Juno News - August 14, 2023


International students are ABUSING food banks and BRAGGING about it


Episode Stats

Length

14 minutes

Words per Minute

176.02997

Word Count

2,632

Sentence Count

164

Hate Speech Sentences

18


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 It turns out that there is a disturbing but entirely unsurprising trend taking place among
00:00:11.340 what appears to be the international student population here in Canada. A viral Twitter post
00:00:16.620 from this user showing a series of YouTube videos uploaded by Indian international students here
00:00:22.080 in Canada talking about how they can get free food while studying here has been viewed more
00:00:27.840 than 400,000 times and retweeted more than 1,000 times. It seems as though this Twitter post has
00:00:34.080 struck a nerve. How to get free items in Canada one video title reads. How to get free food in Canada
00:00:40.180 for international students another title reads. And how about this one my personal favorite. Free
00:00:45.820 food hamper for needy in Canada. And the thumbnail shows a mother with her child saying I got diapers
00:00:53.060 and chocolate. International students are coming to Canada to get access to our education system paying
00:00:59.000 twice the tuition fees that a Canadian born student would pay. Taking up spaces for Canadian students
00:01:05.140 and now it appears leeching off of the charitable initiatives of Canadians. Going to food banks
00:01:11.380 to essentially steal food from those who really need it most. Two things struck me however when I was
00:01:17.680 making this video. The first being the gall of these people to make videos like this showing them abusing
00:01:23.520 a charitable system in place for Canadians is astounding. They don't even seem to have any shame
00:01:28.000 at all. And the second thing that struck me was a question I asked myself. Who are these videos for?
00:01:33.520 They're clearly not made for international students already here in Canada because as you will see later
00:01:38.160 on in the show they're already abusing the system. The videos clearly are to sell the idea of being an
00:01:44.160 international student back home in India. They're being used as a promotion tool for more international
00:01:49.440 students to come to this country and abuse the system. But are these international students really
00:01:54.400 the ones to blame here? Or is it the Canadian education system working hand in hand with the
00:01:59.360 government to stuff the coffers of failing colleges and universities while also creating a
00:02:04.080 seemingly endless supply of cheap foreign labor? This is a story of greed and a story of abuse. Stick
00:02:10.480 around to find out more. Drop a like in the video. Help us up with subscribing to the
00:02:13.760 TrueNorth YouTube channel. And the common question for the episode is this. Is it time for Canada
00:02:20.000 to significantly lower the number of international students coming to this country? Let me know in
00:02:25.200 the comments and let's get into it. Take a look at this Twitter post from a user called John Carter.
00:02:31.200 Immigration is extremely important to Canada's econ... Oh wait, what's this here? How to get free items in
00:02:37.440 Canada by Neman Kapil? Free grocery, mattress and blanket for international students in Canada.
00:02:43.680 By a one Naina Kukreja. How to get free food in Canada for international students. Food hamper by a
00:02:50.640 Samarjeet Singh. How to get free food in Canada. Food bank details. International student with family.
00:02:57.120 Free food hamper for needy in Canada. Calgary food bank by one Ikra Azzam. What would appear as though
00:03:04.160 these international students studying here in Canada have found a little trick up their sleeve.
00:03:09.040 Instead of paying for food like the rest of us they can save money while studying in Canada and go to
00:03:15.200 the food bank to get food for free. Well for them it's free but of course food at a food bank is not
00:03:21.360 free. That food has been donated by Canadians doing something positive for their community. Most likely
00:03:27.840 with the assumption that a homeless Canadian or a disabled Canadian or a Canadian-born person who really
00:03:34.320 needs the food is going to be able to rely on the charity of those good Canadians donating the food.
00:03:40.000 I bet you however they aren't expecting young 20-year-old Indian students to go there get free
00:03:45.280 food and then make a video entirely in a different language to send back home talking about how they
00:03:50.800 can get free food and free supplies in Canada. But nonetheless that appears to be what's taking place.
00:03:56.320 And like I said in the intro this Twitter post has gone viral on the platform. Over 400,000 views,
00:04:03.920 thousands of interactions, the comments are astoundingly negative. They're shocked about this
00:04:09.920 as I was. In fact I had no idea that international students could be this shameless so as to promote
00:04:16.640 what is essentially in my view theft. To steal food from people who actually need it not international
00:04:23.680 students. Take a look at some of these comments and then we're going to watch some of these videos but
00:04:27.680 keep in mind we won't be able to understand them because none of them are in English. Domestic
00:04:32.000 charities shouldn't be for non-citizens period. Same thing going on in Australia. Foreign students are
00:04:38.560 considered an export but most pay their fees by competing with young Australians for jobs and rely on
