? YES! Water and prayer are both powerful elements that if every individual may have faith, can cure this ailing materialist world.
But the reality? Each individual is inherently rational that has his own ways to deal with life. Moreover, the insatiable nature of man makes him unbelieving to some spiritual means and his rationality prevents him from having faith, either in the supreme being or the power of some spiritual elements such as water.

However, humanity must acknowledge the strength of knowledge and the understanding it gives to an individual. Although humans can be bad at times, but if absolute reason is in the mind of each one of them, this earth would be a better place to live in. In fact, according to Kant, with “good will” performed in each Man’s obligation, he would attain freedom. This freedom is with the presence of knowledge and good will. Spirituality, coupled with the right knowledge, is a very sharp tool that will enable humanity to be at peace and attain peace in a broader sense. The power of prayers, knowledge and spirituality can make a person very understanding of another and if the varying cultures and religions have wide acceptance and sympathy or understanding towards each other, they would not be fighting against each other: whites against blacks; Christians versus Muslims; tribe one versus tribe two nor Americans versus Iraqis!

the secret life of water essay by emoto, a detailed article

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Organizational Structure & International Business

The current organizational structure of Physical Movement Company (PM) is to let its existing personnel handle an international expansion even though such personnel has not experienced any relevant exposure yet. This means that PM has somewhat failed to foresee the most important step in its expansion plan in a global perspective. Moreover, this means that unless a very strong motivation strikes the assigned personnel, PM’s international sales can either suffer or fail. Why? If an action is "implemented without a consideration of the best organizational structure to support the change, the likelihood of the change being successful in the long run is poor." (Bissell & Zamora, 1993) It means that before the expansion, PM should have closely examined and evaluated its structure first and tried to analyze its possible impact upon its expansion plan. This might mean assigning a task to someone that is highly profiled with a kind of task required to a position (i.e., Vice President of International Sales) and it might mean hiring some personnel outside of the existing managers that it (PM) currently has..

Compatibility is a big thing to consider. Assigning the task for someone that is compatible with the tasks or job or designing a structure that is compatible with operational policies of the company is very essential. “The compatibility of organizational values with the values of the wider society in which the organization is embedded is deemed essential to the long-term success of organizations” (Giacobbe-Miller, Miller, Zhang & Victorov, 2003: Hofstede, 1984; Morris et al., 1994; Schuler and Rogovsky, 1998) and “research indicates that organizational-societal cultural congruence is important to productivity…” (Giacobbe-Miller, Miller, Zhang & Victorov, 2003: Newman and Nollen, 1996).

Changing PM’s structure cannot be ascertained as to the number of days, weeks or months. What is important to note is, if the organization can clearly define the following factors, it can readily and effectively change its organizational structure and design:

how people will interact with each other;
how communications will flow;
how rewards are distributed;
how power relationships are defined; and
what is important to the organization
The five factors above are according to Bissell & Zamora (1993). In this regard, PM’s structure can be changed depending upon its responses to the factors defining it and the factors that are basic in making an organization successful. An organization’s structure also continually changes, innovates and adopts according to its policies and strategies in its operation. This means that as PM expands, it structural design must go with and reinforce this plan.

References
Bissell, B. L., & Zamora, B. (1993). Organizational Structure: The Neglected Aspect of the Management of Modern Environmental Health Organizations. Journal of Environmental Health, 55(8), 23+.

Giacobbe-Miller, J., Miller, D., Zhang, W., & Victorov, V. (2003). Country and Organizational-Level Adaptation to Foreign Workplace Ideologies: A Comparative Study of Distributive Justice Values in China, Russia and the United States. Journal of International Business Studies, 34(4), 389+..

Scenario:
You have achieved great success at Physical Movement Company (PM Co.) as their Sales Manager. PM Company is a three year old, US$25 million home healthcare company, headquartered in the northeastern part of the United States. The firm creates and sells wheelchairs, walkers or other types of “mobility products” that give a person some level of mobility when they can no longer completely ambulate on their own. Recently due to an influx of inquiries about your mobility products and some very large, direct sales to customers outside your home country, you have been promoted to the position of Vice-President of International Sales, responsible for all sales outside the United States. The job sounds simple enough – just sell your great mobility products around the world! Benefits of the job include traveling globally, eating great food and shopping for bargains in your free time. Life is good!

However, after a few days in your new position you begin to realize there is more to this job than what you were previously accustomed to as a Sales Manager who sold only in your own country. Your previous job responsibilities included finding a need for your mobility products, overcoming any objections and closing the sale. You were very comfortable in this role. As you begin to call on companies around the world by phone and e-mail, you realize that the global business environment is far more complex, involves many more details, and requires much more knowledge than you ever realized! Because of the time zone differences, you are finding yourself working all the time as business is conducted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week around the world, so there is always someone you need to contact or follow-up with. No one in the company has ever sold internationally before. There are a few employees in the company who were not born in this country. They can provide some language skills and can share their cultural knowledge, but they do not have international business experience. However, you are now the global business leader for your company.

Late one night between calls to Singapore and China, you realize you need to quickly learn as much as you can about global business issues and their implications and to communicate these issues and their solutions to senior management so that together you and the company can achieve your new worldwide revenue objectives.


Assignment:
What is PM Companys optimal organizational structure? How does it impact PM Company’s international market expansion plans? How would it change as PM Company adopts additional international market expansion strategies? How long and what will it take to actually change the organizational structure?

Friday, May 7, 2010

Great Men Versus Unnecessary Men

Are “great men” really that important? Before this question can be answered, noticed that the adjective “great men” needs to be defined first. Often, this phrase (great men) is viewed by the majority as men of achievements, power, money, fame or a combination of the mentioned factors. This means that Napoleon the Great and Einstein are both great men as they “were” both great powerful and full of achievements during their existence. It also makes Bill Gates and Joanne Kathleen Rowling great man and woman for their power, achievements, wealth and fame, among others.
Great Men

It might be true that the above mentioned personalities were at the right place at the right time but the majority of their efforts still came from their side and contribution. As one great man of war and history and as a fabulous author, this paper focuses on Bonaparte and Rowling as persons who did not simply put themselves in the right place at the right time to get what they are worth for. Bonaparte was even considered as "the most splendid genius that has appeared on earth." (Andrews, 1939, p. 3: Acton, 1887, p.603) It should be noted that Napoleon the Great did not sit to achieve his title. From his childhood, he seemed to have been an ambitious boy already, as he said it himself.

"I was self-willed and obstinate, nothing awed me, nothing disconcerted me. I was quarrelsome, exasperating; I feared no one. I gave a blow here and a scratch there. Every one was afraid of me. My brother Joseph was the one with whom I had the most to do; he was beaten, bitten, scolded; I complained that he did not get over it soon enough." (Fournier, 1903, p. 5: Napoleon Bonaparte)

Thus, with a little bit of ambition, perseverance and hard-work, Napoleon could not have been as Great as he was and he is (still).

On the other hand, Harry Potter’s author is another person to be looked up at. Her being a woman did not stop her from succeeding or attaining the status of being one of "the most successful novelist in the world" (Stephen, 1999, p. 24). Rowling made a hard work to succeed and did not wait fame to strike her. She had her own failures and frustrations as a regular person, too far from being great, yet, she never stopped to be inspired to continue her Harry Potter novels.

