Deal Details

holy crap this is an insane deal!

Went to this in Oshawa before. Huge lineup, absolutely massive, going all the way down the street. Be warned.

Is this offer valid in Quebec?

LOL, I remember seeing the line up at woodbine in markham before. zig zagin’ to the street

"Canadian” Seems like an odd request.  Am I alone?

immigrants eats too long.

^ I used be an immigrant so my joke can be excused haha. But this is Canada day celebration after all what’s Canada without it’s citizens.

I heard that they cook cats.

How was the food for this special event that occurred last year? And is the food different if I went there for lunch compared to dinner? Though I assume they’ll be serving the same dishes throughout the day.

Thank god none of these free loading immigrants will be able to participate (sarcasm).

@GnailNet

Dinner has better and more expensive dishes, it’s that way for a lot of buffets I know.

Had a few friends that went to this a few years ago...supposedly they’ve been doing this for the past 10+ years at least

anyhoo..friends lined up at 9am to get in for 12pm...this was at the woodbine location i believe

3 hour wait for a $12 meal!
I’m the first person to jump on a good deal and save some money, but you’ve got to factor in what your time is worth to you too.

watch half of Ontario land up in mandarin

I’ve waited 3 hours for a movie but waiting hungry is different

Oh boy this will be madness.

I remembered this hardcore deal back in 1996 (to my early estimates), we’ve waited almost 2 to 3 sweltering hours - just to take advantage of this great deal!

any pictures?  that should be interesting publicity.

3 hours for lunch, probably like 4 hours for a chance to eat at 6pm.

it’s not worth the wait.  you get a free meal, big deal, then you’ll get fat and feel like a pig and totally regret going to this dumbass buffet.

let the homeless benefit from this deal please.

this is something they can definitely use more than us.

but some homeless have no id, passport, address, etc. to qualify.

That’s *DISCRIMINATING* ! ! ! !

There are plenty of immigrants that have been paying taxes in Canada for many many years on end.
Plenty of immigrants will retire in Canada and draw pensions, and live out their lives for years to come without being actual citizens.

Just because someone hasn’t had the need to actually change citizenship, or has reasons to not lose their original citizenship, doesn’t mean it’s ok to consider them “less Canadian”.

It’s *** Canada Day***, not *** Canadian Citizen Day ***.

THIS IS HIGHLY RUDE, INCONSIDERATE, AND DISRESPECTFUL.

They should have said Canadian ***RESIDENTS***, not ***CITIZENS***.

Screw Mandarin, it’s too crowded and too expensive anyway.

Guess what 123Mike, you are not “less Canadian” if you don’t have Canadian citizenship, you are not Canadian.  There is nothing rude or inconsiderate or disrespectful about that.  The owners of Mandarin came to this country and want to thank Canadians for welcoming them.  If you cared so much about this country, then maybe you would take citizenship.  You state you didn’t have “the need to actually change citizenship”, obviously you don’t care enough to vote or participate in the democratic process.  There are plenty of immigrants here that took the time to become citizens.  They will be enjoying their free meal and you won’t.  Just another benefit of citizenship.

Well, you can have your “free meal”, good luck in the line ups on Mandarin’s “Canadian Citizens Day”.

I pay a *lot* of taxes, and these taxes make it possible for Mandarinians to come over to Canada.

Yes, it *is* rude and inconsiderate of them to exclude immigrants.

I for one, will boycott this place from now on.

I really doubt that the hostess is going to be checking for proof of citizenship before seating you. Maybe I’m wrong, but I can’t see them actually caring that much about it. They’re going to be giving away literally thousands of meals throughout the day - I doubt they’ll be penny pinching and turning away the odd person.

I’m sure the adverts were made that way to tie in with Canada Day, and not to discriminate - ie. instead of saying “free meals on Wednesday” they say “free meals to Canadians on Canada Day.”

Why don’t you just call and ask? Say you don’t have a passport or and can’t find your birth certificate - does this mean you won’t be able to eat there for free? My mother wouldn’t be able to if that’s the case. I doubt a minimum wage server is going to be making judgment calls on citizenship status at the door.

This is truly a sensational deal! Hope it does not bankrupt Mandarin.

I am a canadian citizen but I agree with “123Mike” comments.
Boycott the damn place !!!

Maybe they’re just not wanting Americans in there on Canada Day. Americans have to pay - Canadians don’t because it’s our day. Is THAT worth boycotting over - the discrimination against American’s? If they had a free meals for American citizens on the 4th of July, would you boycott it because it discriminated against Canadians?

I guess I just don’t understand the mindset of boycotting...they don’t have to give free meals away to anyone, and they can choose to give free meals away to whomever they want. They could say “Free meals only for guys named Harold.” As a non-Harold, would you boycott? We should be thankful they’re giving anything to anyone.

I still think it’s not worth standing in line for 3 hours for a $12 meal that costs FAR LESS for them to mass-produce. But hey, that’s me.

I’m going to start boycotting places that give free dessert to people on their birthdays on the grounds that they’re discriminating against all the people that don’t have a birthday on that particular day...everyone should get free desert all the time!!!

Canada Day is about celebrating not just the existence of Canada, but everything that Canada is about. Our good life, and the unspoken friendship we all share.
If very much feel this unspoken respect and bond with most people I encounter.

Canada Day is about being together, and that includes everyone that lives here, citizens and immigrants alike. We are all at home. This is our home. Immigrants are not some sort of guests, not they live here, they participate, and they fight for justice and freedom just like citizens.

Personally, I would defend Canada to the death - I will stick out my neck for it. It is my home, work, life, family, it’s my everything.

