03-10-2009, 03:00 AM
Dear rabia-k
You have raised a good point. List of benefits is long. Basically, system supports residents here. System does not leave its residents alone on road here. For example, I talk about Canada where I live in. Canada is a welfare country, no matter there is recession or not. Theoretically speaking, a person can live a whole life without doing a job, still enjoying free medical services, medicines, some monthly amount for expenses, food, and shelter or housing in case of family. Please don't take the false impresion that people don't do jobs, but actually government engages him/her in positive job oriented skills and activities, so eventually he/she starts doing some sort of job if he/she did not have any. That person's kids would be going to same schools where other 99% of other kids would be going, without payment of any fee, payment for books, vans, lunch, study trips etc. Each elligible family with kids receive some reasonable monthly amount from government for every single kid in house each month till age of I think 13 (I am not sure). Schooling is completely free for all residents (read again not Citizens but just residents). Similarly, medical treatment i.e. doctors fee and hospitalization is completely free for all legal residents, though low income elligible legal immigrants can also get free medicines. Free and equal access to medical and education benefits and facilities are same for all. For government, there is no differentiation among humans based on their income levels. Every one gets the same free medical or education benefits as all other. Though some rich people send their kids in elite private schools too, but that portion is almost negligible.
Till grade 12 all education for every kid is free and assured by government. After grade 12, students get loan from banks for almost every kind of study, which they repay with some interest in future years, if they get a job. Government/banks waive the principal and interest if they don't have a job and income. The burden would be low, if income is low.
Government deducts some amount from every employed person's pay cheque as "Employment Insurance EI" as well as "Canada Pension Plan CPP". When that person gets unemployed, government automatically starts sending a cheque (at home or as direct deposit in person's bank account) within 2 to 3 weeks to that unemployed person. That unemployed automatically become elligible for several other government assistance programs and skill enhancement/ education improvement programs etc. Retirement age is 65 years, so when a person is retired, he/she automatically starts getting pension cheque from government for rest of his/her life. Same is the case if someone becomes disable due to any reason or accident, the government supports the person (for rest of life through disability benefits) and family by any means. It all happen without paying any single penny as bribe or reference (i.e. sifarish) etc., though everyone must have to wait in queue for his/her turn. To finance all these and to run affairs of government, the various levels of governments levy high taxes, but people pay those because, first they cannot avoid taxes as the law and its implementation is strong and consequences of avoidance are far reaching, and second people know they would get all type of benefits back when they need.
List of benefits is very long. Simply speaking, the system is quite strong and helping. This is the reason that about 300,000 professionals (though desired applicants are much more than 300,000 each year, but Canada intakes only 1% professionals of its own population) from all over the world immigrate to Canada each year knowingly that there are strong chances that they not gonna get professional jobs in initial months/years.
Regards
You have raised a good point. List of benefits is long. Basically, system supports residents here. System does not leave its residents alone on road here. For example, I talk about Canada where I live in. Canada is a welfare country, no matter there is recession or not. Theoretically speaking, a person can live a whole life without doing a job, still enjoying free medical services, medicines, some monthly amount for expenses, food, and shelter or housing in case of family. Please don't take the false impresion that people don't do jobs, but actually government engages him/her in positive job oriented skills and activities, so eventually he/she starts doing some sort of job if he/she did not have any. That person's kids would be going to same schools where other 99% of other kids would be going, without payment of any fee, payment for books, vans, lunch, study trips etc. Each elligible family with kids receive some reasonable monthly amount from government for every single kid in house each month till age of I think 13 (I am not sure). Schooling is completely free for all residents (read again not Citizens but just residents). Similarly, medical treatment i.e. doctors fee and hospitalization is completely free for all legal residents, though low income elligible legal immigrants can also get free medicines. Free and equal access to medical and education benefits and facilities are same for all. For government, there is no differentiation among humans based on their income levels. Every one gets the same free medical or education benefits as all other. Though some rich people send their kids in elite private schools too, but that portion is almost negligible.
Till grade 12 all education for every kid is free and assured by government. After grade 12, students get loan from banks for almost every kind of study, which they repay with some interest in future years, if they get a job. Government/banks waive the principal and interest if they don't have a job and income. The burden would be low, if income is low.
Government deducts some amount from every employed person's pay cheque as "Employment Insurance EI" as well as "Canada Pension Plan CPP". When that person gets unemployed, government automatically starts sending a cheque (at home or as direct deposit in person's bank account) within 2 to 3 weeks to that unemployed person. That unemployed automatically become elligible for several other government assistance programs and skill enhancement/ education improvement programs etc. Retirement age is 65 years, so when a person is retired, he/she automatically starts getting pension cheque from government for rest of his/her life. Same is the case if someone becomes disable due to any reason or accident, the government supports the person (for rest of life through disability benefits) and family by any means. It all happen without paying any single penny as bribe or reference (i.e. sifarish) etc., though everyone must have to wait in queue for his/her turn. To finance all these and to run affairs of government, the various levels of governments levy high taxes, but people pay those because, first they cannot avoid taxes as the law and its implementation is strong and consequences of avoidance are far reaching, and second people know they would get all type of benefits back when they need.
List of benefits is very long. Simply speaking, the system is quite strong and helping. This is the reason that about 300,000 professionals (though desired applicants are much more than 300,000 each year, but Canada intakes only 1% professionals of its own population) from all over the world immigrate to Canada each year knowingly that there are strong chances that they not gonna get professional jobs in initial months/years.
Regards
