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There have been suggestions that Scotland could become a province of Canada, the eleventh. Ken McGoogan’s 2017 opinion piece in The Globe and Mail, “It’s time for Scotland to find a new home – in Canada”, got quite a lot of attention in Canada, and even some in the United Kingdom. It is worthy, I think, of an extended multi-paragraph quote.With a population of 5.3 million, Scotland would become Canada's third largest province, after Ontario (13.9 million) and Quebec (8.3 million). Our country's current population is 36.5 million. With Scotland, in a country of 41.8 million, the new province would represent 12.6 per cent of the population, as compared with 8 per cent of the 65 million people in the U.K. And it gets better. Add the 4.7 million Canadians who claim Scottish heritage and you've got a cornerstone population of 10 million – nearly 25 per cent of the country's total. Isn't that what they call a power block?Scotland is not contiguous with the rest of Canada. But given current communications technologies and the speed of air travel, distance has become irrelevant. Besides, Scotland is nearer to Newfoundland (3,355 kilometres) than Hawaii is to California (3,977 km). Glasgow is nearer to Halifax (4,250 km) than Halifax is to Vancouver (4,443 km). And Edinburgh is nearer to St. John's (3,450 km) than to Athens (3,825 km).No, Scotland would not become fully independent. But even as a typical Canadian province, it would have more powers than it does now. Provincial legislatures have jurisdiction over their internal constitutions and direct taxation for provincial purposes, including for municipalities, school boards, hospitals, property and civil rights, administration of civil and criminal justice, and the list goes on. Of course, things get complicated, so let's cut to the chase. Would Scotland control its oil resources? The Constitution of Canada places natural resources under the jurisdiction of the provinces. So, yes. The answer is an emphatic yes.Obviously, Scotland would not be a typical province. It would be unlike nine of the current ten. But consider Quebec. In 2006, the Government of Canada passed a motion recognizing "that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada." Quebec has its own ministry of international relations, whose mission is to "promote and defend Quebec's interests internationally." Like Quebec, Scotland would be distinct, but differently. And Canadians know how to accommodate difference.True, Quebec has refused to sign the Constitution Act of 1982. But constitutionally, Canada has muddled on without that signature for 35 years … and looks good to go for another 35. Does anybody imagine that, without the overwhelming support of the provinces, the federal government could unilaterally make a change on the scale of withdrawing from the European Union? Be serious.(That, McGoohan noted, including the geographically European territory of Scotland McDonald within Canada would go on to give Canada the chance to take part in European integration was also a bonus.)My personal opinion? Ignoring for the moment my predominantly Scottish heritage, which in practice translates mainly into a vague sympathy for Scotland and not very many Scottish traits in my own life, a transatlantic extension of Canada to Scotland seems like a not obviously terrible idea. Scotland is large enough to be a player in Canada and to conceivably benefit from Canadian provincehood, but not large enough to overwhelm entirely the existing balance of powers. McGoohan was mostly joking, true, but there is nothing obviously dysfunctional with this proposal.Making the entirety of the United Kingdom into one, or a collection, of Canadian provinces is obviously wrong. The entire balance of Canada would be thrown out of whack. The province of Ontario, with a mere plurality of the population and economic output of Canada and home to the country’s largest city and to the national capital, is so dominant that—as I noted in an answer here—if it withdrew from Canada the Canadian federation would fall apart. Even if the United Kingdom’s countries entered as separate components, England would emerge as overwhelmingly dominant. (I think, given the little support for devolution to the English regions, that imagining England’s division into separate provinces is unlikely, not that this would do much to alter the underlying unworkability of this. All Canada would be unbalanced, would arguably be unrecognizably Canadian but instead some sort of trans-Atlantic federation that no one here really wants. Canadian support for this proposal would be nil.