Then comes along Mandarin. I used to order food from the Mandarin. I used to have figured exactly how to get the best take out and delivery combination possible, and once in a while when we didn’t feel like cooking, I picked up the phone, and ordered one of my special combinations I had hanging on the fridge.
Sometimes I would give a Mandarin gift certificate to my relatives.
No longer. They are no longer on my list of restaurants. I’ll go with something Thai or some other Chinese restaurant. Pizza pizza, anything but Mandarin.

And those stupid comparisons with a guy named Harold, that’s just pathetic.

And if they wanted to keep out Americans, they should have said, “for all Canadian residents”.

You know what, I’m getting kind of pissed off with you people here.
What’s with the “Canadians” are more entitled than “Residents”...?

Is that *really* what you people think?

u all need to loosen up....i mean geez..give it a rest

I had to give up my citizenship of where I was born in 1979 to become a Canadian Citizen because the country where I was born would not allow dual citizenship.  I chose Canada as my home country and never regretted it.  I love Canada so much, I have yet to visit my country of birth(over 34 years).

123mike, if you choose to keep your citizenship for the country of your birth, then that is your choice.  Whether you pay taxes, participate in work and enjoy the benefits of free medicare, and the great social services of Canada, you still chose to be non-Citizen of Canada.  The ramifications of your choice is only yours to blame.

rycckor: I disagree, because Canada is about celebrating everything that Canada is made up, and that includes immigrants and all its ***residents***.
I’m not asking to vote. I’m asking to be included in the festivities, something the Mandarin thinks I can’t participate in.

I find it very un-Canadian for the Mandarin to make it all about citizens and not all residents. But, I guess they don’t really get that, after all, they’re not really from here.
I always thought the Chinese were sensitive people. I’ll have to rethink that.

And the medicare I get is not free, because I pay a *lot* of taxes, which I pay with honor btw.

It gets worse:

http://www.mandarinbuffet.com/Company_of_the_Year.pdf

“We wanted to thank Canadian citizens for making us feel at home and
continually inspiring us,”

No thanks to the immigrants? Some residents are not citizens, yet Canada is their home. They eat at Mandarin too. They too contributed to Mandarin for being able to grow their business.

This whole going out of their way to exclude immigrants is really quite disgusting of them. I’m appalled.

rofl, so butthurt over a 12.99 buffet deal.

123Mike, yes, there are many landed immigrants whose identities are based as, and are very culturally Canadian. But at the end of the day, they are not “Canadian.”

Being a citizen of a state gives you certain inalienable rights, particularly legal rights...and the right to have a free buffet on Canada Day.

123Mike needs to protest this on the Gardiner

Since this is getting so political and unrelated to free food, I will add my two cents:

I have many friends who immigrated to this country, and I have no problems with people from different backgrounds. What I cannot stand is the people that choose to emigrate to Canada but want to keep the laws and rules of their own home country, and try to change things here to reflect that. This is Canada, a country immigrants chose to live in because where they were born was either unsafe or didn’t have the opportunities they were looking for.

Respect Canada for what it is and the laws and rules set up many, many years ago. You cannot carry a kirpan ceremonial knife to school, if you want to be a police officer then wear the police hat and deal with it, if you apply for the job and are the best candidate but you are Caucasian then you should get the job regardless of how many other Caucasians are hired.

If you don’t like any of the above statements, then I suggest you kindly go back to where you came from. Either accept Canada for what it was before you got here or kindly leave

LOL @ rawd.

I really think this may be all blown WAY out of proportion. Maybe it’s just a communication error - maybe they’re not TRYING to discriminate against immigrants, and they’re just using the term “Canadian citizens” to mean “Canadian residents” without realizing that some people might find that small difference to be hyper-offensive.

My point about “guys named Harold” might seem a little “pathetic” to you, but the point I’m making is that they can do what they like. They could say “Show your licence and get a free meal”, and then there’d be people on here crying bloody murder because they’d be discriminating against people under 16, people who can’t afford a vehicle and have no need for a license, environmentalists who choose to take public transit, etc etc etc.

It’s unfortunate that such a little thing as a $12 meal is causing such aggravation and grief in your life. I could be wrong, but as I said before - I doubt they’ll be making citizenship calls at the front door, and it could all just be an error in communication/misuse of the language, etc. I really think you should call them if you’re this upset about it. I mean, if I ever got this upset about something, I’d be calling to make sure my feelings of disgust towards someone were valid and appropriate.

I live in Ottawa so this free meal thing doesn’t concern me, however as an landed immigrant I have to say I feel offended by this promotion. I don’t know how many of you guys disagreeing with Mike123 are actually immigrants and are able to think from their point of view. So a lot of you think if someone truely want to be a Canadian then he/she should just change the citizenship, but have you ever considered the flip side of doing that? What if they still have family/relatives in their home countries and they will be greatly inconvenienced or even refused from entering there because of this change? What if this change of citizenship makes it extremely difficult/costly to transfer/inherit properties in their home countries? Close to a third of the total countries don’t recognize dual citizenship which including China, India. When people from those countries become Canadians it means they are cut off from their mother countries. From that point they will be treated totally different whenever they go back there.  It’s not like Canada is not a good a country to be a citizen in, it’s that someone from another country often find it a hard decision to make for many reasons locals just can’t image.  Only treat someone a Canadian when he/she has the ID is shallow. I believe while a lot of illegal immigrants are working without paying taxes and try to take advantage of the social welfare system, the majority of the landed immigrant have higher education, proper knowledge and skills for their work and just contribute to Canada as much as those who have citizenship I.D. , if not more. After all, Canada is an immigrant’s country taken from aboriginals and we are all immigrants.  What makes some people more Canadian than others just because their ancestors arrived here 100 years earlier than others’ ? A great fact when evaluating if a person is a citizen of that country should be how much contribution he/she can provide. In that case I think a lot landed immigrants are more Canadian than those separatists in Quebec.

luboy, I have to point out that your argument “they can do what they like” is incorrect. Can you image what will happen if this trend is to continue and prosper? Tomorrow a barber will say he only cuts Italian’s hair. The next day a restaurant will say they don’t serve Asians. Such behavior only serves to promote superiorism and unavoidable will lead to racism.  In case if you wonder how fast things can get out of control, I suggest you read about “the third wave” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Wave

Armstrong - I agree...within reason. So really, I respectfully disagree.