Americans love rags-to-riches myths, of course. Rowling is not even Scottish, but a middle-class Chipping Sodbury girl who read French at Exeter University before working for Amnesty International; after her marriage to a Portuguese journalist ended she stayed with her sister in Edinburgh, went on social security and started writing the first Potter book. To the average middle-class American, hearing how somebody goes from "welfare" to overnight millions is vindication of the notion that hard work is all that is required for success… (Stephen, 1999, p. 24)

Clearly, and again, it is not only being at the right place at the right time to succeed and be “great”. A big deal of effort and perseverance as well as discipline and unmarred motivation must be present. Thus, great men are important, not because of the fact that they are great but because of the inspiration they give to common individuals on how they have achieved their greatness.


References
Andrews, G. G. (1939). Napoleon in Review. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Fournier, A. (1903). Napoleon the First: A Biography (E. G. Bourne, Ed.) (Corwin, M. B. & Bissell, A. D., Trans.). New York: Henry Holt.

Stephen, A. (1999, November 1). Dame Enid Wows the Yanks. New Statesman, 128, 24.

Instructions:
Today we mark much of our technological advances by the inventors. Think of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Would computing be different without them or, as Jared Diamond supposes, were they just in the right place at the right time? Are “great men” really not that important? Why or why not. Choose 1 or 2 great men (or women) to use as examples to explain your answer.

The Kingdom of Heaven: An Essay

The Crusades were known as a series of expeditions in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries undertaken by the Christian countries to take the Holy Land, which is Jerusalem, from the Muslims. Many years ago, Jerusalem was under the control of Muslims. Christians could hardly enter the Holy Land for their pilgrimage to pray and sing their praises. For Christians, Jerusalem is a very important place for it is where Jesus was born and crucified. The Holy Land is where the forgiveness, wealth and peace are. For Muslims, Jerusalem is important because of their belief that Mohammad, their god, is there. These are the very reasons for the crusades that took place for a long period.

The crusade was a conflict between the Christians and Muslims where interactions of war are minimal. The movie portrayed the presence of both Christians and Muslims ruled by King Baldwin IV and Saladin respectively. Throughout the entire movie, there were only three wars that broke up and two of it was perfected. The first war sparked through the influence of Reynan and Guy de Lusignan, husband of King Baldwin IV’s sister, Sibylla when they attacked a Muslim caravan. However, both parties pulled back after King Baldwin IV and Saladin’s conversation:

Saladin: I pray you pull back your cavalry and leave this matter to me.

King Baldwin IV: I pray you retire unharmed to Damascus. Reynald of Chatillon will be punished. I swear it. Withdraw or we will all die here. We have terms.

Saladin: We have terms. (Kingdom of Heaven)
Warning and Friendly Reminder: Plagiarism is a crime. This essay is here to give you an idea or guide you, not to be copied by you. You can look at the references and Works cited provided by this free academic essay and from that you can create your own. Be a smart student,be honest: look for free academic essays anywhere in the web or the Internet but don’t forget to make your own. There are so many free essays online as guides but please do your own. You can also utilize free plagiarism checkers available online.
The second war was again influenced by wickedness and war thirst of Reynald and Guy de Lusignan when the latter succeeded the throne but the war ended in their indiscriminate loss due to lack of water and armies. The third was an attack to the Jerusalem by the Muslim as an aftermath of the second war. Though the Christians lost the war, the lives of many women children and helpless were spared through the righteousness and courage of Balian.

The crusades were influenced by the belief of the Christians that their sins would be forgiven and they would find wealth in Jerusalem. This has been portrayed in the movie with several conversations:

Godfrey of Ibelin: (speaking to Balian): Some say, Jerusalem is the very center of the world for asking forgiveness but myself I call it here. Now. I have one hundred men at arms. If you will come with me you will have a living… (Kingdom of Heaven)

It is depicted also by the priest by saying “If you take the take the crusade, you may relieve your wife’s possession in hell. She was a suicide. She is in hell”. This was believed by Balian when he followed his father:

Balian: I have done murder… Is it true that in Jerusalem I can erase my sins and loss of my wife? Is it true?

Godfrey: We can find out together. (Kingdom of Heaven)

The movie has depicted the histories of disintegration of the crusades. When Guy de Lusigna succeeded the throne of the king, he wanted to get rid of the Muslims, as what happened also in the history of the crusades. Upon sitting, Guy de Lusigna formed his armies to wage war against the Muslims but Tiberia and Balian resisted because they were certain of loss for lack of water, arms and the powerful armies of the enemy. The greediness and politics that have happened in the history of the crusades were depicted by the movie in the person of Guy de Lusigna and Reynald. This has also caused the disintegration because of Guy de Lusigna’s arrogance and rudeness to Godfrey and Balian, as showed when they were eating together:

Guy de Lusigna: You sit at my table.

Balian: Is it not the king’s table?

Guy de Lusigna: … I cannot eat. I’m fin nicking about the company in front of this could not inherit… (Kingdom of Heaven)

Guy de Lusigna’s war thirst, as transcended in the crusaders’ history, was portrayed by Guy de Lusigna:

Guy de Lusigna: Give me a war.

Reynald: Yes my lord. That’s what I do. (Kingdom of Heaven)

Notably, the personalities in the crusades were also portrayed in the movie in the person of King Baldwin IV and Saladin. These personalities were credited for their greatness and braveness in the crusades. King Baldwin IV and Balian portrayed the very purpose of the crusades which is to protect the Christians even it means their life:

King Baldwin IV: We must meet him before he reaches Kerak. I will lead the army.

Tiberias: My lord, if you travel, you’ll die.

King Baldwin IV: Send word to Balian to protect the villagers.

King Baldwin IV: Assemble the army! (Kingdom of Heaven)

Further, these two personalities, during their reign has established and maintain between them peace. Both Christians and Muslims were free to pray in Jerusalem as showed where Muslims were praying in the Messina, port of the Holy Land and in the place ruled by Balian. It was also portrayed when Balian spared the life of Nasir.

With all the statements above, it can therefore be said that the movie Fingdom of Heaven has portrayed the conflict of the Christians and Muslims that created crusades in the olden history of Middle East.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Respect... All We Need is Respect!

Humans tend to judge people according to his or her appearance. Humans tend to judge people by the way they look and how they smell. Humans tend to generalize a class according to their own encounters. Such attitudes of humans lead to misjudgment and discrimination, which in turn makes everything unfair. Wash Williams of Winesburg, Ohio suffers from such kind of misjudgment from people around him. The women of Winesburg too suffer misjudgment from Wash Williams.

Wash Williams is a telegraph operator in Winesburg, Ohio. Wash Williams was comely man (Anderson). When he was young, he has been recognized as the best telegraph operator and has been promoted and his salary was increased. Until now, Wash Williams is still enjoying the ability he possesses.

However, those were just a part of his past. Today, Wash Williams looks different, “His girth was immense, his neck thin, his legs feeble. He was dirty” (Anderson). People mock at him and ridicule him for his scent and physical appearance. Such major change in his life has been caused by a misery he suffered from a woman he truly loved. This fact was not known among the citizens of Winesburg, except for the reporter, George Willard.

Wash Williams has been misjudged because of his smell and dirtiness. This fact has been proved in the person of Mrs. White, a banker’s wife. Mrs. White complained to the telegraph company for the dirtiness and abominable smell of Wash Williams’ office. This complaint is an insult to Williams that could have angered him but despite such, he just tore the complaint and laughed at it. The complaint in itself is an insult to Wash Williams because it is directed to his personality, which is independent from his job. Instead of termination, Wash Williams retained his job which proves that his appearance and abominable smell has no negative effect in the performance of his job.

