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Canada a refuge for U.S. liberals
ALEXANDER PANETTA, CP 2004-11-05 02:28:32
OTTAWA -- Canada's immigration website is being flooded with a record-smashing number of visits from U.S. Democrats dismayed by the prospect of four more years living under President George W. Bush. His re-election has some long-faced U.S. liberals apparently musing that perhaps Canada's cold winters, high taxes and strained health system are more easily endured than their commander-in-chief.
A record was set within hours of Bush's acceptance speech as six times more Americans than usual surfed the site Wednesday.
The overall number of 179,000 visitors was almost twice the previous one-day record set last year and 64 per cent of visitors -- 115,016 -- were from the United States.
Many were doing more than just casual surfing, a spokesperson for Citizenship and Immigration suggested yesterday.
"The most-visited pages . . . were the skilled worker online self-assessment pages (to check if) they'd meet the selection criteria," said Maria Iadinardi.
But there's no proof of an influx of Americans seeking asylum from their politics: "Applying and intent are two different things. We're only going to see this about six months from now," she said.
Americans moving to Canada must deal with the same rules as other immigrants -- including the $500 application fee, the $975 landing tax, and the six- to 12-month wait.
The waiting time is shorter if you're married to a Canadian, for which help is available at www.marryanamerican.ca, a Canadian satirical site also inundated by visitors.
A quick Internet Google search under the terms, "move to Canada' + Bush" turns up more than 8,000 web pages -- including chat groups and at least one opinion poll asking frustrated liberals whether they'd consider fleeing.
About 60 per cent replied "Yes" to leaving in the tongue-in-cheek poll of more than 1,000 on CBS's Chicago affiliate website.
One American who lives in Brooklyn says many in the U.S. feel they identify more with Canada than their own country after the election.
Copyright © The London Free Press 2001,2002,2003
ALEXANDER PANETTA, CP 2004-11-05 02:28:32
OTTAWA -- Canada's immigration website is being flooded with a record-smashing number of visits from U.S. Democrats dismayed by the prospect of four more years living under President George W. Bush. His re-election has some long-faced U.S. liberals apparently musing that perhaps Canada's cold winters, high taxes and strained health system are more easily endured than their commander-in-chief.
A record was set within hours of Bush's acceptance speech as six times more Americans than usual surfed the site Wednesday.
The overall number of 179,000 visitors was almost twice the previous one-day record set last year and 64 per cent of visitors -- 115,016 -- were from the United States.
Many were doing more than just casual surfing, a spokesperson for Citizenship and Immigration suggested yesterday.
"The most-visited pages . . . were the skilled worker online self-assessment pages (to check if) they'd meet the selection criteria," said Maria Iadinardi.
But there's no proof of an influx of Americans seeking asylum from their politics: "Applying and intent are two different things. We're only going to see this about six months from now," she said.
Americans moving to Canada must deal with the same rules as other immigrants -- including the $500 application fee, the $975 landing tax, and the six- to 12-month wait.
The waiting time is shorter if you're married to a Canadian, for which help is available at www.marryanamerican.ca, a Canadian satirical site also inundated by visitors.
A quick Internet Google search under the terms, "move to Canada' + Bush" turns up more than 8,000 web pages -- including chat groups and at least one opinion poll asking frustrated liberals whether they'd consider fleeing.
About 60 per cent replied "Yes" to leaving in the tongue-in-cheek poll of more than 1,000 on CBS's Chicago affiliate website.
One American who lives in Brooklyn says many in the U.S. feel they identify more with Canada than their own country after the election.
Copyright © The London Free Press 2001,2002,2003
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[img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img]
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