There’s a big difference between a restaurant giving away free meals to a certain demographic one day of the year, and another place refusing to serve people based on race. In your example, the barber wouldn’t be only cutting Italian’s hair; he’d be giving a free hair cut to Italian’s one day of the year. I think there’s a huge difference - and I don’t think anyone would be offended by that. I recognize that this issue of “celebrating Canada Day” skews that line a little bit since there seems to be quite the range of opinion on what makes a Canadian a Canadian.

My point is - they can give away (for free!) anything they want to to anyone they choose. But, there’s a big difference between giving something away, and starting to refuse service. As far as I know, I don’t think they’re refusing to serve anyone, which is why I respectfully disagree. I believe they’re free to give away anything to anyone they choose. I’ll read up on the third wave.

And really, I’m playing devil’s advocate here. I work with landed immigrants and realize the reasons they choose to remain immigrants, and how valuable they are to this country. I think that they should receive a $12 meal if they wait in line for 3 hours beside their fellow Canadians...what I don’t agree with is anyone thinking they have an entitlement to anything. Like I said - the Mandarin is giving food away, and they can choose who to give it to. I wouldn’t be offended if they served Chinese people free food to celebrate Chinese New Year, and I certainly wouldn’t think I should be able to receive free food that day because other people are getting it. Even if I lived in China for years, and celebrated Chinese New Year’s every year to this day. If the restaurant chose not to give me free food that day...damn! If the restaurant refused to serve me because I was white, then I see your argument.

Sorry to disappoint you Armstrong800 but we are not all immigrants.  An immigrant is someone who moves to a new country from another ie immigrates.  I haven’t come from anywhere, I was born here.  It is one of my pet peeves but I hate being asked where I came from.  I didn’t come from anywhere (other than my mother).  My relatives on my mother’s side came here before Canada was Canada.  My father came here from elsewhere many years ago but he is now Canadian because he took Canadian citizenship.  Living in a country does not make you a citizen. 

In the Request a Deal forum, there is a thread about Notaries where some free Notary services are listed for low income people (understandable) and immigrants.  Why aren’t people outraged at that?  In my community, there are numerous programs for immigrants that aren’t open to citizens.  In fact I see more things advertised to immigrants like job programs, health programs, even seniors’ programs etc. than to citizens.  Again, no one is complaining about that. 

Instead you want to complain because a restaurant decides to reward Canadian citizens with a free meal on the birth date of their country.  You want your cake and you want to eat it too.  You want the benefits of citizenship without actually becoming a citizen and while maintaining citizenship in another country.  I bet you’re one of those people that when you refer to your country you aren’t talking about Canada. 

I might agree that you’d have an argument if Mandarin said the event was only for Canadian citizens that were born here but they didn’t, they said it was for Canadian citizens.  There is nothing discriminatory about that.

Finally!  I knew my citizenship would come in handy some day.

hahahaha
This is so funny… A fight over a free meal. It’s over people. We are on the 26th now.

However, I have to disagree with 123Mike, because this is their policy; you want the free meal? you show us your ID. Just like buying Cigarette, You need to be 18 to buy cigarette And some store will ask for your ID. I’m all cool with it. If you don’t like their policy, just walk away, find another store :p

Just like most of other stores policy, wear a pant to enter… if you don’t like it, don’t walk in. What’s wrong with not wearing a pant? hahahhaha

I don’t think it’s reasonable to make a comparison to an Italian barbershop doing favors for Italians.
Canada day is about celebrating Canada. Canada includes all residents. Purposely filtering out immigrants is similar to apartheid. It’s discriminating.

I can no longer think of Mandarin as a fun place to eat.

I don’t think it’s reasonable to make a comparison to needing ID to buy cigarettes.
Canada day is about celebrating Canada. Canada includes all residents. Purposely filtering out immigrants is similar to apartheid. It’s discriminating.

I can no longer think of Mandarin as a fun place to eat.

123mike, I am appalled at your insensitivity and narrow mindedness.  You based your opinion of Chinese people by your perceived wrongness of one Chinese buffet restsurant?
You call yourself an immigrant yet you show signs of a real “redneck” mentality.  I wonder now maybe if you are really an “immigrant” as you say.  Perhaps you are here to create hatred and promote intolerance of all people...the exact opposite of what Canada day celebration is.

To those who think Mandarin is discriminating against you, here is their rationale.  From James Chiu, President of Mandarin:

“Celebrating Canada Day is important for the entire organization as the majority of our management and staff are immigrants.  We have all benefitted from becoming Canadian Citizens.  We want to show how much we value being Canadian.  That’s why we’re calling it ‘Thank You Canada’”. 

This quote was in today’s Brampton Guardian.

