Lotus Land
Immigration To Canada
The family arrived in Canada from Finland in the 50's. After spending two years in a Sudbury suburb of Long Lake, they packed up and left for the West Coast. After travelling west through the Rocky Mountains they arrived on the shores of the Pacific. Two years later, the great island there welcomed them. The island was like a jewel in the Pacific Ocean, which they had just discovered.
Metaphorically speaking, some even eventually discovered the lotus plant, that infamous little tempter of travelers. It seemed good to eat, so they ate. But soon they noticed that they did not want to leave. They were content as cows in a field and forgot all about their homes.
by Frida Kostian
- All they wanted to do was eat of the fruit, day after day forever more. Long after their old folk had passed away they were there, munching. Oblivious of everything but the lotus, which they loved. Some tasted it and spit it out just in time, before they got hooked on it. But there were some who just dreamed of one day going home.
The Beauty of This "Lotus" Land
Canada is a great country. It is beautiful. The people are nice. The rest, well, you have to come here and see.
Having said that, there are a lot more truly great things to say about Canada and its
people and nature, than about its politicians, most of which are involved in some kind of moral scandal, both provincially and federally. The leader of British Columbia, Premier Gordon Campbell, went for a holiday in Maui, decided to have some drinks and drove off, only to be stopped by the police and charged for driving while under the influence. Nobody's perfect, and we have all fallen short, but this guy went around telling everyone that a politician has to quit if he is convicted of an offense. He also gave himself and the other thieves a healthy 32% raise, to which the people protested, so he cut it back 5%! So you can see what idiots run this country, its almost as bad as Communists in Russia, some say it is worse. Since he has done nothing but slash health services and other essential government jobs, not too many people have much sympathy for him. British Columbia has been plagued by political scandals and there are few politicians on the horizon that the people trust.
Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands are beautiful beyond description. The author has cruised the coast's mist shrouded islands and inlets, watched the Killer Whales play, the pounding of the waves against the
rugged cliffs and walked hundreds of kilometers of rocky and sand beaches. Most
people don't even know they exist, thankfully - such is the beauty and
remoteness of these secret places. The hundreds of islands nestled between
Vancouver Island and the mountainous mainland create a truely supernatural
environment to live and play in for those who like water. There is nothing like
an island, a totally calm ocean around it, the slight movement of the tide,
stillness, quietness, just the occasional cry of a distant gull or the explosion
of air from a Killer Whale or seal's nostrils to bring you back. The glide-by of
a majestic Bald Eagle. The pine studded shoreline zig-zagging along amongst the
intertidal goose-necked barnacles, crabs, tidal pools and kelp beds. It is a
marine biologists dream, and one reason I decided to study biology and become a self-styled naturalist and conservationist. An hour or two by boat and you are at Molly's Reach, which is on the mainland but accessible only by
boat, where the TV serial "Beachcombers" was filmed, and where this
writer worked for a few months. There aren't too many places on earth that can
compare with it. Nothing wrong with the land - Antti could have chosen many
worse places on earth. But I hate to say it, there is trouble in paradise.
The Queen Charlotte Islands! Yes! The beauty of these islands, three
hundred kilometers north of Vancouver Island, inhabited by the famous Haida
people, cannot be imagined. Thanks to my summer work while a biology student at UVic, I spent a whole summer there in the 70's. Into Sandspit with turboprop
and out from Masset with a Grumman Goose to Sandspit, back to Vancouver (Vancourver Airport) and Victoria
by turboprop.
The Haida People
The Haida are a highly developed Westcoast native people, a fact which is
evident in their art perhaps best exemplified by the late Bill Reid's world famous carvings.
Queen Charlotte City and Skidegate are in a natural harbour located in the hub
of the Charlottes, and Masset is at the north end where there are hundreds of
miles of wide sandy beaches to rival any in the world. The sea, dunes and an
ancient cedar rain forest make the Charlottes just fantastic. The friendliness
of Skidegate Haidas will be always remembered.
