What's so great about Canada ?

Just wanted to say good luck to electricbuford on his pursuit of citizenship. I've spent the past few years dealing with american immigration and I imagine that working with canadian immigration is equally frustrating. It takes hard work and dedication to move to another country so all I can say is that I hope the process is relatively stress free for you!

Buford could try claiming refugee status. If he claimed that the powers that be at NASCAR were plotting against him for ridiculing Alan Bestwick's hair and suggesting that the Bush twins had invented that particular style, so the FBI was obviously involved, Buford just might score a get into Canada free card. Either that or they'd lock him up for his own good. :lol:

Cowtown_Girl: Do they still make you swear that you have forsaken any previous loyalty to Canada, before you can be processed?

Thats what they wanted my Dad to do, when I was 7. (Ten years prior, he had spent 6 years on the North Atlantic; sending signals, scanning the horizon for U-boats, sleeping in a hammock and knocking ice of the superstucture so the ship wouldnt capsize.)

He didnt want to swear that.
They didnt like that very much.
We moved back home before I was 10.
Its 41 years later.
I'm still glad.

I didn't have to do that but I'm only a permanent resident...that sounds like something you'd have to do if you became a citizen. And I don't plan to give up my Canadian citizenship. But getting your permanent residency is no picnic either and I did have to fill out a form (one of sooo many) that asked me questions such as:
Upon immigrating to the US do you plan to commit genocide?
Upon immigrating to the US do you intend to perform terrorist acts?
Are you a member of a terrorist organization?

These are the questions I can remember off-hand but it was an entire form with questions like the above. I thought it was ridiculous but you fill it out, you keep your mouth shut and you hope the immigration officer who is reviewing your case is in a good mood that day.
Incidentally...it took me 3 1/2 years to get my green card and that doesn't count the 2 years I was in Canada trying to get permission to come to the US to marry my husband. What I found ironic...(or perhaps it's just unfortunate)..was while I was in Canada waiting for permission to cross the border I wasn't allowed to leave Canada. Once I received permission and married my husband I wasn't allowed to leave the US until my permanent residency came through. It ain't like what they show you on tv and in the movies.

Anybody have an ENCOURAGING example of somebody who immigrated TO Canada FROM the U.S. ?

Sorry Bu...guess the conversation has turned dark. I don't have a real life example of someone going to Canada from the US but rumor has it that it is easier....with slightly less red tape. I've reviewed the process and it seems similiar to that of going to the states (ie. the forms you fill out are similiar in nature and number) BUT the processing time is supposed to be shorter.
Hope that makes you feel a little better...

I've talked to a couple of draft dodgers...it was apparently pretty easy back then. The only guy I know who moved up here recently was in and working within a year, but he'd been transferred by his employer who took care of a lot of the red tape. Apparently that works if you're moving to the States too.

Times have changed. After spending the last week in the Detroit area, SS has come to a conclusion: Travelling along I-75 heading for the tunnel to Windsor, is where I believe, it happened (at three in the morning). Canada is something you either get, or don't get. I wanted to rub the head of the the fuzzy little fucker who was our guard on the Canadian side. Just a dumb-ass "fred flintstone" type. If he only knew (maybe he did)! Canada's a good place to be, lets keep it that way. GET CHRETIEN & his gang OUT! There was a story in the Detroit News on tuesday, I think, where a homeless guy died on the sidewalk & he was there for a day-and-a-half before he got scooped up off the street. Man, that was sad. THAT was somebody's baby on the day of his birth. I've tripped over homeless in Toronto, but I don't think they cook for almost two days after they die on the sidewalk! Anyway, God bless this over-taxed nation. SS

Cheer up peoples, at least you dont have you prime minister jumping into bed with dubya every chance he gets, totally agianst the wishes of the public and at no gain to australia, except that we all get to spill our blood in the desert, and lose our loved ones for america when we had absolutly no part (or reason to be a part) of americas war games... but i supose we should all feel honoured to die for the golden lives of americans.

-no offence meant to any american people btw.

Why does agreeing with an "American" position automatically presume "jumping into bed" with the Americans? And the only comparisons our "prime-minister" (Canada) should compete in is whether "bozo" the -clown has a better grasp on reality. What about the respect Australia has always had, and in my opinion, always wiil. This came from historically making the "right" decisions, not decisions that were favorable to the U.S. or U.K. In this respect, Australia has always shown itself to be pretty level-headed in my opinion. The U.S. is damned if it does, & damned if it doesn't. Remember the monarchy referendum a couple of years ago? I really thought Australia was going to vote to become a republic, woulda bet money on it! But alas, OZ chose not to become a republic. The people spoke. The only referendums Canada's leaders trust us with are, well hell, THEY DON'T! Cretien doesn't stand up to anybody, FlyingBunyip, never did. If its anti-American ANYTHING, with LOTS to lose for Canada, he doesn't give a shit! Liberals call THAT leadership!

I see your point, and its true that politicians never really give the public that much of a say in the goverments' decisions, they don't always have a choice- damned if they do, damned if they don't- it was just annoying for the people of Australia, (and I live here, so I care,) to find out our troops were commited to whatever action America decided to take after september 11, before we even knew what the action might be.
Johnny Howard happened to be in America on september 11, and said that Australia was compleatly with America, and our troops were at their use what ever they decided to do, which I understand was a really good thing at the time, but the people over here mostly found out off American news channels before we found out off our own government, which was a bit annoying, thats all.

Got you're point, FlyingBunyip, thanks.

I need to move TO Canada FROM the UK.. If it's hard to move there from the US is there any hope for me at all?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

One of the photographers from work is British. He came here in the sixties when things were looser, but his long-time girlfriend just came over. The biggest thing seemed to be her getting a sponsor to be responsible for her for ten years...not a big deal in this case.

If you do come here BabeStace, and you should, you should come to Winnipeg. I'm trying to get as many people from your country here as possible so we can convince all the fake-British pubs to keep Tetley's on tap.