Sounds to me like they are celebrating Canadian citizenship.  This is not discrimination.  I have experienced real discrimination and have a Human Rights decision to prove it.  So please don’t trivialize discrimination by calling this discrimination.  Some people lose a heck of a lot more than a free meal from discrimination.  I know that I have.

rycckor: Ah, you’re sensitive about me trying to paint all Chinese with the same picture. You fell right into it.
I’ve worked with Chinese people, and I’ve seen enough variation which taught me there are just as many different types of personalities and types of people with different views and opinions as anywhere. Overall, I regard Chinese people very highly.

You fail to recognize how immigrants might feel unfairly discriminated.
You’re right about Canada Day celebrations are all about. About being proud of the what we have in Canada and what we’re all about. That includes immigrants.

The term redneck or hatred does not apply to me whatsoever.
I make my contribution just as much as the next guy around here. I pay my taxes, and I’ll stick out my neck and defend other respectful residents any day.

Yes, it has been blown out of proportion (sorry), and I thank (most) people here for their seasoned responses.
We need to all celebrate together, and I feel that Mandarin Buffet management probably share that sentiment, but chose to do that in poor taste unknowingly and went with citizenship instead of residents.

I hope that eventually the Mandarin reconsiders this for next time, and does not make people that live here too unwelcome.
Immigrants, I’m sure are not unwelcome in their restaurants… are they?

Cheap Cat: Thanking Canada also includes immigrants because Canada is made up of citizens *and* immigrants.
Yet even though they thank Canada, they only invite Canadians, and exclude immigrants. They’re inconsistent and confusing, and can easily be seen as offensive.
It’s in poor taste to do this event on Canada Day, because that’s not what Canada Day is all about.

Not very professional.

123mike, I am very curious as to why you chose not to be a Canadian citizen.  Is it by choice or were you denied?  If you can enlighten us with the reason, perhaps you will garner more empathy with your views.  Btw, it’s interesting choice of words you use when you say “Chinese people”.  Perhaps you meant people of Chinese descent.  Remember, there are 3rd even 4th generation people of Chinese descent.  I will assume that your intent was of the latter.

rycckor: Most Chinese people I know are born in China, and immigrated to Canada. With “Chinese people” I mean what most people mean. When someone looks Chinese, has a heavy Chinese accent, people say Chinese people. They might have become Canadian and technically aren’t Chinese any longer, but we still call them Chinese. It’s likely they call themselves Chinese as well.
There are no bad intentions behind any of this. This is normal society people stuff.

Some people haven’t been here long enough to naturalize, or have reasons to delay it for a long time.

Anyway, about this argument. I think the Mandarin’s choice of celebrating Canada Day is in poor taste.

Do you realize that 123Mike is an internet troll...he’s purposely creating rage amongst everyone.

Just ignore, 123Mike and let him swirl around in his own anger.

123mike:  Perhaps you misunderstood me.  I am talking about semantics.  It’s like saying, Irish people, Polish people, Russian people etc.  Or it could be just that’s how you’ve learned to speak/talk.  It has a negative connotation.

“They might have become Canadian and technically aren’t Chinese any longer, but we still call them Chinese. It’s likely they call themselves Chinese as well.”

Let me correct you on this.  Technically, they are Canadian Citizens of Chinese descent.  Let me give you an example.  If someone from Latvia, Slovenia, Ireland, Spain etc were to immigrate to Canada and became Citizens, would you call them the following?  Latvian people, Slovenian people, Irish people, Spanish people etc.  Would you be able to tell the difference between “Scottish people” and “Irish people?”

I am sure that you are aware that only the indigenous people can truly call themselves ‘real’ Canadians.  We are all either immigrants or descendants of immigrants living in Canada.  Let’s not forget the trans Canada railroad that physically ‘united’ Canada.  Thousands of Chinese laborers died while building that railroad.

So are you saying that you have not met the time requirement to apply to become a Canadian Citizen?  Or are you saying that you have been delaying the application for personal reason?
ie financial ties to your country of birth, political/emotional ties to country of your birth

BTW, in case if you are wondering, I am not of Chinese descent.

Hi Squidy:  Thanks for your response.  Unfortunately, trolls like 123Mike can have very negative effect.  You are right in that I should not entertain him with any more responses but really, something should be done about people like him/her.

If I were to profile 123mike based on his responses, this is how I would characterize him.

He is probably a child or a teenager.
He has anger issues.
Possible predjudice against visible minorities.
Has a very low self esteem but feels invincible behind the safety of internet.
Craves attention but can’t get it in real life so seeks attention through internet.

I can think of few more things but I will stop here.

No more responses from me.

hey 123 mike....you are dust (aka a pine rider, or benchwarmer.)

under law, immigrants are not canadian. you are a total dumbass. go suck your communist attitude along jack layton in another country. the “equal system” that is communism never worked. thats why you need to leave things alone and abide by the laws of canada. you are a duster.

thanks to all those who slaughtered mike’s confidence...he should be kicked out for his political beliefs. vote for me as prime minister in 25 years..i promise to abolish socialism and 123mike’s sorry ass.

take it in bro.

sorry 123mike, but this promo does not exclude all immigrants. my parents and many of my friends are immigrants to this country and took on citizenship almost immediately of coming here. if you want to participate in all the festivities Canada has to offer, I suggest becoming a Canadian or just be happy that Canada allows you to live here without citizenship. I’m sure there are many reasons why you stay in Canada and getting free meals from Mandarin is certainly not one of them.

