Press 1 to talk to nobody, press 2 to talk to nobody again, or press 3 to return to the first nobody.

Once I was able to find the page where one would normally sign in, I was further frustrated upon finding that the whole process of signing in to the website was becoming nothing more than a pain. After several unsuccessful attempts to login and becoming a little `pissed’ at the whole ordeal, I decided to call Rogers directly. To my surprise, there was Melanie again, although this time she did have a few more options which I was forced to listen to before returning me to the main menu to start all over again. Having about exhausted my patience at this point, I decided to call their support number and after listening to Melanie yet again, I was more than relieved to finally be able to get through to some real person. I quickly explained my situation to the technical representative and was somewhat relieved to be talking to someone other than Melanie. As the representative was about to direct me to someone who would be able to help me update my account… my phone when dead. I had exhausted the few remaining minutes I had talking to the mechanical Melanie… Now I was ‘PISSED’…

Needless to say, I had by then just about given up. The mechanical Melanie had tried my patience and won. After attempting a few more calls on the mechanical merry-go-round, not to mention the endless minutes I was forced to hold, it was time to admit defeat. Two to three hours after my first attempt, I was still unable to update my account with the forty dollars I had purchased previously in the day. I called Rogers again for the final time, and after waiting for some time was told that they were experiencing difficulties with their wireless network and that it should return to normal within the hour. After offering to credit my account with ten dollars for my hardships which I promptly refused, only wanting the use of my phone returned, I hung up more than a little ‘pissed’ with the whole ordeal. For the next few hours when I dialled *611 I was greeted with the message… ‘Welcome to Rogers… We’re sorry we are experiencing technical difficulties and are unable to update your account at this time. Please check back later!’

Just why is it they did not play this mechanical message the moment they discovered a problem with their network? And why is it these days that the consumer is always put on hold or left talking to the mechanical Melanie. As one should have noticed, this mechanical madness is becoming more and more of a norm with all big corporations who are more than willing not to answer any of our questions or concerns yet have no problems digging deep into our pockets.

My wish is that the next time one of these big corporations’ calls looking to collect on their account they may hear the same mechanical message… ‘Welcome, if you’re looking for payment Press 1, If you need assistance… go back to the main menu’.

"He who will not reason, is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and he who dares not, is a slave". ~ William Drummond

In Rimouski, Micheline Bélanger used his turn to speak at the hearings. “When I’m in Montreal, I don’t feel at home when I see these veiled women on Côte-des-Neiges and Côte-St- Catherine.” I feel like I’m in Saudi Arabia, and I shouldn’t. This is my country” he exclaims. Retiree Aimé was in St Jerome to denounce what he saw as an overrepresentation of kosher items in his local grocery store. “When I eat, I want quality, not the benediction of a rabbi.

Comments like these are coming with much more frequency these days, and not only in Quebec. In Vancouver, über-manager Bruce Allen, who will be co-producing the opening and closing ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympics, declared “Canada has rules.” “If you’re immigrating to this country and don’t like the rules that are in place, then you have the right to choose not to live here. If immigrants don’t like it, we don’t need you here”. In Mississauga an Islamic high school was vandalized twice in August. The Abraar School in Ottawa was torched on the first day of Ramadan. In Calgary in September, three potential jurors in a murder trial of an alleged Muslim hit man were excused after they admitted they may be biased against the accused because of his religion.

The issue behind the incendiary comments seems to resolve around the question of “reasonable accommodations” of cultural and religious minorities, and just where the limits should be drawn. When asked in a recent SES poll on reasonable accommodations conducted for the Institute for Research on Public Policy, “Is it reasonable to accommodate religious and cultural minorities?” a mere 18 per cent said yes. On asking how many thought immigrants should adapt fully to culture in Canada, the response was 53 per cent. When it came to accommodating religious and cultural minorities in public places, such as schools, hospitals and government buildings, 37 per cent said there should be no accommodation at all, 6 per cent advocating full accommodation. As for accommodation in the workplace, 45 per cent said there should be none, while only 4 percent agreeing with full accommodation. The poll further reveals that just 24 percent of those with a university education saw accommodation as reasonable, while 50 percent said immigrants should integrate.

It seems that Canada’s middle class is the least at ease with the idea of accommodation. Roughly 64 per cent of those earning between $40,000 and $49,000 believe it is up to immigrants to fully adapt to Canadian culture. Another countrywide poll from the Association of Canadian Studies suggests Canadians believe conflict between Christians and Muslims will eventually overshadow the country’s long-standing quarrel between the English and French. I for one am inclined to agree.

So, I ask… Just how much of our Canadian culture and customs are we willing to accommodate? Should we as Canadians do more to accommodate immigrants, or should they accommodate us? My answer would be the latter of course. Having lived quite a number of years in Brampton, one of the biggest multicultural cities in Ontario where Muslims are quite dominate, I believe we have become way too accommodating with regards to immigration. I have seen the adverse effects of a community overrun by domineering Muslims as they take over our schools, our streets, our communities and our jobs. Between 1991 and 2001, Canada’s Muslim population has doubled, making Islam the fifth biggest religious faith in the country, and the second biggest in every major Canadian city except Vancouver.

On the whole, it would seem that we (or should I say our fearless leaders), have bent over backwards to accommodate new immigrants and to what loss? How much of our Canadian values and culture do we have to accommodate to these new immigrants and what will be the outcome? Are we now seen as bigots and racist because we want to hold on to our Canadian values and culture? I often wonder just how accommodating as Canadians we would find, if it were us living in the Muslim world.

As wars rage on around the globe, it is the innocent who are left to suffer. As famine and natural destruction continue across many continents, the innocent suffer. As tyrannical leaders command great nations, the innocent suffer.Why is it that in a world as vast and diverse as the one we live, having such an abundance of wealth and resources that we share, it is the innocent who are made to suffer? Who are these people who have claimed all this wealth and resources only for themselves, leaving millions of people young and old from all walks of life abandoned and alone to suffer in silence, while they alone bask in what does not rightfully belong to them? It is questions such as these, that upon knowing the answer, make me "pissed" to say it politely.