Citizens of Winesburg have misjudged Wash Williams by comparing him to beast. Wash Williams may be dirty, unhealthy- looking, odorous and unpleasant but he does not act like a beast. Williams does not kill nor hurt people. William was not a threat to anyone for he was working peacefully in his stinky office. In fact, he disassociates himself to other people when he said, “I’ll have nothing to do with them” (Anderson). Wash William was not a beast for he is not scary, in fact people use to laugh at him.

Despite of all of these unfair judgment and treatment by the people of Winesburg, Wash Williams strongly withstand them all, as if he was unaffected. He continued to serve by being a telegraph operator and those oppressions never made him weak.

Nevertheless, Wash Williams has a flaw. Wash Williams hated women, called them “Bitches” and treated them as they are all the same as when he said:

“… I tell you there is something rotten about them. I was married, sure. My wife was dead before she married me, she was a foul thing come out a woman more foul. She was a thing sent to make life unbearable to me. I was a fool, do you see, as you are now, and so I married this woman. I would like to see men a little begin to understand women. They are sent to prevent man making the world worth while. It is a trick in Nature. Ugh! They are creeping, crawling, squirming things, they with their soft hands and their blue eyes. The sight of a woman sickens me. Why I don’t kill every woman I see I don’t know.”

Wash Williams encounter with one woman was enough for him to hate all women not minding the differences of women in terms of their characters. Wash Williams misjudged the women by generalizing all the women as the same as his wife.

However, Wash Williams was not to be concluded as such. After two years of marriage, Wash Williams started to develop an intense feeling of hatred to all women which could be a natural feeling and is an incomparable to the pain he suffered from a woman he truly loved.

Wash Williams married a daughter of a dentist. Wash Williams was comely while his wife was beautiful. Happiness filled their marriage more when Wash Williams was promoted. Wash Williams love to his wife was undoubtedly genuine and sincere because he bought a house for them to completely settle down. Wash Williams’ love to his wife was unfading as when he confessed to the reporter, “I loved her, I don’t claim to be a fool… I love her yet” (Anderson).

Wash Williams genuine love shattered into pieces when his wife betrayed him, “When after two years of that life I found she had managed to acquire three other lovers who came regularly to our house when I was away at work” (Anderson). What Wash Williams wife did was an act undeserving of forgiveness and should be punished. The number of men she was with while married to Williams could have aggravated his anger. Any man who would be in his position could have killed his wife. But Wash Williams is different.

Wash Williams’ gentleness was unconditional because he did not hurt his wife. Instead he returned his unfaithful wife to her mother and gave his earning to his wife. Even the payment of their house sold was generously given by Wash Williams to his wife without asking any reasons. Williams’ act was a kind of extraordinary kindness and gentleness.

Wash Williams was betrayed by the woman he genuinely loved and such depression could have lead to ending his own life but he never did because he was strong enough to overcome his misfortunes. Sadly, the effect of his experience has ruined his comely appearance into a disgusting being and has developed in him hatred to all women which hinders his feeling to fall for another woman. A chance of a second love was lost.

With all that Wash Williams had gone through, it can be drawn from there that Wash Williams is a man of courage, gentleness, patience and endurance. Courage for he firmly stood up despite the loss of his disloyal wife. He managed to continue his life even without anyone beside him. He conquered his despair. Gentleness for Williams never had her hands set on the body of his wife after discovering her unfaithfulness. He may have hated women but he never hurt them, except when once he struck the girl’s mother. Patience and endurance because he never had let his life and job be affected by the ridicules and spite that other people throw at him. Wash Williams is indeed, in any aspect, respectable.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Handling the Aliens: Canadian Approaches to Immigration

I. Introduction-The same question holds true: Why do people migrate? But the answer to this would not be perfect unless it is known why countries admit immigrants. Migration, which involves the complete emigration and immigration process, is not new to human life. It has been carried out since the beginning of time. In fact even animals did, and are still doing it for the sake of better living and survival. In these modern days, however, migration involves more defined reasons such as "political, social, institutional, ideological and technical circumstances that motivated and enabled migrants to leave" (Bauder, 2006) or emigrate from their country which demonstrates disadvantages on these factors and immigrate to another country where those mentioned factors are more favorable.. 
To immigrate in one country is not a simple thing to do, be in the part of the immigrant or in the side of the admitting country. For the aspiring immigrants, they have a great deal of serious decision making to make if they plan to immigrate to a certain country and leave their own place. Moreover, there are lots of factors to be considered when choosing a country upon which one or the family plans to move to. Why is it more advantageous to migrate to the United States of America (USA) or Canada than to migrate to Dominican Republic or to China or vice versa? This is where the role of networking and the power of media and information dissemination come in. According to Palmer (1990, p.7), the sources of information may include friends and relatives abroad, movies, television, magazines, books, newspapers, and, in some cases, potential employers. The information that have been gathered may/can greatly affect peoples’ assessment of “the push factors”. Thus, the aspiring immigrants may feel that their household condition is worse than that of the country they are planning to move to or that their planned country of destination is better than where they are currently living and these information develop in them a greater urgency to migrate.

Put in detail, these information that the aspiring immigrants must know involve programs and policies of their planned country of destination. Moreover, these information vary for the different classifications of immigrants: for a professional or a high skilled worker, a different set of programs are applicable as to that of a refugee or petitioned family member but all of them are under the general policy making body on immigration for that certain country.

It has been noted that Canadian immigration policies are among the best. In fact, as one refugee Canadian immigrant have noted, there is something so special about Canada and the treatment of the citizens are based on shared ideals and values, and not on ancestry or geography alone, instead, it “flows from a single, fundamental principle: respect for the dignity of human life” (Reiser, 2001). Whether the contention of Reiser is true or not, it would be left to the conclusion of this paper.

To examine the efficiency and effectiveness of Canadian immigration policies, both for immigrants and to Canada itself, this paper will see through many factors such the goals of these policies, related regulations for immigrants such as labor rules, economic and financial status of immigrants, the attitude of policies upon immigration, the immigration qualification and process itself, and the programs available and implemented when immigrants need some assistance in terms of housing, education, initial settlement and immigrants’ social and community integration. Lastly, a set of additional examination will also be done on the factors that make Canada admit immigrants, what does it gain and what does it lose? The same is true for the immigrants’ side, what they contribute to Canada, their country of dreams and prior their immigration, the country they have thought to provide them a greener pasture.

To determine if indeed the Canadian government and environment are very good for immigrants, such as the claim of Reiser, this paper would be making a stand to conclude this issue, and if it is applicable, make some recommendations.

So, how good is Canada in handling the aliens?

II. Overview of Current Canadian Immigration Policies, and their Goals and Objectives

These answer the “why” questions regarding the policies for immigration, the objectives and goals. Since it is a little awkward to understand the policies and its objectives before knowing the policies themselves, it is therefore important to have a brief overview of what these policies are.

Canadian immigration and citizenship center (About Us, 2008) claims to have a proud tradition of welcoming immigrants with their world-best immigrant and refugee system and network of organizations to help newcomers settle and integrate. It further states that one out of every six or almost 17% Canadian residents was born outside Canada and that immigration has aided the country to make itself “culturally rich, prosperous and progressive nation” (About Us, 2008). The general policies of Canada on its immigration are the following:

Admission of immigrants and temporary workers who help the country’s social and economic growth;
Resettle and protect as well as to provide a secure refuge or shelter to refugees;
Help new arrival immigrants and/or refugees and/or temporary workers adapt to the country’s society and eventually become citizens; and
Manage access to Canada in order to preserve the security and health of Canadians as well as the integrity of its laws.
Moreover, it was stated in the journal piece by Green & David (2004) quoting Mackenzie King's statement before the House in May, 1947 that the policy of the government is to foster the growth of the population of Canada by the encouragement of immigration while it (the government) will seek legislation, regulation and vigorous administration, to ensure the careful selection and permanent settlement of such numbers of immigrants as can advantageously be absorbed by the national economy of Canada. Thus, it can be derive that old policies are very relevant to the new ones these days having similar goals and aspirations for immigrants and for the Canadian community.