So some people don’t agree with my opinion that the Mandarin’s celebration excluded immigrants is in poor taste, and just for that I’m childishly called names.
Let’s collect them. I have so far:
a red-neck
a troll
a communist
a jack layton supporter
a socialist
someone to be abolished
a teenager
someone with anger issues
prejudice against visible minorities
low self esteem
craving attention
without a real life
purposely raging people
a dust
a pine rider
benchwarmer…

Shouldn’t I be burnt on a staple or something? Perhaps I spoiled this year’s harvest…

Exposing the *real* prejudice foreign hating racist rednecks around here. And *that* walks around freely. Scary.

Happy Immigrants Day!!

oh wait…

123mike - would you be this angry if the event was on July 2nd?

@123Mike, PLEASE shut up and leave. Go make another thread and rant on there about Canadian citizen and residents. Everyone pays taxes and you are not spacial because you pay “a lot” of it, spot mentioning it.

Its the businesses choice to what they want to do, if they want to feed the Canadian Citizens for free let them, STOP bitching about it. Stop ranting how you liked going their and now you are not going to b/c of this ( you are acting like a child, grow some balls). When other companies give things away to certain people/groups, do you bitch about it to and stop going to the place?

just remember - A business is thanking a certain group of people, that’s it. Its like giving senior citizens a discount on certain days. I am pretty sure you 123Mike would love to express your feelings about restaurants giving seniors discounts and not you and how you will never go to that restaurant again.

Be thankful you are living in Canada and not some other country.

komodork, you you shut up and leave. My standpoint on this is perfectly reasonable. Canada Day is for people that live in Canada, not just citizens.
Mandarin tries to redefine this, and it’s wrong.

Some people are *very* slow to comprehend things.

If you feel that way, just stop going to mandarin, stop talking about and go do something else.

Immigrants did not allow Mandarin into Canada, Canadians did.

If you aren’t Canadian, and aren’t trying to be Canadian go f_ck off back to Lebanon or whatever sh!t terrorist-riddled disease-ridden down syndrome-emulating country you came from.

Thanks,
Team Canada

P.S. Canada day is a day to celebrate how pimp CANADIANS are, not r_tards who can’t vote.

My boyfriend from the USA has been here for a week - and he bought some stuff so he has been paying TAXES - so why can’t he get a free egg roll?

Jeez, does 123Mike think he is paying taxes to the Mandarin corporation? 

hahahah!  In case you didn’t catch my tone - that was all sarcasm....

Since 123mike pays “lots of taxes” that must mean he has a job, he is not a citizen but yet he took one of the jobs available to us. I’m sure you don’t hear many Canadians complaining about that do you? So many citizens are left unemployed but yet many immigrants who don’t have citizenship have jobs, so why don’t we all just boycott companies who employs non-citizens? This would be a much justified argument than Mandarin giving free meals to citizens

Hey 123Mike!

You said:
And the medicare I get is not free, because I pay a *lot* of taxes, which I pay with honor btw.

I Say:
It’s HONOUR, go back to america you dirty non-canadian!

hahahah someone call the waaaaaaaabulance, 123mike can’t get a free meal!

Woohoo, let’s welcome the prejudice kkk wanna be rednecks shall we?

I’ll add their brilliant responses to the list.

* Any non-Canadian is a sh!t terrorist-riddled disease-ridden down syndrome-emulating Lebanese
* Canada Day is only for pimp Canadians
* People that can’t vote in Canada are retards
* Any immigrant that works here actually took a job from a Canadian.
* I’m probably a dirty American (I thought I was Lebanese, or was it Chinese… ah, doesn’t matter, I’m non-Canadian, nuff said)

Of course, they’re insulting what Canada stands for as a country and Canadians, but that evidently goes well over their puny noggins.
I suggest these uber-doofuses learn a thing or two about history and economy.

Keep ‘m coming, “retards”.

hahaha flame wars are the best. Godwin says you will compare Mandarin to hitler next. Can’t wait. :D

For the record, I called you a dirty non-canadian who needs to go back to america. Not a dirty american.

For the record, I do agree with what you are saying, it is a poor choice of terminology on their part. However, I do enjoy a good internet fight.

l8r nerds. ooo a shiny.

@123Mike lol You crack me up. I sincerely hope you’re not serious and are just trolling. Because c’mon, really? It’s good promotion for Mandarin and ties in with Canada Day. Holidays are an excuse for businesses to have sales and hopefully bring in new customers.

Anyways, I’m convinced you’re trolling and/or being a stubborn idiot.

Nice deal tho. If I was strapped for cash and was willing to wait 3+ hours for a meal this would be awesome. Good luck to the people who are going. Have a happy Canada Day! :D

Parvinder and Habib are pandhandlers…
They panhandle in different areas of Brampton.
Habib panhandles just as long as Parvinder ... but only collects 2 to 3 dollars every day.
Parvinder brings home a suitcase FULL of $10 bills, drives a Mercedes,
lives in a mortgage-free house and has a lot of money to spend.
Habib says to Parvinder “I work just as long and hard as you do ... but
how do you bring home a suitcase full of $10 bills every day?”
Parvinder says, “Look at your sign, what does it say?”
Habib’s sign reads “I have no work, a wife and 6 kids to support.”
Parvinder says “No wonder you only get $2-3 dollars”
Habib says… “So what does your sign say?”
Parvinder shows Habib his sign…
It reads, “I only need another $10 to move back to Pakistan.”

Ok. So all non-Canadians are dirty then. This is all so confusing…

Look, I have no bad intentions and I think most people here don’t either.
Canadians are one the swellest coolest people on earth, but there are a number of younger arrogant yuooo-tyuooob type crowd that pounce on anything they think they can insult, just for kicks, just to test and exercise their powers (ie. bullying). I hardly think I’m the one “trolling”.