00:04:44.400 charity to feed themselves. Housing Ponzi scheme. The concept of shame is something that some have no
00:04:50.960 familiarity with. I mean it's utterly shameful. However the one good thing we can say about this
00:04:56.080 new trend is that these Indians who are making these videos about how you can basically steal food
00:05:00.960 from the food bank are getting inundated with negative comments. People just ripping them apart
00:05:05.680 as they should. This video is from one user called Mr. Patel. It's the most viewed how to get free food in
00:05:12.400 Canada video we could find. Over 293,000 views and this was posted just a year ago. Let's watch a little
00:05:20.480 bit of this video and then we'll get into the good stuff. The comments.
00:05:31.520 So this guy here is explaining that every Tuesday and Thursday you can go and get free food. I mean
00:05:36.160 I'm not sure that's what he's saying but I can imagine that's probably what he's talking about. If you
00:05:40.320 skip forward then you're able to see what this guy's been able to get for going to a food bank.
00:05:59.760 It appears that this guy has managed to get himself what like a hundred tomatoes. I don't know why you
00:06:04.800 need so many tomatoes but it looks like he's managed to get himself that. Maybe he's just been hoarding up
00:06:08.960 all of this food that you can get whenever he goes to a food bank. He's even stacked it all up as a nice
00:06:13.600 presentation for you to see. I mean what has he got here? He's got he's got six yogurts. We already
00:06:18.960 mentioned his haul of over 100 tomatoes. Seemingly endless amount of eggs, bread and cans of food.
00:06:25.760 Now for the good part let's read the comments. This is for people who are in need not because you want
00:06:30.720 to save money. Respect our country and our people and don't take what you don't need. 1.4
00:06:35.440 thousand likes on that comment. I am Canadian and this is incredibly disrespectful. One of the
00:06:40.640 standard requirements for a student visa in Canada is financial support. The students coming to Canada
00:06:45.920 are vetted and if you can afford to be here you can afford not to abuse our food banks. These food
00:06:51.280 banks are not for thrifty people that want to save an extra buck. These are for people and families that
00:06:56.480 are living at or below the poverty line. People who can afford either food or rent but not both. You are
00:07:01.680 absolutely being disrespectful and do not be surprised if you get confronted by Canadians in
00:07:06.160 your neighborhood. Almost 500 likes on that comment as well. Take a look the comments just keep getting
00:07:11.440 better as well. Mr Patel, I feel sorry for your parents. They must be so ashamed that their child
00:07:17.120 is stealing from the poor and needy. I am an Indian and would truly apologize to all Canadians on behalf
00:07:23.120 of these stupid people who are so inhumanely snatching homeless people food and calling it free.
00:07:28.880 I mean it just keeps going on. Let's take a look at this next one. So here's a guy who's got his
00:07:33.280 DoorDash delivery bag who's on his way to go get as he calls free food and supplies at a food bank.
00:07:39.520 Clearly someone in desperate need of the free food. You should be ashamed of yourselves. This is why
00:07:44.960 Canadians are running out of patience with these visitors who just want to take advantage of our
00:07:49.200 generosity. You are some serious trash for taking food that is meant for disabled Canadians and other
00:07:53.840 homeless Canadians that really need that kind of help. If your issue is that you can't afford food here
00:07:58.000 in Canada as a student, then you shouldn't be here as a student. It's sickening to see some people
00:08:02.880 from other countries purposely doing this kind of stuff. Truly shameful that Canada lets in these
00:08:07.600 types of grifters and thieves. So it appears as though Canadians are completely fed up with this
00:08:12.480 trend and how could they not be? It's disgusting. It's gross. International students are supposed to
00:08:17.360 come to this country with enough financial support to sustain themselves. You can't come to this
00:08:21.840 country and then expect to leech off of our system. When you come as an international student,
00:08:25.920 you're supposed to have at least a minimum of $10,000 on top of your tuition. And just to be
00:08:31.200 clear with everyone, this is not just a YouTube trend. It's a real thing that's been taking place
00:08:36.320 across the country for years now. Back in March of this year, the Cape Breton Student Union president
00:08:42.400 had to issue a warning to the press that international students were misusing and abusing the campus
00:08:48.080 food bank system. Daman Preet Singh says he's concerned that the on-campus food bank at Cape Breton
00:08:53.600 University is attracting longer lineups, largely from international students, including some who
00:08:58.480 may not necessarily need to be there. It's not a place to get free groceries. We need to educate
00:09:03.520 people more than the services for those who are in greater need. We have to stop this misuse, he said.
00:09:09.040 At UBC in Vancouver, international students make up only 30% of the student body, but at the local
00:09:15.040 campus food bank, they make up close to 80% of food bank users. And in Ontario, a campus survey at
00:09:22.400 Conestoga College found that 537 of the 556 students that rely on the on-campus food bank
00:09:30.960 were international students. 96%. A couple of things can be happening here at the exact same time.
00:09:37.120 Clearly, a subset of the international student population in Canada are coming here and abusing
