Text 4370, 82 rader
Skriven 2004-11-03 19:38:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Canada
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http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=67042
92

Unhappy Democrats Need to Wait to Get Into Canada
Wed Nov 3, 2004 01:16 PM ET 
By David Ljunggren 

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Disgruntled Democrats seeking a safe Canadian haven 
after President Bush won Tuesday's election should not pack their bags 
just yet. 

Canadian officials made clear on Wednesday that any U.S. citizens so fed 
up with Bush that they want to make a fresh start up north would have to 
stand in line like any other would-be immigrants -- a wait that can take 
up to a year. 

"You just can't come into Canada and say 'I'm going to stay here'. In 
other words, there has to be an application. There has to be a reason 
why the person is coming to Canada," said immigration ministry 
spokeswoman Maria Iadinardi. 

There are anywhere from 600,000 to a million Americans living in Canada, 
a country that leans more to the left than the United States and has 
traditionally favored the Democrats over the Republicans. 

But recent statistics show a gradual decline in U.S. citizens coming to 
work in Canada, which has a creaking publicly funded healthcare system 
and relatively high levels of personal taxation. 

Government officials, real estate brokers and Democrat activists said 
that while some Americans might talk about a move to Canada rather than 
living with a new Bush administration, they did not expect a mass 
influx. 

"It's one thing to say 'I'm leaving for Canada' and quite another to 
actually find a job here and wonder about where you're going to live and 
where the children are going to go to school," said one government 
official. 

Roger King of the Toronto-based Democrats Abroad group said he had heard 
nothing to back up talk of a possible exodus of party members. 

"I imagine most committed Democrats will want to stay in the United 
States and continue being politically active there," he told Reuters. 

Americans seeking to immigrate can apply to become permanent citizens of 
Canada, a process that often takes a year. Becoming a full citizen takes 
a further three years. 

The other main way to move north on a long-term basis is to find a job, 
which in all cases requires a work permit. This takes from four to six 
months to come through.    

Official statistics show the number of U.S. workers entering Canada 
dropped to 15,789 in 2002 from 21,627 in 2000. Early indicators on 
Wednesday showed little sign of this changing. 

A spokesman for Canada's foreign affairs ministry said there had been no 
increase in the number of hits on the Washington embassy's immigration 
Web site, while housing brokers said they doubted they would see a surge 
in U.S. business. 

"Canada's always open and welcoming to Americans who want to relocate 
here, but we don't think it would be a trend or movement," said Gino 
Romanese of Royal Lepage Residential Real Estate Services in Toronto. 

Those wishing to move to Canada could always take a risk and claim 
refugee status -- the path chosen earlier this year by two U.S. 
deserters who opposed the war in Iraq. 

"Anybody who enters Canada who claims refugee status will be provided 
with a work permit ... it doesn't matter what country they're from," 
Iadinardi said. 

Refugee cases are handled by special boards, which can take months to 
decide whether to admit applicants. The rulings can be appealed and 
opposition politicians complain some people ordered deported have been 
in Canada for 10 years or more.


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