In the fall of 2004, I was summoned to the Charlottes once more, having drunk from St. Mary's well on my previous visit. The legend goes that he who drinks from this well will return to the Islands. I can attest to the fact that the legend is accurate. This visit is no less amazing than the first, with the exception that I was sorry to see the development near the north beach. The government had sold "crown land" from under the noses of the Haida people in Masset, partially destroying the wilderness beach area. I say this because it is the remoteness that attracted me there in the first place. Now civilization has encroached! But the beach is still there, just as long and beautiful. A beachcombers dream come true, is the north beach.
Memories of Skidegate
and Masset! The
Haida
Sointula: The Finnish Utopia in the Pacific
Sointula, (place of harmony) which is located on Malcolm Island, was
established 1901 by Finnish socialists who hoped to create a utopia, but
discovered in one year what it took the Russians 70 years - it doesn't work
without the right kind of solid governing principles. They were dreamers. And there is nothing wrong with a bit of dreaming to be sure. But sometimes dreaming leads to destruction. Communes work with strict religious groups who have a code of behavior based on an old proven formula - the Bible. This group had decided to become the atheistic, socialist Kalevan Kansa, which worshipped nature, with some modern socialist ideas
thrown in. But not everyone wanted to behave. Some of these socialists thought
that this new freedom meant they could do whatever they wished, including
helping themselves to the women. Instead of harmony, they got discord. The dreamers' choices were idealistic rather than realistic, which lead them down the wrong path. After the breakup of the commune, and return to some sort of reality, Sointula prospered in fishing and logging and the community developed around the Co-op which looked after the financial daily affairs of the community among other things. It was like a city hall, bank and store rolled into one.
Stalin, the Pie-eyed Piper of Russia
The utopia
they came after did not materialize. Some did not give up the dream of a
utopia though, and responded to Stalin's call. Capitalism was in trouble in the late 20's and 30's, and many Finnish leftists believed in their own propaganda, that the Soviet system was utopia. Karelia fever was on. Many
Canadian and American Finns went to East Karelia in the Soviet Union, where
they found poverty, not utopia. Their worldly belongings were taken away and
they found that Karelia was like arriving at the "Hotel California" - you
could check in, but you could never leave. They had made the biggest mistake
in their lives, which most forfitted. They were never heard from again, it is
confirmed now almost daily, that most were shot in Stalin's
purges in the 30's.
The Communist ideal has been proven to be a lie, so why people
still insist on going after it, is beyond me. Politics and politicians are
what ruin the whole world, regardless of banner: religion, communism, or
anything else, and will continue to do so until humans take the next step in
their social development - rejecting violence, accepting honesty, goodwill, love as paramount, and demanding and recognizing
only truth. By going communist, they put themselves into an endless house of
horrors, a never ending retrograde limbo of poverty and slavery to the state.
Why does the human mind still do it? Why does it reject the evidence of the
eyes and ears - the cries of hundreds of millions of people slaughtered in the
name of a totally and completely inferior, corrupt system? To work for the
government is bad enough, but for a whole nation? Why does the human mind
reject the evidence that governments are all corrupt, and large governments
are the most corrupt. When staying in power is more important than the welfare
of the people, there is a problem. Mongolians voted in the communists in July
2000.
Sointula was a tightly knit village with their community hall as the
center where people met regularly. The sense of community was reduced when TV,
cars and telephones came to town and the hall began to sit empty. The media
informed the world, and that was the beginning of the end of one ideal lifestyle
on the west coast of Canada.
When the island was finally discovered by the rest of the world in
the 1960's, long-haired Americans from the United States and others began moving
in, and the Finns began moving out. Reminds me of when the Russians moved up
north to the Finnish lands, the people moved on. Then there were only the Finns
who stayed and the hippies who worked hard to build a life. The Finns understood
hard work, and soon these immigrants were accepted amongst the community, but it
would never be the same. The climate is mild, but in the winter it rains
alot. Sointula is located off the north-east coast and Sooke is on the south-west
coast of Vancouver Island.