My standpoint is simple. Canada Day is about Canada, the creation of Canada, life in Canada, what we have here, the opportunities we have, the people, the land, its history, etc etc. This ought to not exclude people that call this place their home.
I’ve never asked to vote, and I don’t expect any special privileges. Logically, Mandarin’s celebration is not in the right spirit of Canada Day.

Anyway. I wish everyone a Happy Canada Day tomorrow, and I hope all you people think it’s ok for an immigrant to join the festivities (except the Mandarin Buffet’s private Canadian Day party).

All you going to see is fat people and cheap Indians that have never seen free food using somebody else’s passport.

123mike you sound like a major redneck raccist trailer trash prick.

People..................easy, Free world and free speech is something many laid their lives for.Live and let live.I am sure Mandarin had a geniunely good reason for offering Canadiands a free meal.Admire, appreciate and respect that.As I am an immigrant who chose to accept Canadian citizenship I can understand Mandarin as well as the residents opinion.I think it is unfair to beat Mandarinn about this good gesture.You need a free meal too................try soup kitchen.
As far as personal comments and stereotyping people based on thier nationlity ...bad.......Nothing good ever comes of that .Respect the soil you live oon and it will pay you back, you don’t respect it, it will still pay you back, not quite the way you expected.

goleafsgo_22: that’s reasonable. As long as people see that Canada Day is meant for all residents.

canyonwolf: redneck eh? Let’s see.
Redneck: “stereotypically Caucasian (i.e. white) and is of lower socio-economic status”
hmm… rreeaallyy…

raccist, not found. Trying Racist:
“the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race”

Trailer trash:
“derogatory North American English term for people of low socio-economic standing.”

I think you’re describing yourself, kind of. Redneck, if you replace economic with social. Racist, fitting the profile nicely, check. Trailer trash, if you replace economic with social.
Adding condescending and insulting, to both immigrants and Canadians, and we have a close enough match. Congratulations, you’ve been profiled.

Let me give you a Chinese perspective on this. We want to encourage our immigrants of Chinese background to become citizens in order to be able to vote and give the Chinese community a powerful political voice in this country. Look around you, we are the largest visible minority in Canada, yet we and our concerns are not represented in our government at any level to a proportional degree. That is one reason for example why it took so long to address the discriminatory head tax imposed on the Chinese immigrants who came here to help build the railway alongside other immigrants and citizens. One free citizen’s meal seems like a trivial encouragement, but it does serve as a reminder for the Chinese in Canada to wake up! Have you eaten yet?—the traditional Chinese greeting.

wwmcheung: apparently, since 2006, South Asians (eg. Pakistan, India, etc) have been the largest visible minority group, according to statistics Canada. But that doesn’t matter. There are a lot of people from Chinese descent. Personally, I think the Chinese people have been making a very good contribution. They work hard, are friendly, honorable (generally), easy to get along with (generally), make great food, make great neighbors, they add to the Canadian economy’s output, etc, excellent contribution to Canada.

The imposed head tax in the railroad construction days is from a different era.
What specific concerns need to be represented? Don’t Canadians work and govern together in good faith with the attention to address everyone’s needs? Is there anything special that needs to be done for Chinese immigrants and people from Chinese descent?

Interesting point about the message for Chinese immigrants in Canada. So the Mandarin Buffet celebration should be seen as encouragement for Chinese immigrants that are eligible to become Canadian, but are holding off because they don’t want to lose easy access to China, for them to make the switch and make a commitment to Canada?
I’m curious how hard it would be for a Canadian of Chinese descent to become Chinese again for whatever reason, with or without Canadian born children, say.

(ps. thanks for the non slanderous feedback).
(ps. I don’t mean to make it seem like I “own” this forum topic; but things took an interesting direction).

@123Mike: for an immigrant, you have impeccable English… better than most Canadians, I would dare say.

I wonder if this offer could be tried under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms ... ie: discrimination against non-citizens. Anyways, I’ve never been one for political correctness; you’re free to boycott them if you please, though I doubt they’d check your ID if you went there. IMO it’s a really small thing to get worked up about. Yeah, it’s the principle, but there’s really much worse things that happen every day.

In fact, because of them giving away free food (which I didn’t know about before), I’ll probably stop by there more often… how many restaurants give away free meals for an entire day? Few, if any.

It’s no wonder we have so much government control in this country. The owners of Mandarin are free to offer gifts to anyone they like - it’s their money, after all - and if that offends you… tough. I read that this gift will cost them $500,000, but rather than thank them for their generosity, you want to boycott them for excluding non-citizens and have them charged under the Charter. Depressing - Canada used to be a free country where people could do what they wanted. Now our most cherished value appears to be the right not to be offended…

I have one thing to say, can a moderator please put a stop to this?

Oh wow, what a joke over a meal and a restaurant policy. Some people really have no life.

Giving away free food to a select group is fine. But trying to associate it with a festivity like Canada Day that distorts its value is not.

Charging the Mandarin goes too far, I would never consider that.
Canada used to be, and continuous to be a “free country” in that sense. But these days we can more easily object to things.
I’m just disappointed, which is the driving force behind me being here in the first place.
The objections is that giving away food to citizens only is not in the spirit of Canada Day.

Well 123Mike, I wasn’t sure what to think of this “Canadian citizens only” thing but I read all the posts and I think it’s made quite clear that the people of Mandarin Buffet as immigrants who gave up their prior citizenships or whatnot to become Canadian citizens want to thank Canadian citizens and Canada for welcoming them. This does not include legal residents for a number of reasons. Again I state that this is gathered from the posts I read. I am just extrapolating.

