America Rocks & Canada Sucks

The name is Simon Jean-Pierre. A big and tall young Black man of Haitian descent currently living in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. I was born in Orleans, a suburb of Ottawa in the Confederation of Canada. I always wanted to live in America, ever since I visited many years ago. At the age of twenty six, I decided to take the plunge. What did I have to lose? I have my Master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Ottawa. And the best job I was able to find is an entry-level position at the Canadian Revenue Agency. Thanks but no thanks. I have far more ambition than that.

A lot of people describe Canada as a land that welcomes immigrants but they're the most xenophobic nation on the planet. Try being a Black man walking around the city of Calgary in the Province of Alberta for a day or two. You'll see the real Canadians. A nation of bigots. And they fear the college-educated, ambitious person of color most of all. That's why I decided to leave Canada after getting my MBA from the University of Ottawa. I know things won't be easy in the U.S. but at least over there, I'll stand a snowball's chance in hell of being successful.

So I moved to Boston, the city of my dreams. I was hired by this think thank, the Foundation for International Development or F.I.D. They are a non-government agency that deals with the governments of rising super powers like Brazil, the Republic of South Africa and China. Just so you know, the G-20 was sort of their idea. They're all about bringing the nations of the world together, and since they've got billions of dollars at their disposal, they can actually get things done. Working for the F.I.D. is kind of interesting. Never a dull moment there, folks.

No Canadian company of this size and magnitude ( if there were any ) would give an executive position to a young Black man who just recently earned his MBA. They simply aren't that progressive. They don't see people of color as worthy of doing anything positive with their lives. The Canadian seemingly welcomes hundreds of thousands of Africans, Chinese, East Indians and Hispanics into his Confederation but mostly because he wants us to work menial jobs. The kind of jobs that ordinary Canadians are loathe to do. That's the only reason Canada seems to be so friendly to immigrants. If you look deeper, you'll their motives are completely selfish and not all motivated by humanitarianism or anything of the sort.

I know this all too well. In cities like Ottawa, Toronto and others, you'll see extremely bright young Black men and Black women with University degrees working lousy jobs because the big Canadian companies simply won't hire them. In Canada, they have discrimination to a science. It's more subtle and more refined than in America. The American corporate big-shot doesn't like Blacks, Asians, Hispanics and other so-called minorities but he'll give the more talented among them decent jobs in order to keep company profits up. The Canadian corporate big-shot is the exact opposite. He'll give the CEO position to a White guy with only a High School diploma who will definitely take the company downwards and won't hire the brightest University graduates because they're not White. The Canadian would rather lose money than give a decent job to a highly educated and competent person of color. That's why Canada is stale, small and boring and will never rival America in power, size or opulence.

I left Canada, folks, and I honestly don't want to come back. I've become a permanent resident of America now. I've got a U.S. driver's license, a social security number and all that good stuff. The Foundation for International Development helped me a great deal. They've got a diverse staff. I met a beautiful Black lady from the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, a Mexican oil company executive and a Japanese techie, all working for the company. How about that? One of the many things I like about Americans is how they don't just claim to be diverse, they simply are. Just look at their political parties, their schools and their big cities. In Canada, they talk a good game about multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion but it's all talk. Don't believe me? Take a look at their schools, political parties and cities. That's all the answer you'll ever need on the bloody subject.

I really wish more University graduates from Canada, especially the ones who aren't White, would come to America in search of better lives. Sadly, most of them are indoctrinated to see Canada as a land of perfection. They don't seem to mind that their (often less gifted academically ) White classmates will get the better jobs after graduating with less than stellar grades from the local colleges and universities. That's pretty much a given in the Confederation of Canada. And it sucks. That's why Canada can't advance as a nation. Not that it wants to.

Over there, they're happy with their hockey obsession, their maple syrup and their endless Gretzky versus Crosby discussions. They don't aspire to be more than what they are. The American is relentless with his drive and ambition. He ruthlessly seeks more and more, in every domain. It's his drive for self-improvement at work. The naturally lazy Canadian is quite content with the little he has. And he doesn't want more. Such a difference in viewpoints. On the same bloody continent. It's amazing. Americans and Canadians are like two different species, man. It's kind of eerie.

The African-Americans I've met in the city of Boston are so different from the Black Canadians I've known my entire life. The African-American men and women are strong, proud and resilient. They're very proud of their community. And they contribute to it energetically. They face racism and discrimination head-on. And they fear no one. Bigoted Whites think twice before confronting an irate African-American person of either sex. In Canada, Black Canadians walk around with their heads down. Half of them are happy-go-lucky idiots who think of Canada as a land of perfection. They see nothing with the systemic discrimination that people of color face in supposedly liberal and multicultural Canadian society. The other half sees the ugly truth and is clinically depressed because of it. Either way, no one is doing anything about it.

Upon moving to Boston, I learned that Deval Patrick, the current Governor of Massachusetts, is a Black man. Unlike Michaelle Jean, the former Governor General of Canada, he wasn't appointed by some old White person, he was actually collectively elected by the people of Massachusetts. They had a choice between him and some White lady from the Republican Party, and they chose him. Massachusetts is a progressive State. They don't just say it, they practice it and live it. In Canada, we say it and do nothing to back it up. That's why I couldn't wait to leave Canada. Lately, I've been giving serious thought to becoming a United States Citizen.

There is a reason why. And it's not just the endless opportunities I've found in Boston. I've fallen in love with a tall, beautiful young Black woman named Mollena Winston. She's a lawyer working in the city. Mollena is a graduate of Howard University Law School. The world-famous, historically Black Law School located in Washington D.C. We met while I was walking around Copley Mall, my favourite shopping center in Boston. It is big and diverse, and kind of reminds me of Saint Laurent Mall in Ottawa. Anyhow, I was walking around and this six-foot-tall, curvy and big-bottomed, absolutely stunning Black woman in a business suit caught my eye. I worked up the nerve to go talk to her. She smiled at me and introduced herself. We ended up grabbing lunch, and I took her business card. That's how it all began.

Thanks to the lovely Mollena, my life has changed, folks. She has shown me a side of America I never would have discovered. Canadian media has done a fine job of isolating and misinforming Black Canadians from our African-American brothers and sisters in the United States. Mollena told me a lot of things about Black culture, and I became fascinated. This lady spoke fervently about the deeds of Martin Luther King, Deval Patrick, Eric Holder, Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama. The African-American struggle for social and economic viability, and achievement. She took me to the Black History Museum in New York City. We walked through the town of Harlem together. Though it had a bit more Hispanics, Whites and Asians than I expected, Harlem is still the center of Black American Culture it has always been.

Folks, I've fallen in love with this beautiful African-American woman. When my parents came to visit Boston in December, I introduced them to her. My parents aren't thrilled with my move to America. My father Jerome works for the Ontario Ministry of Corrections. He's in charge of the largest facility in all of Ontario at the moment. My mother Adrienne is a retired schoolteacher. She taught in Orleans public schools for twenty years. I love my parents but they have been brainwashed by Canada. They can't see America for the beautiful land of racial diversity and economic opportunity it really is. I'm staying in America with my Mollena. She is the woman I will marry. End of story.