Canadian values, spirituality

New studies on Canadian values and spirituality showed that West Coast residents are leading the country’s trend toward greater individualism and immediate gratification.

British Columbians once again indicated their unique and different lifestyle from the rest of Canada which suits me fine, along with many liberated Fil-Cans who can think on their own, not follow the herd mentality and patronize organized religion. B.C. residents retain their reputation among the Canadians least interested in religion (except the traditional ethnic group members who refuse to integrate). Meanwhile, other parts of Canada indicate a modest renewed commitment to institutions of faith.

We can generally state their British Columbians don’t waste their time kneeling down in prayer but could be observed quietly meditating to achieve inner peace and tranquility without an audience. The pollsters also noted that British Columbians are more likely than most Canadians to distrust people in authority, feel comfortable with using marijuana, love of free choice, greater acceptance of alternative lifestyles and sex outside marriage and can be impatient. Many are definitely not into organized religion.

The book "The Boomer Factor" stated that B.C. highlight a shift in Canadian Society away from deference to discernment to a healthy skepticism about those in power. The people of B.C. are most likely to value personal freedom and to think people should do their own thing. Of course, this will not apply to provincial Fil-Cans who still have a village lifestyle and those who never developed their global soul/mind.

On the downside, the province’s commitment to individualism, openness and liberalism is a decline in traditional values but is in keeping with the contemporary lifestyle of not being governed by family, religion, superstition, corporations and institutions.

Philippine Asian News Today is a bi weekly tabloid newspaper published in Vancouver, B.C. by Ray Fortaleza, with Israel Cando as editor-in-chief. It celebrated its 10th year of publication last December 2006. When it was first published, many predicted its early demise in the world of ethnic publications.

However, the newspaper survived the crowded Pinoy publication business. After a few years, it expanded to Seattle, Washington and San Francisco, California and also launched a sister publication, Philippine Showbiz. The publisher claims that it is now the number one Philippine newspaper in British Columbia. The other newspapers also claim to be number one.

Aprodicio A. Laquian, Professor Emeritus (University of British Columbia) Centre for Human Settlements is currently proofreading his new book about the history of Filipino migration in Canada. The subject has not been tackled before so the book is not only historic but a book that should be read by every Filipino living in Canada.

In retrospect, there have been three waves of Filipino migration to Canada. The first is in the ’60s, professionals migrated to Canada; the 2nd is in the ’70s, families were sponsored by the first ways of immigrants and the third significant wave was in the ’90s, skilled migrants and live-in caregivers came in significant numbers.

The Citizenship and Immigration Canada reported that 2,500 Filipinos move to Vancouver yearly. In the economic category which includes live-in-caregivers, 13,787 Filipinos, mostly women, migrated to Canada in 2005.

How many Filipinos do we have in Canada? According to the census of Statistics Canada, 308,575 out of the total Canadian population are people of Filipino origin, or approximately one percent of Canada’s population, but that was in 2001. The 2006 census showed that there are approximately over 424,500 Filipinos currently residing in Canada and 95,000 people of Filipino descent live in British Columbia.

The Filipino community in Canada, from Toronto to Vancouver is known as "the community of organizations". For example, in British Columbia, there are around 150 organizations/clubs/associations within the community in B.C.

A new survey indicated that most working Canadians plan to continue working part-time after retiring to bolster their incomes. Many admit that they don’t have enough money to live on if they don’t work.