If you love mountains, and skiing, you'll love the Canadian Rockies. One
little village I recently visited was Fernie B.C., in Southeast British
Columbia. This place is in the boom phase. One visit to the ski hill will tell
you that! There is construction everywhere. Partly-built condominiums, and
cottages everywhere. And the majestic mountains looming above, with their
powder. All this just minutes from downtown Fernie. It is truly awesome. This village is
on Highway 3, which many never see going on Highway 1, which goes through Banff.
Sometimes it seems the Australians and New Zealanders have discovered it before
the rest of the Canadians. A must-see for skiing enthusiasts, mountain bikers
and hikers.
What Went Wrong With Multiculturism?
Canada is certainly not the place my father arrived in from Finland. How has it changed? Well, for one thing, most of the inhabitants were from Europe. Today, large parts of Canada are distinctly Asian. Being Asian is not the problem though, they could be from anywhere. Most of them, except for the alarming increase in Asian gangs, are wonderful people as we all know. It could be any nationality, for example Finnish. Suppose 500,000 Finns landed in Vancouver BC. What would happen?
In the field of communications: these people, according to multicultural principles, would be allowed to retain their language, culture etc. etc. There is a problem with that. Why encourage nationalities to keep their identities if you are trying to build a strong united country?
The two main groups are from China or Indo-China and South Asia (India/Pakistan). The class of people arriving have a different work ethic than I am used to. Many come from wealthy families with servants back home. When they enter our society, they often treat co-workers like their servants, which caused a lot of friction and people leave their jobs to get away. This may sound like I am prejudiced against one group of people. I am not, they are nice people; I am just stating a fact as I see it. The Punjabi have a very large presence in Vancouver, along with a huge amount of political clout. They are purchasing all the small businesses that make money and property within a hundred square miles. Even Muslims are asking for their own Sharia Law, a terrible thing that no human being should be slave to. Canada is continuing its fragmentation by giving everybody what they want.
Multiculturalism to me means countries within countries, and if this is what everyone wants, well, how can I say no. But I don't believe this is what Canadians want, unless those Canadians happen to be these new Canadians who demand their own everything. They almost worship P.E. Trudeau, the prime minister who brought this on Canada. I am not pointing my finger at any nationality as being bad, it's our stupid government, that never changes regardless who is in power.
There have recently been an influx of southern Europeans, such as Croatians. Most of these people from the Balkans are extremely nice people, I have no complaints. But then they aren't here by the hundreds of thousands either. I have personal experience with people from most of the cultures in this area. The people from Punjab are nice too, but somehow I feel relegated into a certain cast in many (not all) of these people's minds. We know that is their culture so I guess it must be OK. Their culture is very vertical. They have casts, and this is how they relate to others in many cases. But on the whole people from all parts of the world get along quite well here in Canada, despite the politics. And we love them all. I am just stating what most Canadians are thinking, but not saying, and honesty is what these pages are all about.
Who is behind this immigration? Is there a conspiracy to bury Christian West? Why? And we are falling right into the Plan? All this is done by haters of Christianity. P.E. Trudeau was a leftist millionaire from Quebec who made Canada into a multicultural society. His religion was probably non-existent, as the effects of his policy was sure to help bury our Judeo-Christian culture.
Illuminati.
Books on British Columbia
Links
http://www.bc-alter.net/dfriesen/treasureleads.html
Lost BC Treasure
Sooke
B.C.
Back to
Antti
Back to
Uralic
Salmon Fishing in
B.C.
Road to 2001 Olympics
Sointula:
island utopia - book
Sointula and North
Vancouver Island
Black
Canoe Sculpture: The Spirit of Haida Gwaii
Native
American Authors Project: Bill Reid
National Film
Board of Canada Video
Royal British
Columbia Museum
The Douglas
Reynolds Gallery
Canada Museum
of Civilization
Native
Online