Dual Citizenship
Recently the subject of dual citizenship for Canadians has arisen. This is in the wake of the rescue efforts made to get Canucks out of Lebanon during the last crisis.
This effort cost the Canadian taxpayer $85 million dollars, or approximately $5667 for each ‘citizen’ removed from the war torn country. Some of the people who were rescued were genuine tourists, there on vacation or to visit relatives. Others were people who came to Canada, got their citizenship and then returned to Lebanon to carry on life as usual. They have been out of the country for over a year, have paid no Canadian taxes, and for the most part, have returned to Lebanon now that the fuss is over. I object to this.
Let’s first address the issue of the tourists. If I had escaped from a war torn country headed by a suppressive government, until there was an actual peace treaty in place, as opposed to a mere truce, I certainly wouldn’t volunteer to go back to visit relatives. And I sure as hell wouldn’t send my 9 and 12 year old sons over on their own. What in the world are these people thinking?
Unfortunately, they are tax paying citizens and merit our efforts to extract them. Even more unfortunate is that we can’t punish them for being stupid. We should look into changing that.
Next we have the ‘Canadian-of-Convenience’. These are the guys who know just how valuable a Canadian passport is. And how liberal a country Canada is. They come into the country knowing full well they are going back to wherever they came from and are willing to stay here only long enough to get their papers. They can keep the citizenship of the hell-hole country they escaped from and count on Canada to bail them out if they get in trouble there. A mere five years of paying taxes to offset their education, language classes, pensions and health care costs and they are off to set up businesses in their home country, paying taxes to some despot who wants to rule the world.
Some of these bums were put on refugee ships before legitimate Canadians were. I find that sickening.
When I got my citizenship, I had to renounce my home country. I am still very proud of my heritage, but I am a Canadian first and foremost. And so should everyone applying for citizenship be. In any village, town or city across this country you will find enclaves of Italians, Poles, Hungarians, Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Jamaicans, Brazilians, English, Scots, Irish, etc. It is not hard to honour your homeland and take comfort in some of the customs you brought with you when you immigrated and still pledge your allegiance to your new home. I had to swear to honour our queen and fight in her name if it ever came to that. Believe me, it was not an easy decision to make. But I made it and so should all others looking to enjoy the benefits we have, the benefits our veterans died to ensure we would always have.
It is no secret some of our retirees flee to Florida every year during the winter. But they can only stay so long before they are required to return in order to keep the medical coverage. The ‘Convenient Canadians’ were given full medical aid after being out of the country for as long as 8 years. Some of our pensioners who worked 30, 35 and 40 years, paying taxes diligently are living in poverty today. The ‘Convenient Canadians’ can, because they have been gone so long, apply for welfare, free medical help, free legal help, etc. They can make more in a month then the pensioners. That is disgusting.
Some will say it would be too expensive to revoke dual citizenship. Nonsense. Those who have it will be made to make a choice. Those applying for citizenship will be asked to renounce the citizenship of the country they came from. You can have one passport and one passport only. Make up your mind. If you choose to reject Canada, welcome, enjoy and here’s your visitors visa. When it runs out, bon voyage, don’t forget to write.