Stated in its Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of 2001, the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has its objectives and application to its immigrants. (Objectives and Applications, 2008) These involve the following:

To permit Canada to pursue the maximum social, cultural and economic benefits of immigration;
to enrich and strengthen the social and cultural fabric of Canadian society, while respecting the federal, bilingual and multicultural character of Canada;
to support and assist the development of minority official languages communities in Canada;
to support the development of a strong and prosperous Canadian economy, in which the benefits of immigration are shared across all regions of Canada;
to see that families are reunited in Canada;
to promote the successful integration of permanent residents into Canada, while recognizing that integration involves mutual obligations for new immigrants and Canadian society;
to support, by means of consistent standards and prompt processing, the attainment of immigration goals established by the Government of Canada in consultation with the provinces;
to facilitate the entry of visitors, students and temporary workers for purposes such as trade, commerce, tourism, international understanding and cultural, educational and scientific activities;
to protect the health and safety of Canadians and to maintain the security of Canadian society;
to promote international justice and security by fostering respect for human rights and by denying access to Canadian territory to persons who are criminals or security risks; and
to work in cooperation with the provinces to secure better recognition of the foreign credentials of permanent residents and their more rapid integration into society.
Although there is a different set of objectives for the country’s refugee program, another nine (9) in total, the main topic of this paper is on immigration, thus, only the first and foremost objective of refugee program would be included by this paper. The primary goal of Canada for providing safety and haven to refugees is “to recognize that the refugee program is in the first instance about saving lives and offering protection to the displaced and persecuted”.

Observable from its general policies and programs that Canada (although it is too early to conclude yet) has a very conducive environment for immigrants. Yet, Canada is so careful that although it encourages immigration and respect with human rights, it never missed in its objectives the safety of the whole Canadian community for it has also provided security measures both in health and against criminal and security risks. In fact the good intentions in its objectives can be verified with the portion of a speech that was given about Canadian immigration in 2001. “Canada wants and needs immigrants, for all the reasons so often put forward -- to refresh the workforce, to add to the talent pool, to bring families together, to rescue and provide a new life for the hopeless and terrorized of other lands.” (Mcdougall, 2001, p. 0)

Those perfect objectives would sound so good to be true without flaws. One of the criticisms of those objectives is on its security measure. In one of the recently published journal article by Granatstein, (2008) he claimed that Canadian immigration and refugee policies are “notoriously flawed with a broken refugee determination process and the screening of immigration applicants all but non-existent.” He further claimed that eighty percent (80%) of immigrants from Afghanistan and Pakistan, the “two hotbeds of Islamic militancy”, are not properly screened at all. Security related issues are further elaborated in the succeeding discussions specifically devoted on security issues after the 9/11 incident.

Since the objectives have been clearly laid out, it is now possible to further and closely examine the policies and their respective objectives in the later section of this paper.

III. Notions on the Labor Policies for Immigrants

The CIC encourages “skilled workers” to be part of their environment. In fact, in its permanent residence statistics, (See Table 1) more or less, fifty-five percent (55%) in 2006 comprises the economic class immigrants. Generally, for aspiring immigrants, they must have at least some minimum requirements necessary to be in this classification. These include at least a continuous full time experience for one year of a paid work or its part-time work equivalent, having the skill type of managerial, professional, technical or occupational and skilled trades classifications “within the recent ten years” (Skilled Workers, 2008). The authority in identification and classification of individuals into this category is the Canadian NOC or the National Occupational Classification. Another is to be in the business class, which will be explained further in the following sections.

As two authors about labor policies and economics in Canada have noted, one of the most serious imperfections in the labor market arises from lack of knowledge, especially on the part of workers. Although this observation was made decades ago, it is obvious that even these modern days the same problem arise. The same authors, Woods & Ostry (1962, p. 354) noted that worker typically takes a job with only the barest bones of information about wages, working conditions, and the social 'climate' of the work-group with whom he will have to spend his days and this can prove very disadvantageous and dangerous to an immigrant who flew from thousands of miles away to work in Canada.

As early as the post World War II (WWII) period, Canada had already acknowledge how important it was/is to protect workers, the more so if they are as vulnerable as the immigrants. Immigrants are considered as an “important group of new entrants to the Canadian labor force” (Woods & Ostry 1962, p. 357) and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration distributes occupational and employment literature both through its offices in foreign countries and at the ports of entry into Canada to educate and disseminate information to workers. That was decades back but presently, with the power of the internet, the current CIC website (found at www.cic.gov.ca) surely helps millions of aspiring and successful immigrant workers. In fact, according to Schmidt (2007), it shows a stance toward immigrants that is relatively "warm" and inviting of dialogue helping them in the process.

IV. Are immigrants getting poorer?

Another issue that is being faced by the Canadian immigration policies is on the “broken hope” side of the story. This means that those who dreamt of a “greener pasture” and thus immigrated to Canada in order to attain this dream did not succeed in doing so. This further means that the “better life” they wanted did not happen due to some conditions and circumstances beyond their control. Are there really cases of immigrants getting poorer (than what they have expected) in Canada?

According to Palmer (1990, p.6) the gravitational pull of a large developed industrial country in close proximity to small developing economies dictates that there will be a flow of workers from the lower-income developing countries to the higher-income developed country. This proves that economic reasons are the leading factors for immigrating and in fact, as previously mentioned, the bulk of Canadian immigrants are on the working classification. (See Table 1)

The worse side of the story about immigrating is that, according to Reitz, (1998, p. 16) poor immigrants are more likely to find their culture negatively stereotyped and where these negative features do exist, these immigrants might at least arguably be products of poverty, demoralization, and social disorganization. The same author further presented in his book that racial minority immigrants (those that do not have European origins) earn between fifteen (15) and thirty (30) percent lesser than might be expected based on such trends (the author based this analysis on studies by Chiswick 1986, Tienda and Lii 1987, Model 1991, and others).

The idea of getting poorer or having a not very good income may as well be attributed to the slow integration of immigrants. They need time and space to adjust in their new environment

In fact, according to Reitz (p.17) “studies of immigrant integration based on the usual snapshot surveys or on the census may underestimate how slow the immigrant integration process really is.” Therefore, if the immigrants already adjust to the new society there is a tendency and correlation that they likely improve their position, which includes their economic status

On the other hand, persistently poor economic performance in the extreme case tends to reinforce itself and to be reproduced over time, as Reitz further explained, and a below-par standard of living means less ability to provide basic necessities for oneself and one's family while fewer resources will be available to find appropriate employment, to pursue economic opportunity, to gain necessary training, to provide education for children, and to secure a proper living environment for members of the community. Are there cases like these happening to immigrants? This question is not answerable in a very distinct manner. Studies and various authors hold similar arguments as presented above, on immigrant integration and adjustments that immigrants eventually find economic success the longer they stay.

As there are apparent evidence of poor economic status of many immigrants, according to one of the more recent and relevant journal article, by Walters, Phythian & Anisef (2007), it is a matter of time and perseverance:

Upon entering the labor force, they earn substantially less than their native-born counterparts. Over time, these newcomers become increasingly like the native population, and their wages rapidly increase, eventually catching up with or even surpassing those of the native-born...