What is the relationship between the Quebecois and English-speakers in Canada? Do some Quebecois still just refuse to speak to anyone who is from the English parts of Canada?As a rule of thumb, most bilingual Québécois (between 15 and 60%, depending on the region; Montreal: 56%; Quebec City: 32%) will switch to English, even if their English is very bad, to accommodate any English speaker, wherever he or she comes from.bilinguisme individuelSome won't because they don't speak English (unilinguals), and others, because they don't want to. More about that below.As another rule of thumb, all Québécois serving English-speaking customers or doing business with them will gladly use the language chosen by the customer. Just don't assume that everybody on the street is bilingual and if you don't know about someone, using a little French, if you know some, should help to break the ice.As another rule of thumb, if a goup of Québécois are speaking French between themselves, they will rarely switch to English for you unless they have a good reason to do so (for instance, if you are Brad Pitt or Taylor Swift).About the bilingual Québécois who won't speak English in all cases (like myself): Most of them will speak English with Americans or Canadian tourists from other provinces without any fuss.However, if you are an English-speaking Quebecer or immigrant, if you live in an English neighbourhood in a big city like Montreal, you can stay there without ever using a single word of French, and you can get all governmental (federal or provincial) services in English if you want to.But don't expect everybody to answer you in English if they have no business with you. If you have been living in Québec for some time, you are expected to know the official language of Québec, which is French. If you don't know any French, you won't be able to read most signs, which is a good reason to learn some.Except in remote frontier towns, if you are serving people in any kind of store, you are expected to be able to serve them in French if they want to. lf I am the customer, I will never use Engish anywhere in Quebec. It's a matter of self-respect. Blame it on our colonial past: we just resent “Rhodesians” who are too lazy to learn the language of the “natives”.As you can see, in most situations, using English with Québécois won't get you into any kind of trouble, but if you plan to live some or all the time in Québec, you should consider learning French. Every little bit you can muster will help. And if you make mistakes, people will laugh with you.One last thing: Quebec's language laws are not a conspiracy directed against Anglos. They make sense for a society that has been using French for 500 years. If you don't agree with that, you should travel outside USA and Canada once in a while, you will see that the above recommendations are good for most other “foreign” countries.By the way, did you know the Florida recently voted language laws to preserve the English language there?Florida English as Official Language Amendment (1988) - Ballotpedia”

When one talks about the future of an immigrant in Canada, one is talking about the future of Canada. An immigrant or a prospective immigrant who follows Canadian news will find that Canadian-born people have their own definite anxieties about the future. Part of “integrating” with Canadian life is learning to share those anxieties. In other words, unless an immigrant is trying to insulate themselves in a sort of unrealistic “bubble”, they shouldn't expect to be any happier or feel more secure than anyone else does.Immigrants can be anybody, from many, many backgrounds. There cannot be one future for them all.Good, Bad And UglyThese are strong words and not necessarily very precise. They in fact can be highly subjective. And, some things are going to stand out more than others, depending on where the immigrant came from and their own philosophy of life.Most of Canada's immigrants come from the developing world. For them, a fairly prominent good is simply that they are coming to a developed industrial democracy, with a social safety net comparable to some of the countries in Western Europe. Health care is good, and there is no bill for doctor or hospital visits. The federal employment insurance programme is there for people who lose employment. The schools are generally adequate and post-secondary education is subsidized. The physical infrastructure is in fairly good shape.The “bad” is more in the mind of the beholder. Again, I am referring particularly to immigrants from the developing world, where cultures sometimes tend to be more tradition-minded. In more absolute terms, the winters are exceptionally harsh and one incurs costs in the form of heavy clothing, snow tires, home heating, and that sizable portion of the municipal tax bill that goes for snow plowing and sanding. Income taxes are high. So, generally are retail prices. Canada has a relatively small population for its huge size. This limits economies of scale, restricts retail competition, and imposes high transportation costs.When I talk about cultural “bads”, perhaps I could offer an observation from my own childhood. My Manitoba of the 1950's was a very morally strict place. A religious Muslim, Hindu or Sikh, or someone who believes in Confucian traditions, might have been impressed by it. Liquor sales were tightly controlled and women were mostly kept away from liquor-serving establishments. Women were required to dress and behave in a modest manner. The lives of adolescent children, particularly the daughters, were kept under tight parental and societal supervision. Sundays were reserved as a day for almost required worship, with shopping and most other facilities closed. The pronouncements of clergymen were deemed important and had high credibility. Obscene words or “lewd” behaviour were strictly forbidden from radio and TV broadcasts and the live theatre, and books were censored. However, nowadays, Manitoba is somewhat the reverse and that old Manitoba is mostly just black and white pictures from the archives.The uglies can be different from immigrant to immigrant, depending on whether or not you turn away your gaze. I would suggest that the terrible abuse of Canada's indigenous peoples is the most ugly thing. However, most immigrants to Canada settle in cities, and there are only some of the cities where the suffering of the indigenous peoples is very apparent.In my opinion, one of the other very severe uglies is that there is a sort of underclass of Canadians, which the Canadian social safety net has not been very successful in helping. Canada has high levels of alcohol abuse and some very serious drug addictions. Currently we talk of the “meths” crisis. Tragically, we see significant numbers of children with foetal alcohol syndrome. Prostitution is rather common, partially driven by female addictions. There are adult Canadians who who were poorly parented or sometimes severely abused as children, were not adequately educated and can not function adequately as adults. All of these people are highly likely to remain permanently poor, despite Canada's wealth and relatively comprehensive social services.And, it is the case that some immigrants will remain poor for some of the same reasons. I