00:09:42.320 the food bank system, using it as a way to save money instead of actually just paying for groceries
00:09:47.680 and working to pay for yourself while you're here. But also, it would be wrong for us to make this video
00:09:52.320 and not call out the universities and colleges that are bringing in an endless stream of international
00:09:57.520 students as a cash grab, a way to stuff the pockets of these colleges and universities.
00:10:02.960 International students, while taking up spaces that should be going to Canadian students,
00:10:07.360 end up paying twice the tuition fees that a Canadian would pay. And at Cape Breton University,
00:10:12.560 they're taking full advantage of that. Cape Breton University was a university in decline,
00:10:17.040 but the new president came in with a new strategy to import as many international students as
00:10:22.400 possible. In fact, the Cape Breton student population is 70% international students. 70%.
00:10:29.760 Are we to expect that this is not taking place across the country at our universities and colleges?
00:10:34.400 Of course it is. The numbers speak for themselves. Last year, Canada brought in a record
00:10:39.920 number of international students into Canada, 551,000 student visas. And as of December 31st of 2022,
00:10:48.560 the total number of student visas in Canada was over 800,000. In 2021, Canada approved 441,000 student visas.
00:10:58.400 So the number is growing at a significant rate. The overwhelming number of student visas that were
00:11:04.800 handed out in this country went to Indian students. Over 226,000 student visas in 2022 were granted to
00:11:13.440 students coming from India. The second country on that list was China with just 55,000. And the
00:11:20.480 overwhelming majority of these students, of course, end up in Ontario. And it's not even close,
00:11:24.720 actually. It's kind of astonishing, really. 411,000 international students ended up in Ontario.
00:11:30.480 And the second top destination province for international students was British Columbia,
00:11:35.200 with only 164,000 students. Now, what kind of education are these international students,
00:11:42.080 mostly from India, ending up in Ontario getting? In many cases, these international students who are
00:11:47.600 coming from India end up spending tens of thousands of dollars of money that has to be pooled from around
00:11:53.520 their family and saved for generations to come to this country, to only end up realizing that
00:11:59.440 ultimately they're just being used as a cash cow. It's just really a large scam. Because it's not
00:12:05.760 really about giving them a good education. It's about making cash hand over fist. And then having a
00:12:11.280 seemingly endless supply of cheap labor where these students can get a job at Tim Hortons for a couple
00:12:17.120 years before realizing they don't have enough points to qualify for PR status, and then go home.
00:12:22.000 But it doesn't matter because another 500,000 students are going to come in each year. A CBC investigation
00:12:27.200 into this situation produced a staggering statistic that is really a shock to the system. It turns out
00:12:33.520 that these international students who are coming to Canada with the assumption that they're going to
00:12:37.680 make a life for themselves are realizing that it's all a lie. And many of them who are living in poverty
00:12:42.960 end up taking their own lives. One interview on this CBC documentary shows that a funeral home in Brampton
00:12:50.080 is sending back four to five international student bodies from Brampton back to India every single month.
00:12:59.200 Take a listen to this.
00:13:00.320 We're hearing reports of high numbers among international students in Brampton who are coming over here.
00:13:07.440 There are multiple reasons for the deaths. On an average, we have a connection with the
00:13:14.080 one funeral home that is Lotus Funeral Home. On an average, they're sending four to five dead bodies,
00:13:21.760 only international students each month.
00:13:24.960 What? Each month, four to five dead bodies of only international students in India they're sending back.
00:13:33.760 It's an astonishing reality that we're now seeing in this country flooding our system,
00:13:38.880 not only with high immigration targets, but even higher international student targets,
00:13:44.400 to create an endless supply of cheap labor, of cheap, surf-class, low-skilled labor,
00:13:50.320 while also stuffing the pockets of college and university bosses.
00:13:54.560 Who does this help? It's not helping international students who are being sold a lie, and it's certainly
00:13:59.920 not helping Canadians. Because actual Canadians can't afford a home, can't get jobs, and in many cases
00:14:06.720 are having to rely on food banks. When you have international students who are scamming our system
00:14:11.840 to get free food at food banks, and are flooding the labor market with cheap, low-skilled labor,
00:14:17.760 well, ultimately, it hurts Canadians the most. And who benefits? Well, of course, university bosses benefit,
00:14:24.720 big corporate titans benefit because they have an endless supply of cheap labor, and of course,
00:14:29.520 the government wins. But all of us in this situation are the losers. It's a disgrace. And these
00:14:35.360 international students coming here to scam the system should feel ashamed. But we all know they
00:14:40.560 probably don't. All right, that's going to do it for us today on the show. Thank you so much for tuning
00:14:43.920 in. My name is Harrison Faulkner, and this is Ratio.