The economic stability therefore is a process that immigrants must persistently attain, not on a single basis or a one time success but it is a continuous development, similar to that of a ladder, where the first step must be made before one can reach the top.

It is worth noting as well that Kazemipur & Halli (2001, p. 217) made a strong stand on the issue at hand, stating that “immigrants were consistently over-represented among the poor, and that this over-representation had a clear ethnic and racial color, with visible minority immigrants experiencing the most severe conditions” when poverty in Canada is being out into discourse. Another proof that may support this contention is the speech of Monte Solberg, a CIC Minister in November 2006:

It is a fact that in recent years, success for newcomers has been harder to come by. In the 1980s, after a year in Canada, skilled-worker immigrants were earning one-quarter more than their Canadian-born counterparts. In 2003, their earnings were almost one-third less than their Canadian-born counterparts after one year. (The Honourable Monte Solberg, 2006)

Since various authors have varying claims, it is therefore very important to conduct more studies and postulate concrete evidence and conclusion on this issue on immigrants poverty in Canada and immigrants getting poorer with a lower quality of life. See Table 2 for more statistical facts.

V. Why immigration is encouraged? What are some problems with it?

Clearly stated in its objectives, one of the underlying rationale for admitting immigrants to Canada is for maximum social, cultural and economic benefits. Although there are humanitarian reasons for admitting immigrants, the Canadian government also benefit from this admission program. In fact, this would be the third time that this paper mentions having the economic class with the most number of representatives when immigration statistics be reviewed. (See Table 1)

Immigrants are considered as an asset and an investment as what the 2006 CIC Minister have stated in the speech delivered during the allocation of new funding for settlement programs stating that such funding is an investment in the partnership among federal government, provincial and territorial governments, and individual communities. New funding was released supporting immigration and foremost the fund is “an investment in newcomers, it is an investment in Canada” (The Honourable Monte Solberg, 2006).

However, aside from the previous issues and problems noted on immigrants’ economic status, another problem challenging the Canadian immigration is the concentration of arrivals to very few urban areas "particularly to the three immigrant magnets of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal" (Newbold, 2007). This might not sound so alarming if the effects are not examined closely because it can be reasoned out that dramatic shift in population composition on larger cities are due to the needs of those three cities themselves but the truth is, it “has important implications for the provision of many public services" (Heisz & Schellenberg, 2004) such as the public transportation system. Other problems according to Hou (2004) as stated in the journal article authored by Newbold, (2007) are immigrants “spatial distribution and their socio-economic and socio-demographic impact on receiving communities.” See Table 3 for statistical facts.

The Canadian government has acknowledged the aforementioned problems on over concentration of immigrants on very few Canadian cities and one of the actions the CIC made is to give out incentives to migrate out of these three huge cities.

The Government of Canada will invest more than $1.3 million in the Multicultural Association of the Greater Moncton Area (MAGMA). Funding will help newcomers access orientation and other services, including referrals to community resources and assistance, language training in both French and English, and help establishing contacts in their field of work. (Government of Canada, 2008)

The funding and incentives will encourage more newcomers to Moncton than to other cities that are already crowded by immigrants. In fact this case in Moncton is not alone. The government is also promoting Yukon and British Columbia using the same tactics. Yukon is an exciting territory with vast potential for growth according to the Minister Finley (Canada and Yokun, 2008) and in British Columbia, not only newcomers are benefiting from this program but also refugees. In fact the Minister Finley in her speech has reasserted Canada’s commitment “to helping refugees” (Government of Canada, 2008)

These flexibilities and positive acts that the government does are really taking up the morale of the public and of the immigrants as well, making the whole country benefit from immigration while reducing the concentration to selected cities which may prove disadvantageous to all except those who have interest in it such as the apartment owners and business establishments in the vicinity of highly immigrated cities who surely can gain much, and no genius or study is needed to determine this reality.

Another problem that may be associated with immigration is the unemployment in Canada. In fact there is no direct relation between the number of immigrants and joblessness according to Veugelers (2000, p. 95) but it does not help improve the unemployment situation as well. Veugelers further noted that in a poll conducted by a private association the majority of respondents indicated that "... restrictions should be placed on the number of immigrant entrants in times of high unemployment. And since it was stated that immigration is not really the main cause of unemployment, Canadian government is not compelled to reduce their immigration admissions (although it has measures related to this), instead, improve factors causing unemployment.

VI. Current policies, qualifying factors and effects to various classes of aspiring immigrants

The present immigration policies can be viewed to be having emphasis on the economic side above refugee program and family purposes. According to Green & David (2004), separating the administration of refugees from that of other immigrants and balancing economic and family class immigrants means that assessed immigrants are no longer a residual. Moreover these policies focuses on long run goals but tried to integrate short-term concerns proposes to bring in a large inflow but one that, unlike the policy of the late 1980s, places emphasis on careful selection of the economic component.

“Canada awards points to applicants who are highly educated; who speak English and French proficiently; who have work experience; who are between twenty-one and forty-nine years old; who have arranged for employment in Canada; and (under the category of "adaptability") who have an educated spouse or partner, have had prior work experience in Canada, or have a family relation in Canada” (Cox & Posner, 2007)

If the way to immigrate is to qualify for points, the following section explains relevant policies and issues on various classes of immigrant and Currently, there are five options to immigrate, not counting the refugee option.

Policies for high skilled workers and professional
Being the leading group of immigrants, it means that this category or immigrant classification is indeed in demand. (See Table1) The rules for admission and application also change from time to time to update and upgrade to a better processes. Generally, to qualify in this category, the Canadian policy requires the applicant or the aspiring immigrant the following at the minimum:

a. at least one continuous year of full-time, paid work experience or the equivalent in part-time continuous employment.

b. the work experience must be Skill Type 0 (managerial occupations) or Skill Level A (professional occupations) or B (technical occupations and skilled trades) on the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC).

c. have had this experience within the last 10 years

According to the CIC, the skilled workers and professionals “are people who can become permanent residents because they are able to become economically established in Canada.” (Skilled workers and professionals, 2007) Moreover, stated in CIC’s Medium Term Strategic Research Frameworks, “immigration policies must be either directly supportive of Government priorities“ by facilitating entry of highly skilled workers to ensure that Canada has access to the expertise needed to compete in a knowledge-based society” (Medium term, 1998) which is one among these priorities. These skilled workers and professionals are thoroughly screened in order maximize the chance that “they will make an economic contribution of some sort and minimize the probability that they will become a burden on their host community.” (Medium term, 1998) Moreover, anticipated from this class of immigrants is the generation of economic benefits and measurable performance in terms of quantifiable economic benefits.

The focus on skilled workers in the new system was a policy, which potentially benefited both labour and business. Linking immigration to job vacancies was consistent with labour's interests since its first pronouncements on the subject in the late 19th century. By focusing on skills, the effect was potentially to enhance the relative position of unskilled and semi-skilled domestic workers. Business stood to gain as well since recruitment was aimed at exactly the type of workers it needed if a major expansion in manufacturing activity was to be accomplished. Finally, immigrants had gained a new voice in the development of policy. (Green & David, 2004)

Some of the more noticeable policies and programs are the newly changed point system for professionals (Green & David, 2004) where there is an increase emphasis on education, from 16 to 20% of total possible points; an increase in importance of proficiency in English or French from 15 to 20%; and an increase in points awarded for personal suitability from 10 to 16%. Personal suitability, which is assessed by the visa officer, has also been changed to emphasize flexibility in adjusting to labour market changes by adding factors such as job search skills, resilience, and positive attitudes toward personal growth, development, learning and change, Green & David further explained.

