The High Cost Of Rescuing Convenient Canadians

[taxslave]

I'm against putting Canadian citizen and Canadian civil servant lives at risk by playing 20 questions in the middle of a war zone. Prove you are a Canadian citizen, with a valid Canadian passport or some other means and you get help.

If the problem is "citizens of convenience" as you people here like to demonize Canadian doctors, teachers, engineers, missionaries... who serve over seas, then the time to determine who is and isn't a "real" Canadian is at the time they get a passport.

No, we are talking about the people, mostly asian and middle eastern that bring their families to Canada just long enough to get citizen ship but remain working in their country of origin and bring their families home the minute they get Canadian citizenship and remain until one needs expensive medical help, cheap university or they find out they backed the wrong side and must leave in a hurry. Then us good patsys get to foot the bill.

A citizen is a citizen. if you place special requirements on one class of citizen, then you have instituted a form of 2nd class citizenship.

Remember, what you do to someone else, can easily be turned around and done in another way to you.

This is our country and we get to decide who we should let in and who we do not want. Mostly we want immigrants that want to be Canadians. Not hyphenated Canadians but hard working people that want to work, pay taxes and raise their families in Canada. We do not want those that dump their families here for 3 years to qualify for citizenship and then move back to where ever they came from only to return when one of them needs birthing, free medical, cheap university or their current address becomes a war zone.

 

[captain morgan]

A citizen is a citizen. if you place special requirements on one class of citizen, then you have instituted a form of 2nd class citizenship.

Remember, what you do to someone else, can easily be turned around and done in another way to you.

"Citizens' are also expected to assume a degree of personal responsibility and making a conscious and voluntary decision to participate in something that may have tangible consequences is a calculated risk.

That said, the other side of this coin is that in having the gvt perpetually 'save' these individuals from their own ignorance elevates their status in comparison to those in society that do assume personal responsibility.

 

[earth_as_one]

When rioting broke out in Libya, many Canadians were stranded. Even Vietnam did a better job than Canada getting their people out:

Stranded Canadians in Libya get little help: pilot - Nfld. & Labrador - CBC News
Efforts underway to rescue Vietnamese in Libya - Efforts underway to rescue Vietnamese in Libya - VOVNEWS.VN

 

[captain morgan]

The subject of the article (read: the complainer) had enough concerns to start with to contact the Canadian Consulate knowing that there was an unstable situation, yet he still went in and took the chance.

Fact is, these 'situations' explode very quickly and just because the gvt didn't predict the future to this man's high standard doesn't mean that they owed him a damn thing.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

The Vietnamese govt encourages its people to work abroad so they can send money back home. If you do this, then a govt has a greater level of responsibility. The Canadian govt does not do this, there are plenty of jobs here.

If I recall, the Philippines govt sent a ship and told everyone to get on it. Cheap, but effective. While the Canadian govt has people planning a gold plated military op. A bit much.

Many "Canadians" in Libya were born in Libya. But the media doesn't like to mention that. They have two countries and play it close to the edge and like an insurance policy. Who wouldn't.

 

[shadowshiv]

I would be embarrassed of Canada if during some emergency, countries like Vietnam, Cambodia and Haiti come to the rescue of their citizens while we abandon fellow Canadians.

Abandon them? The ones that are only Canadian when it suits them? The ones that don't give a rat's ass about our country until they need something from it? I have absolutely NO problem rescuing the ones that are Canadian at heart, not the ones that are "Canadian" on a slip of paper alone.

 

[damngrumpy]

In a democracy all citizens must be treated equally. This is what happens when the
government chooses immigrants by a quota system instead of merit and what they
can contribute.
The other way to handle this is to have a policy that states you must be out of the
country within a specific time limit, have a short window for exceptional cases by
merit and after that people are on their own. The problem is today anywhere on the
planet can become a hot spot without warning, so there are cases where people
need to be moved and quickly. If we had a policy where we listed the potential
trouble spots and high risk was with a warning and a notice that me may not move
you out. On the other hand almost every country in the civilized world has a policy
to get Canadians home.
It is a mistake governments made in allowing people to come and get a passport
and return to their country of origin and collect a pension check from this country
later without paying taxes or contributing to society. Unfortunate, but maybe we
should have reductions in the Immigration Department instead of the Department
of Defence.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

Poor people from third world countries now have a chance to live in a rich one, so they take advantage of it. It's human nature to do so. I don't think our citizenship laws took these factors into account with multiculturalism and its impact on immigration. These policies are creating a cascading effect.