1. Voting. Canadian citizens vote and therefore represent the Canada’s political body and therefor the immigration laws that allowed Mandarin and it’s many employees to come to Canada and become citizens. They want to thank the people that made that possible.

2. Pride of citizenship. It used to mean something to say “I am Canadian” and that means having a Canadian citizenship. If you don’t have the card, then tough, you can’t say “I am Canadian” PERIOD. Canada is great because it has such open immigration and refugee laws but not everyone that comes off the boat to Canada can say “I am Canadian” as soon as they set foot in Canada… it takes more to be a Canadian than that… The people of Madarin are Canadian citizens and they may have had to make sacrifices along the way to obtain citizenship and they are proud of it and want to thank Canadian citizens for letting them join their ranks.

3. Responsibilities of Citizenship. Being a citizen bears responsibilities to the country. Think military drafting. As a resident, you are not as tightly bound to the country as a citizen. As a citizen you are entitled to fight for your country and likewise entitled to be proud of the soldiers that fought for your country. As a resident, you are entitled to enjoy what Canadian citizens fought to protect...Not freedom… CANADA. Of course Mandarin wishes to thank the soldiers.

4. Citizenship generally specifies your home. Residents have another citizenship someplace else. That means they have somewhere else that they call home or plan to go to go. Citizens are not just living/working here with someplace else to go should their jobs/life here go sour.

5. Working here and paying taxes isn’t the same thing as being Canadian. You get the idea from the above 4 statements. But just to reiterate. If you are paying taxes because you work in Canada, well good that’s the law. You have to pay taxes everyone has to pay. If a Canadian citizen were doing your job, they would be paying those taxes too.

So the people of Mandarin want to thank Canadian Citizens for all of the above on their day of National Pride. They want Canadians to feel special for being Canadian and they want to let Canadians know (as per press release) that they are proud to be Canadians too.

As for discrimination against non-residents… They could take it to the Supreme court of Canada but I can’t see how any judge who cared about their job would find Mandarin guilty for giving away free food to the citizens that fuel the political machine that puts them in power.

Hey everyone. Before you get into a debat with 123Mike, just understand this; It will not matter what way you comment 123Mike will disagree. This joker comments all the time on CTV news comments, and always has a lot to say about everything. So, I would suggest that you focus on enjoying the freedoms that we are blessed to have in Canada. Like the freedom to choose whether or not to give free meals on Canada Day. Maybe the owner of the Mandarin was saved by a canadian soldier, or treated kindly by a canadian, who knows. So, anyways dont waist your time debating with 123Mike, he/she is enjoying there freedom to speak, just like you. Maybe the Mandarin management is not doing something perfect, but does anyone of us do everything perfectly. At least their doing something. God bless Canada ( ooops sorry 123Mike, that may cause some controversy using God in a sentence). Happy Canada Day Everyone, and if you decide to go to the Mandarin, enjoy your meal.

Memories…

Years ago, a woman phoned my company to rant at me for 10 minutes about being discriminated against.  We were offering ‘Free Admission’ to Seniors ( $4 for one, $5 for two people) for an ‘How to Invest’ event (food provided) we were promoting.

“I have a lot of money to Invest, but I’m not old, I have no friends, & I can’t afford the $4.00 !”

When I offered to leave her a pair of free tickets at the door, she went off again
("Boycott!  Boycott !” )

I agree that 123Mike is overreacting to the promotion, but you are all a bunch of illiterate morons and it’s downright embarassing to read yoru replies to him. He has a genuine argument that none of you have bothered to reply to, which is all the worse because his argument isn’t very good - yet your silence just makes it look stronger.

I don’t care enough to respond to his argument, but I will reply to your comments. His point is that Mandarian’s policies discriminate against non-citizen residents. For that, many of you make racist and anti-immigrant comments and, in what would be ironic if it weren’t so retarded, call him a racist. The thread is full of racists calling people dirty and trashing the Charter (e.g., for allowing Sikh students to wear Kirpans) - and yet somehow 123Mike is the racist? It’s a farce. I feel like I’m reading foxnews.com reader responses. Take the time to read comments and give thoughtful replies. But every nonsense response calling 123Mike a communist or a dirty immigrant just shows how poor your argument (and character) are.

BURN!!!!!

nicely said weyoun! I totally agree!

wait time ... “5 to 6 hours”!!!

i just called the eglinton store and asked for an approximate wait time if i were to come now and that’s what they told me. anyone there (or other locations) who can confirm?

narfed: You’ve described Canadian Citizenship, and how Canada made things possible for the MB.
The MB’s celebration is not exactly in line with normal Canada Day celebrations, because Canada Day is about celebrating the creation of Canada.
It’s like celebrating someone’s birth day, but people that are not Canadian can’t join in.

Although I don’t 100% agree with MB’s celebration, I think I’m ok with it now, so long as it doesn’t become the norm. I can appreciate the fact that the MB wants to express its thanks, and it wasn’t my intention to spoil that.
I just felt left out of something I thought I was invited to. It’s like being invited to a party, but I can’t come in.

Anyway, I’m just quickly checking up on the messages. I’m invited to a local party which I’m about to attend.

Once I get my problems sorted out, I look forward to taking the plunge and become a citizen.

Anti immigrants need to learn a few things about immigration. I’m not taking away a job from someone in Canada. I’m adding to the overall output of the Canadian economy. I create things out of nothing. Without my input, you would do without what I create. I actually create jobs here, because what I do gives other people here the ability to do business with.
The guy you think I took his job away from, can also create things for even more business, adding more to the Canadian economy’s output.
Immigrants do not always “take away jobs”. They add to the economical output. They make Canada grow. Canada is one of the strongest immigration countries, and we do well, because Canada utilizes immigration well. People generally get along well here, better than in most countries.
All this is food for thought and can hopefully de-redneck-ify the younger generation a bit, before they get out of hand.