The policies for skilled workers and professionals have indeed paid off since Canadian businesses are gaining from it. Although it is the private sector to gain and benefit from the policies and programs first, the end advantage would be to government and eventually be back to the Canadian nation and its people. This is achieved through the process of business taxation and those earning immigrants are paying taxes as well, aside from those paying businesses.

Immigrating as a sponsored family
Reunification of families is never missed in the objectives of Canadian immigration policies. Specifically, it is the fourth objective, “to see that families are reunited in Canada”. How perfectly drafted this objective is but does it really sound so easy and favorable to family members of existing immigrants, Canadian residents or citizens?

The process to sponsor one’s family begins when one, as a citizen or permanent resident in Canada, apply to be a sponsor. This is according to the CIC. (Sponsoring your family, 2007) The burden of this process is more on the part of the sponsor because of the responsibilities that the rules for this kind of admission require him/her. Among these responsibilities are the following:

Signing of the sponsorship agreement, both by the sponsor and the sponsored family member committing the former to provide financial assistance to the latter if necessary. This agreement also signifies that the person becoming a permanent resident will make every effort to support themselves while children who are still dependent below 22 years of age are not required to sign. On the other hand, Quebec residents are required to sign an “undertaking” with the province of Quebec—a contract binding the sponsorship.
The sponsor must also promise to give financial support for the sponsored relative or family member and any other eligible relatives accompanying them for a period of three (3) to ten (10) years, depending on their age and relationship to the sponsor. The period stated begins on the date the sponsored and their eligible companions become permanent residents
Unlike in 1978, where family members and refugees were given more priority the current policies are different where the administration of refugees are separated from that of other immigrants and “balancing economic and family class immigrants means that assessed immigrants are no longer a residual” according to Green & David (2004).

There are repeated references in recent policy documents to severe restraints on the fiscal resources available for immigrant settlement. This is the source of new policy proposals, which would make immigrants pay for settlement services and make sponsors post bonds out of which any welfare use by the sponsored immigrant in the first 10 years after arrival would be subtracted. It is also a source of the push for more flexible workers since, in the "new" economy where constant change is to be expected, more flexibility will mean less time collecting social security. (Green & David, 2004)

In fact, this paper’s idea on this policy on admission of family members is affirmative. Canadian government learned from its prioritizing of refugees and families in the 1978 Immigration Act that did not give the department of immigration the authority to set limits on the number of immigrants in various components of the inflow, causing them no possibility of cutting off the number of family members processed in a year even if some target had been met for that group.

The policies are as well beneficial to those family members who want to reunite with their loved ones in Canada. To be together without a settled life and a life full of government social welfare assistance is not also good. Thus, better to stay in one’s own country poorer than to stay in a foreign country a poor.

Entering Canada as refugees
As previously mentioned, admissions of refugees is not anymore the core of Canadian immigration due to the shift to economic reasons for immigrant admissions. However, the strong will of the government for safety keeping of refugees is still tough. It is however not included in the objectives of the Canadian immigration. Instead, the refugee program has its different set of detailed policies and objectives. It is also in a different and independent section of the CIC Web site. In this connection, this paper makes some references to refugee programs in other sections of this paper but would not elaborate more on its policies and related issues.

Simply to give an overview what this program is all about, refugees and people needing protection are those in or outside Canada who fear returning to their home country. And Canada, to maintain its humanitarian tradition and international obligations, it gives protection to thousands of people every year as it offers refugee sanctuary to people in Canada who fear persecution or who may be at risk of torture or cruel and unusual treatment or punishment, and are unwilling or unable to return to their home country. Qualified foreign efugees may also be sponsored by groups and individuals.

Investors, entrepreneur and self-employed individuals
Relatively, business program as means of immigration to Canada is new. It was only added to the Canadian immigration program in January 1986. The applicants for this immigration class gain admission “by investing specified amounts in Canadian enterprises.” (Green & David, 2004) The two authors further noted that “while the business classes have never become more than a very small part of the inflow, this represents a philosophical shift toward an idea that immigration could be used as a source of capital and as a means of establishing trade links.”

The three classes of business immigrants include investors, entrepreneurs and self-employed individuals. The applicant must choose only one of these subclasses and the criteria for each one vary. For investors, C$400,000 is needed to be invested in the country’s economy. The applicants however specifically need to:

show that they have business experience
have a minimum net worth of C$800,000 that was obtained legally and
make a C$400,000 investment
The “investment is managed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and is guaranteed by the Canadian provinces that use it to create jobs and help their economies grow.” (Investors, 2007) and CIC will thereafter return the C$400,000 investment, without interest, approximately five years and two months after payment.

Although the rules are not the same and the criteria are also different, the aims and goals of having these three classes all end in one point: to benefit the Canadian nation through business expertise and capital. Another author that argues similar to the contention of Green & David above is Macdonald (2000, p. 403):

The concept of economic citizenship-- granting citizenship or residency status to foreigners who have capital to invest to create jobs in the host country--became the new strategy to attract foreign investment during the 1990s. Immigrant investor programs are expected to facilitate investment flows into the host country and to maintain the capital in the country by offering citizenship to the investors. Both developing and developed countries have begun to use this strategy to attract foreign investment.

The program is both beneficial to aspiring immigrants and to the Canadian nation. It ease entrance and admission in the part of those who can be qualified and at the same time it helps and benefits the Canadian government. It was a very good move to add this kind of immigration class and new way for admission.

Provincial nominees
Provincial nominees are persons belonging to a specific class of Canadian immigrants composed of individuals with skills, education and work experience needed “to make an immediate economic contribution to the province or territory that nominates them”(Provincial Nominees, 2007) and they are all ready to establish themselves successfully as permanent residents of the country. These provinces (and one territory) include Alberta, Mantinoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Sakatchewan, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Yukon. Assessment on the six selection factors of the Federal Skilled Workers Program is not applied to applicants for provincial nominees. In the case of Yokun as an example its Yukon Nominee Program (YNP) was developed to allow the Government of Yukon to nominate “potential immigrants based on industrial and economic priorities; labour market conditions; and who, based on Yukon’s assessment, have a strong likelihood of successfully establishing themselves in Yukon society.” (Yukon Nominee, 2007)

Quoting Andrew (2002) from the journal piece of Schmidt (2007), "the federal government and other provinces have made efforts at a more even geographic distribution of immigrants” and while there are variations among the provinces, most of the "street-level" implementation programs are operated--with a mixture of funds from federal, provincial, and third-sector sources--by a two-tiered system of NGOs.

Based in its programs for immigrants and for the benefit of Canada in general, there is nothing more that can describe the policies of Canada as being proactive. Not only the federal government is involve but everyone around.

Quebec selected professionals
Under the Canada-Quebec Accord on Immigration, Quebec establishes its own immigration requirements and selects immigrants who will adapt well to living in Quebec. The process for this program is considered to be more straightforward. Although the reasons and goals behind are similar to that of previously mentioned, which is for economic and work-resources purposes, this classification is distinctly listed as one and separate from the rest of the classes of immigration previously discussed. Also the applicants in this class are not assessed on the six selection factors of the Federal Skilled Workers Program just like the ones for provincial nominees.