Our citizenship laws are made on the premise you want to be a Canadian, live in Canada, and die in Canada. There are exceptions, but we have too many lately, which is due to excessively high immigration, the internet, and jet travel. Such was not the case 50 years ago, you came to Canada to stay.

I think our citizenship system is like the NHL when it was 99% Canadian, now it's not, and many hockey players are just visitors to the league, taking the big bucks and then go back home after their careers. But for a country, it doesn't work because a country is not a corporation. Mecenary citizenship doesn't make sense because a country is worth more than money. We debase our democracy and our citizenship if we treat it like a corporation. If citizens believe in equality, then there are some responsbilities attached to it, and many new citizens don't worry about them.

 

[earth_as_one]

The Vietnamese govt encourages its people to work abroad so they can send money back home. If you do this, then a govt has a greater level of responsibility. The Canadian govt does not do this, there are plenty of jobs here.

If I recall, the Philippines govt sent a ship and told everyone to get on it. Cheap, but effective. While the Canadian govt has people planning a gold plated military op. A bit much.

Many "Canadians" in Libya were born in Libya. But the media doesn't like to mention that. They have two countries and play it close to the edge and like an insurance policy. Who wouldn't.

Actually many Canadians in Libya were born in Canada and worked in the oil industry. They also bring back money to Canada. Do you suppose someone would work in Libya for less than they can make in Alberta?

Abandon them? The ones that are only Canadian when it suits them? The ones that don't give a rat's ass about our country until they need something from it? I have absolutely NO problem rescuing the ones that are Canadian at heart, not the ones that are "Canadian" on a slip of paper alone.

Canadians in Libya 'abandoned'
...MP Meili Faille has been keeping in close contact with a cousin employed by Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin at a desert compound near Benghazi. She said while the company has been doing its best to keep employees safe and organize their evacuation from the country, the Canadian government has been only adding to the confusion.
Reaching embassy and foreign affairs officials by telephone has been difficult, she said. Several evacuation flights that have been announced have been cancelled.
"When you're getting conflicting information from your own government, and you see other governments moving faster, one person has to think what is happening? What is the Canadian government doing?" Faille told CBC...
Canadians in Libya 'abandoned' by Ottawa: Bloc MP - Montreal - CBC News

I'm not sure where so many people have gotten the impression that Canadians living and working abroad are all a bunch of dead beats. Cable news ranting?)
Many still pay Canadian taxes. After a few years you can become a non-resident citizen... and bring your wealth back to Canada. But they are resident in another country and subject to their tax laws. All Canadians benefit when our foreign workers return home with their accumulated wealth and knowledge.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

You're missing the point here, it's not a matter of Canadians being deadbeats, or a disorganized embassy. It's about spending millions of dollars for people who want a quick, subsidised escape route. Like a refugee, safety can be just a quick trip to a neighbouring country. If you work for a Cdn company abroad, perhaps that company should funds and a plan for an escape if there is am upheaval, which occurs on a regular basis in Africa and Asia,

 

[earth_as_one]

You mean like those oil workers Canada abandoned in Libya?

I see this as a matter of national pride. Not only should Canada have an escape capability, we should have the best one. We should rehearse and when emergencies happen, that's when McKay's "training" trip to the cottage on one of the PM private airplanes gets bumped by an operational mission.

 

[CDNBear]

You mean like those oil workers Canada abandoned in Libya?

I realize that's what you want to make this about. But it isn't what is being questioned.

It's about people who live abroad, work abroad, and really have little to no interest in Canada, except for their dual citizenship.

Who suddenly find themselves up sh!ts creek, and call Canada to save them.

I see this as a matter of national pride. Not only should Canada have an escape capability, we should have the best one. We should rehearse and when emergencies happen, that's when McKay's "training" trip to the cottage on one of the PM private airplanes gets bumped by an operational mission.

Quick!!! Look over there >>>

 

[DaSleeper]

You mean like this little bit of news costing 85 millions in '06?????

CTV News - Canadian evacuation from Lebanon cost $85M: CTV

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

You mean like those oil workers Canada abandoned in Libya?

I see this as a matter of national pride. Not only should Canada have an escape capability, we should have the best one. We should rehearse and when emergencies happen, that's when McKay's "training" trip to the cottage on one of the PM private airplanes gets bumped by an operational mission.

Have you got a link for those abandoned oil workers?

A good Canadian capability should be having money when you travel and perhaps smart local friends. Your company ought to have a contingency plan, and good knowledge of local conditions if trouble starts. Hey, it's dangerous out there, the world doesn't always love us. Working abroad means leaving your naivity behind. Watch the news too.