As for the responses here. I thank the people that made a thoughtful response. It actually helped.

Canada rocks, and again, Happy Canada Day !

I posted on the Freebies forum about this, and I will take the liberty to paste in excerpts from my three posts below.  I know this will attract more negative responses, but I thought 123Mike could use some support! 
Except that I go further than he does and actually assert that this Mandarin promotion is a clear violation of Ontario’s Human Rights Code, section 1:

http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/sta...0h19_e.htm#BK2

Services
1. Every person has a right to equal treatment with respect to services, goods and facilities, without discrimination because of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status or disability.

The permissible exceptions to discrimination on the basis of citizenship are found in section 16 (none of which apply here).

I am a Canadian citizen myself, but this free meal only for citizens is wrong, offensive and discriminatory.  While the Mandarin’s intentions may be good - and it is one of my favourite restaurants - the Mandarin can comply with the law by opening this free meal benefit to all persons, rather than discriminating against non-citizens.

The point is not that the Mandarin is prohibiting non-citizens from eating there on July 1. It is still unlawful if they offer the same service or goods but with different prices based on a prohibited ground of discrimination. There are some exceptions permitted under the Human Rights Code - for example, age discrimination is defined to cover 18 years or older - this permits different prices for children (see section 10). Also, under section 15, preferential treatment is permitted for ages 65 or over - this permits lower seniors’ rates.

It’s unfortunate that some of the posts above reflect such a narrow and uninformed view of human rights. A violation of human rights is not justified just because it happens one day a year, or just because it benefits Canadians, or just because the company has good intentions.

Yes, this is serious stuff for an RFD Freebies forum, but discrimination is a serious matter. The value of my Canadian citizenship does not rest on a free meal or any other commercial benefits - rather, it rests in our respect for the equal worth and dignity of all humans, and our shared value of inclusiveness.

123mike: Now thats insulting
- a jack layton supporter -

(grin) I see your point but Happy Canada Day anyways

Went to Mandarin Buffet on July 1,2009 and had to wait for over three hours for the lunch
buffet at the Woodbine location.
Mandarin was not that strict on checking ID to see if your are a Canadian citizen or not. 
Food was mediocure, thanked Mandarin buffet
for “giving back to the community”.
Wish more corporation would do this.
Hats off to Mandarin.

Well, 123Mike, your absurd complaint has now been covered in The National Post and subsequently picked up by the international media. Thank you for making Canadians look like petty sensationalists who readily look gift horses in the mouth.

wow, i didnt believe some fellow, so it took the time to search it up.

mike 123, you are a total dumbass.....you tarnished a generous company for giving to those who had givin to them. you are a lowly, disrespectful piece of trash.

read it for yourself....you are in the newspaper you dumb internet troll.

you only did it to get attention.

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/toronto/story.html?id=1750761

More hateful remarks. So now I’m someone that makes Canadians look like petty sensationalists un-thankful for a gift. Or a disrespectful piece of trash even.
You need a take a few moments, and read up and down these messages, and see what my points are. None of these insults make sense at all.

I’ve pointed out that Canada and Canadians rock (largely). I easily rank them higher and classify Canadians (and local immigrants) as higher quality people than people living in other countries.
Don’t make it seem like I somehow have a problem with Canadians. That’s distorting things and completely out of context.

A forum like this attracts some pretty darn weird people (or else very impulsive people). Look at the witch hunting and insults in some of these messages. It’s just plain embarrassing some of the feedback.

Back to the issue at hand.

The Mandarin’s celebration was not in line with the spirit of Canada Day. I felt disappointed, and wanted to express my opinion.
My point is perfectly valid and reasonable.

In the end, based on the feedback of some others, I didn’t want to make it seem like I’m trying to spoil a party. That was never my intention. So I concluded that I’m ok with it, so long as it doesn’t become the norm. I still don’t agree with it, but many others feel to not take it so seriously, and decided that that is probably a reasonable stand point.
So, I moderated my view, and thought, let it be, but still with a hint that it isn’t quite right to exclude non-citizens still.
The Mandarin can get away with it, that’s ok, because they probably didn’t think this one through very well. Fine. But we can’t all of a sudden see public parties crop up left and right all over the country that excludes immigrants all of a sudden. That would be wrong.

Anyway.
Well the day has come and gone, and life goes on.

There’s no need for name calling and insulting.
The points made are perfectly reasonable, and I’ve already added a grain of salt. You can’t hate me for that.

see, now you just played into my trap. i quote

“I easily rank them higher and classify Canadians (and local immigrants) as higher quality people than people living in other countries. “

that statement is a statement that makes canadians and the immigrants, who truly are equal i might add, are above everyone else.  You are now starting to contradict yuor points. Please 123Mike, stop talking, and we will to. Let us all be grateful for Mandarin and their excellent food, that make many smile.

by the way, as one of the posters confirmed, they were not to stingy on checking citizenship. so they made outlines that they did not follow.

What kind of nonsense is that, “Frankdood”?

Do you have a problem with me praising (most) Canadian residents in general? I’m excited about the quality of life we have, and so I express that.
How am I contradicting anything?
Please fill me in here, because you’re not making any sense.

And according tot the NP article, people were told in the line up that they’d have to show proof of citizenship and some left once they were told.
Some had to pay once they were in.
It’s kind of apartheid-ish, isn’t it?