Wrapping up all those programs for potential immigrants or existing immigrants and their respective classifications, the Canadian policies on this aspect can now be assessed. In fact the 2008 budget for immigration recommends changes for modernization of the system in order to hasten the overall process, both in the part of applicants and immigration officials themselves. In can be understood from the following:

Budget 2008 propose changes to modernize the immigration system including shortening the time it takes to bring newcomers and their families to Canada. Under this proposed system, instructions would be issued to immigration officers related to the processing of applications, including in relation to the jobs available in Canada, so that people with those skills and experience can be brought to Canada more quickly. (Government of Canada, 2008)

Whatever the trouble in immigration process can be, the efforts of Canadian government are always visible in supporting and improving anything they can. What can aspiring and successful immigrants more to ask for? That they too be safe and secure in Canada!

VII. Policies with regards to security after the 9/11 incident

In two of it’s immigration objectives, it is specifically stated to ‘protect the health and safety of Canadians and to maintain the security of Canadian society’ as well as “to promote international justice and security by fostering respect for human rights and by denying access to Canadian territory to persons who are criminals or security risks. In any of those two, Canadian immigration policy did not miss the importance of security and safety to its people and even to the whole world in general (in its human rights and refugee related objectives).

Although Canada has emphasis on its security, there are criticisms as to how the country treats immigrants from the so-called “hotbeds of Islamic militancy”(Granatstein, 2008). Claimed to have very lax screening process for Afghanistan and Pakistan immigrants, Granatstein further opined that Canada simply integrate them into Canadian society. And the revelation?

And Americans have begun to notice Canada. Canada and Canadian policies, after decades of being ignored by US media, are now attacked regularly on the increasingly powerful Fox Cable New. (Granatstein, 2008) However, to listen to one person’s idea, such that of Granatstein and his Canada anti-US views would not be enough to assess Canada’s policies when it comes to security purposes. Nevertheless, another set of authors support the claims of Granatstein, Chalk & Rosenau, (2004, p. 48) states:

CSIS has been consistently criticized for failing to adequately penetrate terrorist logistical cells that have been established on Canadian soil… More seriously, the service conspicuously failed to act on information provided by French intelligence that Ahmed Ressam, a resident Algerian national with links to al Qaeda and the GIA, was planning to carry out attacks in North America…

"The perceived danger of access by terrorists to the USA through Canada prompted the US government to seek measures to make secure all of the North American landmass, including Canada." (Buckley & Fawn, 2003, p. 85) And in fact, the above accusations against Canada received a response from the CIC itself. The response (Government Response, 2002) states that negative contentions, such as the aforementioned, are “misperceptions” and that Canada is working closely with the US in protecting the North American nations. In fact there are sixty-seven responses made by the Canadian government regarding this issue. These sixty-seven are made available by the Standing Committee in its report, Hands Across The Border: Working Together at our Shared Border and Abroad to Ensure Safety, Security and Efficiency in May 2002. On top of the list is the following:

Since September 11, the Government has encouraged Canadian missions in the United States to take a proactive stance to educate the public regarding misperceptions about Canadian policies, management of the border and alleged threats to U.S. security coming from Canada. Our missions have been actively engaged in a forceful advocacy campaign to effectively deliver our message that Canada is not a haven for terrorists. (Government Response, 2002)

The use of biometrics has been proposed that time numerous Canadian provinces are considering their introduction, including some that are thinking of using retinal scans and fingerprints on driver's licenses. There is a growing lobby in the United States that wishes to see the implementation of a standardized license with biometric features in every state. Measures are also being taken in the context of airport security. (Biometrics: Implications, 2003) There are therefore varying sides on this issue and it needs more examination and studies as to what really the fact is. As far as Canada is concerned however, its policies and actions contribute well in its responsibilities in this issue.

VII. Immigration Integration and Assistance

To immigrate is a long and serious process and more often than not, assistance from the admitting country are like blessings from heaven, especially during the time those immigrants still adjust in the new environment. Assistance for this this paper’s discussion purposes include settlement assistance for social adjustments; educational, housing and social support system; and social and most importantly community integration assistance that Canadian government offers.

There are flexibilities as well. With the present policies, especially with regards to sponsoring family members, Canadian immigration has made some revisions such as explained above (Immigrating as a sponsored family) “This is the source of new policy proposals which would make immigrants pay for settlement services and make sponsors post bonds out of which any welfare use by the sponsored immigrant in the first 10 years after arrival would be subtracted.” (Green & David, 2004) This is another measure towards economic maximization from immigration and minimization of welfare assistance that can be possibly offered to immigrants.

To actually determine the situation, the Canadian government instituted the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC) which is designed to study the process by which new immigrants adapt to or integrate into Canadian society, including the stages of the integration process, the factors that influence integration and the impact of services on integration. Even though there is a disclaimer upon its full reliability, conclusions can be drawn from it how immigrants survive and how they access to the things they need right after immigration/arrival. What the survey have found out is that “family and friends not only decidedly influence where immigrants settle, but are also critical sources of support in other areas of the integration process, such as finding a place to live, accessing health services, strengthening skills and finding a job” (The first six months, 2004)

With the scattered immigrants, also with the support of provincial nominees program, with "uneven disbursement of immigrants across Canadian communities serves to increase such diversity" (Mulder & Krahn, 2005) making it easier for immigrants to integrate socially and as community members. When promoting certain communities to immigrants, or when choosing destinations for government-sponsored refugees, Citizenship and immigration should are taking community characteristics into consideration, such as in the case of provincial nominees. In addition to the availability of housing, services and employment, community size and the rate of population growth are also being considered in the provincial nominees program. It is important to note that these programs are new and part of the proactive action that the government is taking when immigration is the issue.

As can be based from the preceding paragraph, the burden still rests on the immigrants themselves. It is worth noting however that immigrants may ask assistance from those volunteer groups offering help. In fact, this is being encouraged by the CIC web site, to help individuals who have immigrated. There are actually many success stories on this matter.

In fact Canada's immigrant settlement policy is generally best distinguished “as relatively comprehensive in scope, proactive, and aiming for a pluralistic integration of immigrants.” (Schmidt, 2007) By "relatively comprehensive" it is meant that Canada's federal and provincial governments, as can be seen in both the provincial nominee and the Quebec nominee programs that many sectors of Canadian government as well as the society represented by the NGOs “have articulated a relatively broad range of settlement services, from economic, to social, to cultural services for immigrants integration. It is a "proactive" policy approach as well according to Scdmidt in that it provides means for interaction and dialogue between immigrant communities and the agencies responsible for formulating and implementing the policies and programs under its rubric.

IX. Conclusion

Discussing with so much facts and varied views regarding the way Canadian government handles immigration enables this paper to conclude on some facts. Refugee programs set aside, Canadian immigration policies are among the best internationally. Although there is the recent shift to economic benefits from the government’s immigration programs, from refugee and family classes priority, the effects are still favorable to immigrants. In fact this move to shift the strategies employed have gained commendations from spectators.

Any aspect of the immigration issue, the CIC and the Canadian government has ready answers and active responses to improve the situation, whatever unreasonable hindrances present. With the current goal to maximizing the economic benefits, aside from shifting the emphasis to skilled workers and professionals, the Canadian government have devised means to obtain capital and investments from its immigration policies. This is the addition of a new class of immigrants which is the “business class”. Moreover, to answer to the growing problem on immigration congestion over few cities, the answer was to give emphasis and benefits for immigrants to settle in less immigrated yet suitable provinces. This is where the “provincial nominees” class comes in.

Security is one of the most criticised aspect of Canadian immigration policies. However, as the Canadian government have claimed, this is only a matter of misinformation and misperception that immigrants are not thoroughly screened. On the integration side, there are ready programs, both by private, NGOs, and from government itself that support immigrant needs if they find heavy troubles upon immigrating. Moreover, the burden to migrate still lies on the hands of aspiring and successful imigrants. The policies are only to make their process easier and to make immigration of deserving individuals to canada burden free and fast.

