Rudi Kischer wants to help those Americans who have the post-election blues after US President George W. Bush's second-term victory.
The Vancouver, British Columbia, immigration lawyer plans seminars in three US cities -- Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles -- to tell Americans frustrated with Bush's victory that the grass is greener north of the border. And that's not just an allusion to Canada's lenient marijuana laws.
"We started last year getting a lot of calls from Americans dissatisfied with the way the country is going," Kischer says. "Then after the election, it's been crazy up here. The Canadian immigration Web site had 115,000 hits the day after the election -- from the US alone. We usually only get 20,000 hits."
There was so much interest that a Vancouver-based Internet firm, Communicopia, set up a new Web site this month (www.canadianalternative.-com) to suggest Canada as a viable option for its US clients, including anyone concerned about constitutional bans on gay marriage passed in 11 US states this month.
"We invite you to get to know Canada," the site says. "Explore the richness and diversity of our regions. And find out why Canada is the perfect alternative for conscientious, forward-thinking Americans."
Another Web site urges: "Open your heart, and your home. Marry an American. Legions of Canadians have already pledged to sacrifice their singlehood to save our southern neighbors from four more years of cowboy conservatism."
Canada suddenly has utopian appeal for many left-leaning Americans. Its universal health care, gay rights, abortion rights, gun-control laws, drug laws, opposition to the Iraq War, ban on capital punishment and ethnic diversity mirror many values of the American left. Immigrants, including an estimated 1 million Americans, make up nearly 20 percent of Canada's population. The UN named Toronto the world's most multicultural city.
And, as Michael Moore pointed out in Bowling for Columbine -- required viewing for many lefties -- in Canada there's apparently no reason to lock your door.
On the other hand, it's cold. The baseball's not very good. And the taxes are higher, eh? But, as one man who has his bags nearly packed likes to say, at least the taxes go toward good causes.
"I just like their way of life a lot better, and with everything the Bush administration has done -- for the American people to give him their seal of approval, it's basically the last straw," says Ralph Appoldt, a resident of Portland, Oregon, a state that narrowly supported Senator John Kerry for president.
"Canada's basic population is much more intelligent, polite and civilized," Appoldt said. "I like their way of government a lot better. Their tax dollars go to helping those who need it, instead of funneling money back up to the wealthy and feeding this huge military-industrial machine."
Appoldt, 50, a sales manager, and his wife, a nurse, figure that selling their house and getting their immigration approved could take more than a year. But they're moving, they insist. They've already hired Kischer to help them.
Though he may see a good business opportunity following the election, Kischer has no illusions of a mass exodus to Canada. Americans have to follow the same procedures as everyone else -- including the US$500 application fee, the US$975 landing tax and the wait of six months to two years. He only expects about 100 people at his how-to-move-to-Canada seminars.
Nancy Bray, a spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, said her agency's Web site received 261,000 hits from the US in the two days following the election, but it'll be many months before officials can guess how many of them were serious.
Jason Mogus, Communicopia's chief executive, said that while his company wanted to help interested Americans, moving to Canada should be plan B.
"We strongly encourage Americans to stay and build a culture in line with their values," Mogus said. "In other words, stay and fight."
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was