Letters to the Editor
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Re:Re: re: Citizenship Isn't That Easy
Bill, you are just confirming my point. There is little difference between being a Canadian "landed immigrant" and a citizen, just as there is very little practical difference between being a US citizen and having a green card. The difference is primarly a legal category. I'm sure that a man marrying a Canadian woman, provided it is a genuine marriage, will become a Canadian citizen. My main point referred to the difference in treatment between refugees in Canada and the US. In Canada, a refugee is given money, an apartment and free language training. In the US, a refugee is thrown into jail. In Canada, a permanent resident who is not yet a citizen has the same health care as a Canadian citizen. In the US, even citizens have no right to health care.
In general, the US is cursed by being a superpower and by being run by an oligarchy that is profit-mad and out of control. This distorts all discourse in this country. In Canada, the media is talking about daycare benefits; here it is about which country should be bombed next.
I am probably in a good position to discuss these matters as a dual Canadian/US citizen who has lived many years in both countries. And, for David Sugerman, I am not as thin-skinned as you may think - I'm a New Yorker too, and you don't last a New York minute here with a thin skin.