If tied up with the objectives set out for its immigration policies, this paper concludes that Canadian government fulfills its promises and attain its objectives, not only to the respective immigrants, both aspiring and successful, but also to the Canadian nation in part and to the world in general. Indeed, Reiser’s contention in the introductory section of this paper holds true.

X. Recommendation

There is only one aspect of the policy that the Canadian government needs to improve as fast as it can. This is on the security aspect of the immigration policies and processes. Since most of the authors of the facts presented are all looking negatively the way Canada handles its security matters with the immigrants or pertaining to immigration, it is therefore important to make more awareness as to what really is the truth since the government of Canada claims that all the negative contentions are simply “misperceptions”.

Aside from the slight problem and its recommendation, the Canadian policies on immigration only needs to further its good governance and function helping millions of aspiring and successful immigrants, making families reunite and benefiting from these in return.

References

Books

Buckley, M. & Fawn, R. (Eds.). (2003). Global Responses to Terrorism: 9/11, Afghanistan and beyond. New York: Routledge.

Chalk, P., & Rosenau, W. (2004). Confronting "The Enemy Within": Security Intelligence, the Police, and Counterterrorism in Four Democracies. Santa Monica, CA: Rand.

Cox, A. B., & Posner, E. A. (2007). The Second-Order Structure of Immigration Law. Stanford Law Review, 59(4), 809+.

Palmer, R. W. (Ed.). (1990). In Search of a Better Life: Perspectives on Migration from the Caribbean. New York: Praeger Publishers.

Reitz, J. G. (1998). Warmth of the Welcome: The Social Causes of Economic Success for Immigrants in Different Nations and Cities. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Woods, H. D., & Ostry, S. (1962). Labour Policy and Labour Economics in Canada. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada.

Journals

Bauder, H. (2006). A History of Migration from Germany to Canada, 1850-1939. The Canadian Geographer, 50(4), 526+.

Granatstein, J. (2008). Canada and the United States: Security and Strategic Interests after 9/11. Jack Granatstein Suggests That Canadians Should Put National Interests before Values in Their Approach to Their Giant Neighbour. New Zealand International Review, 33(1), 11+.

Green, A. G., & David, G. (2004). The Goals of Canada's Immigration Policy: A Historical Perspective. Canadian Journal of Urban Research, 13(1), 102+.

Heisz, A., & Schellenberg, G. (2004). Public Transit Use among Immigrants. Canadian Journal of Urban Research, 13(1), 170+.

Kazemipur, A., & Halli, S. S. (2001). The Changing Colour of Poverty in Canada [*]. The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 38(2), 217.

Macdonald, B. (2000). The Immigrant Investor Program: Proposed Solutions to Particular Problems. Law and Policy in International Business, 31(2), 403.

Mcdougall, B. (2001, January/February). Make It Easier for Immigrants to Get Here Legally; Harder to Arrive Illegally. Canadian Speeches, 14, 0.

Mulder, M., & Krahn, H. (2005). Individual- and Community-Level Determinants of Support for Immigration and Cultural Diversity in Canada. The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 42(4), 421+.

Newbold, B. (2007). Secondary Migration of Immigrants to Canada: An Analysis of LSIC Wave 1 Data. The Canadian Geographer, 51(1), 58+.

Schmidt, R. (2007). Comparing Federal Government Immigrant Settlement Policies in Canada and the United States. American Review of Canadian Studies, 37(1), 103+.

Veugelers, J. W. (2000). State-Society Relations in the Making of Canadian Immigration Policy during the Mulroney Era [*]. The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 37(1), 95.

Walters, D., Phythian, K., & Anisef, P. (2007). The Acculturation of Canadian Immigrants: Determinants of Ethnic Identification with the Host Society. The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 44(1), 37+.


Citizenship and Immigration Canada Publications

“About Us.” Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 30 March 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2008. .

“Biometrics: Implications and Applications for Citizenship and Immigrations.” Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 30 November 2003. Retrieved 27 May 2008. .

“Canada and Yukon announce new agreement on immigration; launch new web portal aimed at attracting newcomers.” Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 21 May 2008. Retrieved 24 may 2008. .

“Canada – Annual Flow of Foreign Workers by Province or Territory and Urban Area.” Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 29 June 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2008.

“Canada – Permanent Residents by Category (No Backlog Reallocation)”. Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 29 June 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2008. .

“Canada – Permanent Residents by Top Source Countries”. Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 29 June 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2008. .

“Government of Canada announces funding to help refugees and other newcomers in British Columbia.” Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 21 May 2008. Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 21 May 2008. Retrieved 24 may 2008. .

“Government of Canada invests in services to help newcomers settle in Moncton.” Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 22 May 2008. Retrieved 24 may 2008. .

“Government Response to the Report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, "HANDS ACROSS THE BORDER: Working Together at our Shared Border and Abroad to Ensure Safety, Security and Efficiency.” Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 12 May 2005. Retrieved 27 May 2008. .

“Immigrants by period of immigration and Canadian-born—15 years of age and over, employed mostly full-time—average earnings from wages and salaries, and earnings as percentage of overall Canadian average, Canada, 2000.” Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 01 April 2005. Retrieved 25 May 2008. .

“Immigration and Refugee Protection Act ( 2001, c. 27 ).”Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 20 May 2008. Retrieved 24 May 2008. .

“Investors.” Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 20 June 2007. Retrieved 26 May 2008. .

“Medium term strategic research framework.” Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 1998. Retrieved 25 May 2008. .

“Objectives and Application.” Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 30 May 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2008. .

“Provincial Nominees.” Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 31 march 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2008. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/provincial/index.asp >.

“Skilled workers and professionals: Who can apply.” Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 31 May 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2008. .

“Skilled workers and professionals.” Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 15 April 2008. Retrieved 24 May 2008. .

“Sponsoring your family.“ Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 20 November 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2008. .

“The First Six Months in Canada:The Importance of Family and Friends.” The Monitor, Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 26 February 2004. Retrieved 27 May 2008. < http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/statistics/monitor/issue04/06-feature.asp>.

“The Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, for the announcement of the allocation of new funding for settlement programs.” Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 10 November 2006. Retrieved 24 May 2008. .

“Yukon Nominee Program (YNP).” Yukon Education. 5 December 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2008. .

Instructions
The proposal will require some library research and you must include a bibliography that includes at least four books and four scholarly journal articles that you have consulted so far.
There is no one format that will bemost appropriate for theproposal, rather the proposal should clearly communicate to a reader what you intend to write about. The length of the proposal should one page, in addition to the bibliography.
An annotated bibliography is a document that lists the books and articles that you have consulted to-date in preparation for writing your reseach essay.For each item ( book, article, etc) there must be a 150 words (minimum) summary and evaluation-in your own words- of the contents of the book or article.
So I will expect 5 pages for total for the proposal andannotated bibliography.Note: it has to be finished and send to me in the two days.

Part 2 is the research paper you send to me on the 7th day after my order. It must be professional in all aspects. As such, it must hv a cover page,title, four or five sections(such as introduction, thesis statement, body, summary/conclusions, etc.) bibliography and , if you wish, appendices. You are encouraged to use a few visual aids: graphs, charts, photos, diagrams, tables,etc. These must be clearly labelled and referenced. You must have page numbers.The research essay must be aholistic work that demonstrates considerablsresearch, writing and thinking and should include at least 6-8 books and 6-10 scholarly journal articles.