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Archived Articles
Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
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Four Years of Canada DaysIt's now official. I'm a Canadian. All my family members have also become Canadians. But no clear line separates me from my past. For the records I still keep an additional citizenship from the country I was born in and I came from, Bulgaria. This is the last officially remaining vestige that my Canadian-ness isn't quite like that of those born in Canada. Unofficially this trace will pass away the day when people stop asking me where do I come from. When I tell them I'm a Canadian some still insist to know my original country, others are less diplomatic and they can't hide their sarcasms. No such problems once crossing the border with the United States. Saying that I come from Montreal or Canada is usually enough to satisfy any curiosity. On the other hand, this gives me some additional time to look at Canada also from a foreigner's perspective. Believe me, there are still lots of interesting things to look at. Last year I predicted that this time in Canada would someday be called the 'Golden age of boringness'. It seems this age is about to end prematurely. As many people I was surprised to learn how exactly a bunch of people presumably decided to behead our Prime Minister and to throw the country into political chaos. Welcome to 21st century! It seems now that there aren't many places left in this world to raise children in peace and freedom. Canada has been probably the last place in earth this could have been planned. At least it was a good wake-up call. We can now go either way: falling into paranoia seeing in every uncommon face a potential terrorist; or trying to fix the china before it's broken. The Canadian way to solve the problem, beside usual increased law enforcement, is to appeal to the morality of would-be killers: 'Don't do this because it's bad!' If it works, it will be the first time since Gandhi when morality has taken over violence without blood. So far the jury is out. Besides this Canada is doing remarkably well these days, thanks partly to Alberta oil. It's especially true when it comes to make money. The main economic problem is the lack of ... people. Well, not quite so. The needed people are here, and 20,000 more are landing each month, not counting the illegal immigrants; yes, there are illegal immigrants in Canada too. Not 11.5 million like in the United States, but at least 300,000. For a rather small country in terms of people like Canada this isn't quite negligible. My new country, let me keep going as a Canadian, has the highest rate in the world of foreign graduated M.A., M.Sc. and PhD driving cabs and delivering pizzas. What a waste of talents! The last consolation for many of them is that as Canadian citizens they will sell easier their talents on the world market to the higher bidder. For some of them this is perhaps the only reason to be here. Unlike one year ago, I fear less for the Canadian national unity. It seems many people in Quebec are hoping to see the new Canadian government delivering the good, i.e. accepting to provide more money for provincial social programs. This should help, because nowadays Quebec separatism is all about money. If this happens and Canadian government keeps its promise, no matter who rules the province, the population won't vote for independence on the next referendum, which may, I insist on the word 'may', be called by 2007 at earliest. If this third referendum fails, then there are many chances that it will be the last popular consultation on this issue. And I won't lose my new country less than 2 years after my naturalization. Now back to Canada. Like in any of the previous reports, I've seen more recently plenty of examples about its social conservatism, not just when it comes to the economy. The good side of this conservatism is that it keeps the country intact. The bad or the sad side is that my new country will always be 'number two', at best. Always ready to adopt new business models and technologies as long as they are tested successfully elsewhere, always ready to move in right direction as long as other nations are ready to move first and risk their skins.
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