WM mentioned health care and I have another story to tell.
Did you know that our neighbors to the north amended their original Citizenship Act of 1947 recently? Canada is such a concerned county. They are always worrying that somebody has been left out, or been unfairly treated. Gotta love' em. Some of their neighbors could take a hint! So on April 17, 2009 the qualifications for being a Canadian citizen were changed. Here's the website for a little more information.
The new law states that if you are in the first generation of children born outside Canada to a Canadian citizen AND born after 1947, (there are a couple of other caveats in there too, but nothing major) you are not just eligible to become a Canadian citizen, you ALREADY are one and it is retroactive to your birth date back to 1947 (after the original law).
As far as it concerns MY family; you may remember that my mother was born in Canada and she remained a resident alien in the U.S. right up until she died.
1. I'm not a 2009 restructured Canadian because I was born before 1947. I think if I pursued it through legal channels I qualify, but at this stage of the game, it doesn't matter to me. If I want to visit Canada, I'll just take my U.S. passport and go.
2. It doesn't affect my youngest sister who was born in Canada and is already a duo-national. BTW, neither Canada nor the U.S. have any restrictions about dual citizens in each others countries. Interestingly, since she was born in Canada, her two first generation sons are automatic Canadians too.
3. Middle sister...BINGO! First generation, born in the U.S. in 1953 to a Canadian citizen. After paying some minimal paperwork fees, she will get her Canadian citizenship card and will be eligible for all government programs. That includes their universal health care. They aren't old enough for Medicare and since Sis and her husband have been will-o-the-wisps, going all over the place in their boat and picking up jobs and money while the times were good, they are now between a rock and a hard place, medical insurance-wise. It is a definite possibility that they will be pulling up stakes and moving to the Great White North.
Would it work out for them? I sure don't know.. she is our well-loved, but different-drum-marching sibling. I do know that Canada has loads of programs to get newcomers settled and neither one of them is afraid of hard work. The safety net of medical coverage would certainly be a huge relief to them.
Compare the U.S. 40% uninsured to Canada's 5% and I can certainly see the attraction.
5 comments:
You're preaching to the choir here, but amen
to that. I recently took
a picture of a church sign near me, and I've been showing it to people who tell me they are opposed to "socialist" health care and asking them to reconcile that opposition with the Christianessage on the sign. Maybe you can post the pic for interested lurkers. If not, I will cite chapter and verse when I get in tonight. I do know it's from Galatians in the NT. The pic will be in mail shortly.
WH, Interesting change in the Canadian laws. Too bad the U.S. isn't more concerned...yet. Here's the photo of the Mt.Hebron Baptist Church sign. Being your brother's keeper doesn't seem to be too popular with a lot of conservative evangelicals (are there any other kind?).
Well, here is a new wrinkle. News from middle sister says that her husband has been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and is going to have to be on various meds.
I don't know if that will speed their decision to head north, or if they will have to get him leveled off before they make any other plans.
About bi-polar...in the olden days, we used to call it manic-depressive. I guess that wasn't PC, so it was changed to something less nutty sounding.
My B-I-L is one of those, "I'm so intelligent" types. He doesn't really lord his 'manic' opinion of himself over anyone, but it is always an undercurrent. I blow it off (yes WH, I am terminally nice! :o) but in the 12 years he's been in the family, he has annoyed quite a few people.
He has come up with a dozen entrepreneurial ideas over the years and not one of them has panned out over the long haul. Most of them too iffy and not well enough thought out.
Now, because the economy is flooey, he doesn't have anything going and has apparently bi-polared his way into the pits of despair.
I'm not making fun of it. We've had some relatives who have suffered with the same problems. Unfortunately, that was before good drugs.
I do feel particularly sorry for Sis, although she is our own 'head in the clouds' case. The plot thickens and it looks likes, for them at least, it has been "a dark and stormy night".
Oh yeah, I forgot to give credit where due. B-I-L has over the years done quite well as a sailing kind of guy, captaining for others and doing some cruise hosting in Panama and in the Caribbean. Now, not too many people have the money for a cruise vacation and if they do they either go on an upper class cruise line, or they already have their own yacht. This a a photo of their home now. I'd go bonkers (oh...that explains it) living with Fred 24/7 on a 37' boat, but this is their 3rd one and they seem to like the life.
Is anyone minding the store here?
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