I thought this should be shared with fellow Americans.
This is from someone I know, so I know it is a first hand factual report.........It is a sad report. What is happening in our country, as well as Canada, will break your heart.
For those who don't know me personally, I operate a large custom aquarium business, catering mostly to the wealthy. We do work all over North America.
I just returned from a job re-doing the interior design of an aquarium aboard a very large yacht. The work began in Vancouver, BC - Canada, then was moved to Seattle, WA.
I have several things to report about what I experienced and saw in both Vancouver, BC and Seattle, related to the economic devastation which is occuring in both our nation and in our neighbors to the North.
First, Canada. I've done a fair amount of work in Canada, but our last job there was two years ago. Times have truly changed - for the worse.
We never had a problem entering Canada to do work as our business is so specialized and there are very few firms in the world which do what we do, namely very large aquariums (1000 to 500,000 gallon), museum grade aquariums and specialty aquariums for boats and other venues which require engineering and marine biology expertise.
Not this time. Canada has clamped down on immigration and work visas in the past year. Whereas we could normally get a Labor Market Opinion and work permit in less than a week before, we were informed by Canadian customs/immigration that as Canada's unemployment has skyrocketed since last year, they are now running six weeks or longer to approve temporary job pemits and now require a multitude of paperwork to prove that the work one does cannot be done by a Canadian company.
We had less than a week's notice and had to hire a lawyer in Quebec for a lot of money to walk our application through channels. Even with our papers all in order, we were delayed at customs for an hour while we were grillled about what we were doing and why only our company could do the work.
In other words, Canada, unlike the US, has clamped down their borders, stopped illegal immigration cold and are fiercely protecting their citizen's jobs. When we arrived in Vancouver and were driving to the marina, we found out why.
Folks, there were literally dozens of homeless people on almost every single block of the city holding signs, begging for money, food, anything to help them. There are no jobs and many have lost their homes. Canada, like the US, is lying to their people about their unemployment rate. The situation in Vancouver is dire. Shelters are packed beyond capacity. Tent cities were common in vacant lots in the more rundown neighborhoods.
I bought a very thin woman and man who were so hungry they could barely stand a few sandwiches and bottled water. They had two children with them and were so grateful. One showed me his old employment ID which showed he was an engineer. He and his wife had worked in a factory together which is now closed. We got in our truck and left. I looked in a rearview mirror only to see a crowd of other homeless people fighting with the couple for a share of the food. I tried to stop and help them but traffic wouldn't let me pull over.
But the desolation didn't end in Canada. Seattle seemed even worse. We drove down as with security and all, driving was faster. When we arrived and left the Seattle motel in the morning and started the drive into the city, I was shocked and horrified to find downtown Seattle and almost every neighborhood filled with homeless folks on the steets, camped out in city parks, living under bridges. Everywhere we went, we were asked for handouts every few feet. Even Pikes Place was packed with homeless, seeking handouts from tourists.
Many factories have closed. Dozens of large freighters and barges sit empty in the harbors with no cargo to haul. Shipyards have closed. Sure, there are white collar jobs aplenty, but blue collar industries have been destroyed.
Many shops have closed and only those catering to the wealthy seem to be thriving - barely. It is my custom to treat my employees to a very nice dinner on our last night after successful completion of a project. We went to what is described as the best steak and seafood joint in the city on a Saturday night. The place was dead - only three tables filled out of a hundred or more.
Then there were the illegals. We have our share of them here in Chicago camped out in Home Depot parking lots, but NOTHING like the hundreds we saw in two or three Home Depot parking lots we visited in Seattle. The city has had to station a dozen or so police in each lot to protect customers and break up fights when a "job" becomes available.
One of the crew on the boat had just came down from Los Angeles where he lived. He told us that what we saw in Seattle is nothing compared to LA.
Heartbreaking.
This is from someone I know, so I know it is a first hand factual report.........It is a sad report. What is happening in our country, as well as Canada, will break your heart.
For those who don't know me personally, I operate a large custom aquarium business, catering mostly to the wealthy. We do work all over North America.
I just returned from a job re-doing the interior design of an aquarium aboard a very large yacht. The work began in Vancouver, BC - Canada, then was moved to Seattle, WA.
I have several things to report about what I experienced and saw in both Vancouver, BC and Seattle, related to the economic devastation which is occuring in both our nation and in our neighbors to the North.
First, Canada. I've done a fair amount of work in Canada, but our last job there was two years ago. Times have truly changed - for the worse.
We never had a problem entering Canada to do work as our business is so specialized and there are very few firms in the world which do what we do, namely very large aquariums (1000 to 500,000 gallon), museum grade aquariums and specialty aquariums for boats and other venues which require engineering and marine biology expertise.
Not this time. Canada has clamped down on immigration and work visas in the past year. Whereas we could normally get a Labor Market Opinion and work permit in less than a week before, we were informed by Canadian customs/immigration that as Canada's unemployment has skyrocketed since last year, they are now running six weeks or longer to approve temporary job pemits and now require a multitude of paperwork to prove that the work one does cannot be done by a Canadian company.
We had less than a week's notice and had to hire a lawyer in Quebec for a lot of money to walk our application through channels. Even with our papers all in order, we were delayed at customs for an hour while we were grillled about what we were doing and why only our company could do the work.
In other words, Canada, unlike the US, has clamped down their borders, stopped illegal immigration cold and are fiercely protecting their citizen's jobs. When we arrived in Vancouver and were driving to the marina, we found out why.
Folks, there were literally dozens of homeless people on almost every single block of the city holding signs, begging for money, food, anything to help them. There are no jobs and many have lost their homes. Canada, like the US, is lying to their people about their unemployment rate. The situation in Vancouver is dire. Shelters are packed beyond capacity. Tent cities were common in vacant lots in the more rundown neighborhoods.
I bought a very thin woman and man who were so hungry they could barely stand a few sandwiches and bottled water. They had two children with them and were so grateful. One showed me his old employment ID which showed he was an engineer. He and his wife had worked in a factory together which is now closed. We got in our truck and left. I looked in a rearview mirror only to see a crowd of other homeless people fighting with the couple for a share of the food. I tried to stop and help them but traffic wouldn't let me pull over.
But the desolation didn't end in Canada. Seattle seemed even worse. We drove down as with security and all, driving was faster. When we arrived and left the Seattle motel in the morning and started the drive into the city, I was shocked and horrified to find downtown Seattle and almost every neighborhood filled with homeless folks on the steets, camped out in city parks, living under bridges. Everywhere we went, we were asked for handouts every few feet. Even Pikes Place was packed with homeless, seeking handouts from tourists.
Many factories have closed. Dozens of large freighters and barges sit empty in the harbors with no cargo to haul. Shipyards have closed. Sure, there are white collar jobs aplenty, but blue collar industries have been destroyed.
Many shops have closed and only those catering to the wealthy seem to be thriving - barely. It is my custom to treat my employees to a very nice dinner on our last night after successful completion of a project. We went to what is described as the best steak and seafood joint in the city on a Saturday night. The place was dead - only three tables filled out of a hundred or more.
Then there were the illegals. We have our share of them here in Chicago camped out in Home Depot parking lots, but NOTHING like the hundreds we saw in two or three Home Depot parking lots we visited in Seattle. The city has had to station a dozen or so police in each lot to protect customers and break up fights when a "job" becomes available.
One of the crew on the boat had just came down from Los Angeles where he lived. He told us that what we saw in Seattle is nothing compared to LA.
Heartbreaking.
