Nathan is one of my best friends. We have known each other since high school. He was the all star Christian kid at school and I….. Well, I enjoyed myself in school.

Nathan and I became friends during Cisco class, which is funny because I am sure neither he nor I thought the other was into computers. I’ve never admitted this to him but he is much more knowledgeable than I am with computers.

Nathan introduced me to church while I was in high school and I thought it was pretty lame but I never thought Nathan was; so I kept at it. As it turns out this Christianity thing was pretty exciting after all (minus Church and other things).

Nathan dated a girl in school who I went out with a couple weeks ago. She told me she didn’t like me in high school because I always took up Nathans time and she always felt second place. Hearing that I thought it was pretty funny; I think she’s still a bit pissed.

Nathan has an awesome family. I am close with all of them; I even dated his sister at one point. I walk their dog regularly and drink with his Dad. Sorry Nathan, I have taken over!!!

One funny story was when Cory (Nathan’s mom) was washing a pair of jeans for me a condom fell out. Nathan explained it was mine and she said “that boy will never date my daughter.” A year later……..

Nathan was always there for me in high school. He looked out for me when things were going sour and we always did the most interesting things.

Two summers ago he met a girl named Rachel Pede. Whom I might add is an awesome girl and love to death! I remember he and I went out for a chat one night and he was telling me all about her; I thought then “wow, he really likes this girl, he might even marry her.” A year later he was showing me the ring and asking me what I thought.

Nathan and I have been living in Sarnia together since September and it has been an awesome time. Rachel has been patient with my over the top quality time steeling needs (thanks Rachel).

In May they get married. Wow, it’s like not even 2 months away. I think I am more nervous than they are. I even get to be one of the best men at it. (To which I am honored by the way).

So this gets me thinking. I’ve never had a friend get married, let alone my best friend. I’ve only known people that already were married when I met them. How is this going to impact things?

Am I ready for them to get married?

I mean, what if it’s like 4am and I need someone to talk to, I can’t just walk down stairs, he’s going to be living else where. What if I am working on something IT related and need his help? What if I just need advice? What if he stops updating his blog daily?

As Ken keeps informing me, “life is always changing.” Change isn’t bad I guess, in fact, if change didn’t happen, it would be bad. I guess I have some adjusting to do. I am the over protective friend but I will learn to ease out of that role and let Rachel become that person.

Hey Rachel, we’ll have to work out a schedule ok?

At a time when declining birth rates are plaguing many developed countries, Canada’s population rise was due in major part to an influx of immigrants. It marks the first time since 1991 that the population increased faster than in the previous census period, which saw 4% growth.

“In most of the industrialized countries, the trend in population growth is toward a decline,” said Laurent Martel, senior population analyst at Statistics Canada. “[Canada] is the smallest population, but it’s the fastest- growing population.”

So what do you think about immigration? Is immigration really what Canada needs? Most money making people will say yes; most racist people will say no. But I think again; is it racist not to want more immigrants?

“This kind of growth is not sustainable,” Ms. Donald said in an interview yesterday. “To me, it’s one of the most compelling policy challenges of our day. How are we going to manage that kind of suburban growth we are now seeing in Canada?”

Personally speaking, I am an immigrant. I was born and raised in England. I think immigration is
a great thing; people are given the opportunity to expand and regardless of what people say – North America is one of the best places to live in the world.

I think immigration is good when controlled; we can’t just open the flood gates. And if people are immigrating here, they do need to know the language. If they can’t, they just become a plague to the society.

I know our immigration system is good. My parents had to meet a lot of requirements in order to come here. Looking back, they say they are glad they made the move although if my Dad could have it his way he would bring the social culture of England here.

Speaking of culture, this is another thing that bothers me. What does it mean to be Canadian? We really don’t have anything that distinguishes us as “Canadian.” We are known as a country that celebrates other cultures and un-like America; we let them keep their heritage.

While letting immigrants keep their heritage is an awesome thing, there are many good things to learn and adopt from other countries. This also means that we adopt their values. Those values, for some immigrants could have been the reason of their departure from their old country.

It’s almost as though immigrants come here to experience new freedoms but also tie themselves back down in order to keep their heritage.