Juno News - International students are ABUSING food banks and BRAGGING about it

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 0.94

00:00:59.000 twice the tuition fees that a Canadian born student would pay. Taking up spaces for Canadian students 0.91

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 1.00

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 0.99

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 0.98

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 1.00

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 0.99

00:04:32.000 charities shouldn't be for non-citizens period. Same thing going on in Australia. Foreign students are 1.00

00:04:38.560 considered an export but most pay their fees by competing with young Australians for jobs and rely on 0.78

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 1.00

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 0.98

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 1.00

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. 1.00

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 1.00

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 1.00

00:07:53.840 homeless Canadians that really need that kind of help. If your issue is that you can't afford food here 1.00

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 1.00

00:08:07.600 types of grifters and thieves. So it appears as though Canadians are completely fed up with this 0.97

00:08:12.480 trend and how could they not be? It's disgusting. It's gross. International students are supposed to 1.00

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 0.99

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 1.00

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 1.00

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.

Juno News - August 14, 2023

International students are ABUSING food banks and BRAGGING about it

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