I have already been in Canada for approximately 5 years. I am waiting for my Canadian citizenship to be processed. In addition, I also have a little course work left for my masters degree. After I get my Canadian citizenship, I will explore the possibility of returning back to US. I am not a US citizen, but can work there on TN visa, if I have Canadian citizenship and put myself on the path to eventually getting a US green card. I am interested in doing something that will make me achieve financial freedom ie reach a point where I don't have to worry about money any longer in order to pay bills. But I can't do that in Canada. There is very little upward mobility for visible minorities. Upward mobility in terms of social mobility, economic mobility and political mobility. In US, there are plenty of minorities who are multi-millionaires. That does not happen very often in Canada.
Let me be clear. If I criticize the racism and discrimination in Canada, that does not make me disloyal or unpatriotic to Canada. I continue to be an ardent advocate of Canadian exceptionalism. I continue to be mesmerized with the physical beauty of the scenic landscape of Canada - its mountains, meadows, national parks etc. I continue to be appreciative of the diversity in cities like Toronto, which has created a cultural mosaic that makes Canada, so much more interesting. That diverse composition in the population in turn has influenced the art, culture, cuisine, political contours and discourse/debate; which will have a long-lasting influence on the heritage of Canada. Here, in Canada, I have met people from different countries for the first time. I have to acknowledge that the founding settlers were a smart breed - they had the discipline, ingenuity, intelligence and courage to organize themselves in such a manner so as to catapult Canada to a developed country in a short span of time. With the exception of transportation**, the infrastructure in Canada is one of the best in the world. Canada's social services, until recently were the best in the world - until the conservative government came and began dismantling it. During the last five years, I greatly enjoying contributing my time, energy, ideas and money to Canadian charities. Canadians volunteer a lot, which is most admirable. So all this is great, its fantastic. But as a nation, we are also racist, we discriminate against minorities, aboriginals and women - in a covert manner. This is the ugly side that we don't want to talk about.
Regarding VivekSharma's question on why I don't leave Canada, yes, I plan on exploring the possibility of relocating to US or some other country. Not because I hate Canada (I don't, I am proud to be Canadian), but because I wish to flee racism and discrimination. Its the same reason why the Jews fled Germany in the 1930's and 1940's. They left not because they hated Germany, but because they were being discriminated against and to save their lives. If you asked those Jews, they will say that they still love Germany and would like to return if there were no racism. By the way, out of those Jews who fled Germany, many immigrated to US and the rest as they say, is history. Jews dominate banking, politics, the diamond trade, legal field and many other sectors in US and across other developed countries. German Jews who immigrated to US helped it to develop its military capabilities to unprecedented levels. This included developing the atom bomb, which secured US victory during World War II.
I can either continue to stay in Canada, tolerate racism and be a little guy on the fringes of Canadian society; or move into some other country and achieve my true potential. Which option looks better to any sane, rational human being? Talent always gravitates to countries that has a conducive social, political and economic environment. Part of the reason why America became such a great country is because it was able to attract immigrants from all over the world (Jews, Italians, Asians etc) and assimilate them. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the exodus of highly qualified and talented immigrants from Canada to US (and possibly other countries) has already begun. I have some immigrant friends who relocated to US as soon as they got their Canadian citizenship. I repeat again - I love Canada. After relocating to US, if the Canadian government were to ever call upon me to render some service to it - I would consider it an honour to be of any use. Its just that many visible minority immigrants find it inconvenient to live here due to the lack of opportunities, covert hostility and feel very marginalized. That does not make them bad Canadians, worthy of our collective scorn and contempt.
**I continue to be a big critic of the transportation infrastructure across Canada, its lagging behind its peer countries and in some cases, even behind developing countries such as China, Singapore, India etc. In many parts of rural Canada, they don't have access to any form of public or even private transportation - buses, trains, airports etc. This is yet another form of discrimination that is rarely discussed - the urban versus rural divide. That in turn fuels racism in Canada, due to the lack of cultural exposure. True cultural integration will only happen when you establish transportation networks across Canada that improve connectivity across communities. Even developing countries like China and India have succeeded in doing this - they have got a train and a bus going to every little village across the length and breadth of their country. But Canada has not been able to accomplish this, despite having access to far greater financial resources.