could put it this way, among young men from immigrant families, there is an almost inverse relationship between pride and success. Canada's refugee and family class immigration programmes mean that some immigrant families will be poor. Young, proud men who become angry about their low economic and social status sometimes blame “Canada”, rather than their own issues, and lash out in fury, sometimes in criminal ways. By contrast, young men who are rather humble about themselves and seek out remedial education, knowing they will then need years of post-secondary education in order to advance, and who recognize that the life of a Canadian male is very unlikely to be what one might see in a hip-hop video, do reasonably well.Vulnerable CanadaAn immigrant can be surprised by the reality that Canada, despite is huge geographic size, is very vulnerable to decisions made by people in other countries.Canada derives much of its foreign exchange, and so its prosperity, by selling its natural resources into foreign markets. It is an export-oriented economy. As I said above, Canada's internal markets are dispersed and rather small. This sharply limits opportunities for Canadian industries to rely on producing goods for the domestic market.The past year of frankly miserable negotiations with the USA and Mexico, over the replacement of the NAFTA free trade agreement, has reminded Canadians how vulnerable we are. Now Canada, despite its stringent efforts to be very, very amenable in its foreign relations, is in severe difficulty with the People's Republic of China, which is a major, major potential market for the things we can produce, as well as with Saudi Arabia. Our current difficulties with China are largely the result of one extradition demand by the United States.An immigrant who is seeking a career in Canada needs to be aware of how vulnerable some industries are. The Province of Alberta is the main source of Canada's oil and natural gas exports. The prices have declined sharply, partly because supplies from other countries have increased, and have pushed parts of Alberta's economy into a dire situation. So, a highly qualified petroleum engineer might have had a very good, well-paid job a couple of years ago, in downtown Calgary, the hub of Canada's energy industries. However currently, just like any Canadian-born petroleum engineer, an immigrant engineer has a good chance of being on social assistance.It is the responsibility of the immigrant. They would do well to look at some of the plentiful information on the Internet, above which of Canada's industries is most vulnerable. It depends how risk-oriented you are, but some industries are more buffered from foreign relations issues then others.In fact, some of Canada's most notable immigration successes, and its happiest immigrants, occur among immigrants from modest backgrounds, who engage here in in semi-skilled occupations that are not so vulnerable to foreign demands. For example, the industry of providing institutional and home care to seniors is being fed by an increasing supply of aging Baby Boom Canadians. Short of enormous advances in robotics, the need for care workers is likely to grow, and it is not the sort of work that the somewhat diminished supply of young, Canadian-born people will do.Then, combine that sort of job with life in a low-cost community, and you may have the doorway to quite a good life. Again, I offer my Winnipeg. There is plentiful need for seniors care, that is to a large extent made up by the city's sizable Filipino population. Compared to the “big cities” of Canada, housing costs are quite low, and because, it is not too big of a city, transportation costs are rather modest. Winnipeg has residential districts that cater to the Filipino community. The result, relatively happy lives with reasonable economic security.The Occupational Future Of The Canadian AnybodyWhere And When Do Humans Get Pushed Out?I like to read science websites. There are plenty of stories about Artificial Intelligence taking jobs away from humans. However, unless you are an expert on any given industry, you have no way to tell what is “hype”, and what is a plausible reality, and when it might happen.The past couple of years, there have been so many stories about autonomous trucks and taxis replacing human drivers, and deliveries that will be made by upsized drones. However, we have no idea how much of this is promotional literature from the manufacturer. One, well-publicized, lethal accident could set the plans back a long time. (We saw this as a result of a fatal crash by an automated car in California.)But, if the technology proves feasible, safe and affordable, an industry (And one that employed many immigrants.) could very quickly crash as an employer of humans. Once the first reliable, driverless taxi begins full-fledged commercial service in Canada, how long will it take before there are fleets of them?The Greater Vancouver And Greater Toronto Areas Wobble As Places For ImmigrantsApparently, there are currently plentiful jobs in the Lower Mainland, that part of mainland, southwestern British Columbia that accommodates the City and Vancouver and its suburbs. Vancouver currently has a good economy. However I think there is another reason why jobs are plentiful. That is, who can afford to live in the Lower Mainland in order to fill the demand? Housing costs, both purchase and rental, are at all-time highs. The Greater Toronto Area is hardly better.For an immigrant looking for a decent future, all I can suggest is beware. There is some talk of a “correction” in Toronto's property market, but it would really have to be a crash, before home ownership and reasonable rents will return.Many Canadians have no aspiration to live in these two very highly priced regions, but immigrants do. However, both cities may never accommodate immigrants the way they used to. I would suggest that there is no value for an immigrant to continue an embrace of the Vancouver-Toronto mystique.An Immigrant Should Not Expect to Be Any Happier Than A Canadian-Born Person IsIf an immigrant reads much Canadian news, they will find that Canadian-born people have plentiful reasons to feel anxious and concerned about the future. I think it tends to be Canadians who have travelled overseas to understand the prototypical “How lucky we are!”There is no apparent relief in sight for Canada's biggest goods, bads and uglies. Do not put much if any hope in there being large changes during an immigrant's life in Canada.Happy Canadians tend to be those who accept the uncertainties as a fact of life and things they have little or no power to change. They try to make realistic personal choices about their jobs, where they live, and what they can expect from other Canadians. They know that, not everything they read, even in something as respectable as a science magazine, is real or likely.A Canadian-born person probably has a personal happiness advantage over an immigrant in that they have had all their lives to learn about their country, and may have grown up with still supportive family or friends. However, beyond that, an immigrant is best to copy the happiness producing strategy, and to never expect a Canadian life that is free from stress and uncertainty.Martin Levine