Expatriatism
Currently, the United States is experiencing a slight national obsession with Canada. Between 10,000 and 20,000 Americans were ready to pack up and head to the land of the maple leaf after November’s election, reported U.S. News and World Report in February.
A traveler prepares to enter the boarding area of Dundas subway station.
The Canadian immigration Web site, which usually gets about 20,000 hits a day, got 115,000 hits from Americans alone the day after the election, said Rudi Kischer, a British Columbian immigration lawyer, to the Associated Press.
But it’s all talk, Farish says.
“I never once met anyone who said, ‘Yeah, I moved to Canada because I got sick of American politics,’” he says.
Ashton, too, notes that the country didn’t get that flood of immigrants after the last election. “It’s more talk than it is action,” he says.
Maybe not.
Attorney Jeffry House gets inquiries daily from soldiers who want to go AWOL in Canada. Though he has no definite way to verify his numbers, House estimates in the February edition of Time that there are between 75 and 100 U.S. soldiers hiding out north of the border.
“I never once met anyone who said, ‘Yeah, I moved to Canada because I got sick of American politics.’”
Part of Canada’s appeal is its liberal attitude. Check out CanadianAlternative.com. The site calls the country “the perfect alternative for conscientious, forward-thinking Americans,” and it lists a number of reasons: The United States executed 59 criminals last year, but Canada abolished the death penalty in 1976; Canada has no laws restricting abortion; the country has little violence, perhaps due to the strict gun laws.
More lures are listed, and Ashton validates most, though he finds fault with a few. Though marijuana is legal for medicinal purposes, the Canadian Senate would like to legalize it — but the Senate is powerless, Ashton says.
And while it is true that there hasn’t been a federal deficit in Canada since the 1996-1997 fiscal year, that just means the country isn’t spending money. The Toronto infrastructure is 50 to 60 years old, Ashton says. One problem with the city is its accessibility, which is why public transportation is so popular.
Along with his director of tourism and councillor positions, Ashton is also commissioner of the Toronto Transit Commission, or the TTC. So he’s in charge of busing, among other things. He once received a phone call from someone at a bus stop.
Trolleys glide through the streets of Toronto, offering an effective means of public transportation.
“My bus is late. You’re in charge of the TTC. What are you going to do about it?” the woman asked.
“What do you want me to do?” Ashton says he asked the woman. “Get up 10 minutes earlier, and you won’t miss it.”
The response elicited a “Smart-ass” from the woman, but Ashton was only joking. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it,” he said. And he did.
No sweat.
Despite any anti-American sentiments they may have, more than 70 percent of Canadians call America their “closest friend,” The Associated Press reported. Eighty-seven percent of Canadian exports go to the States, and 83 percent of Canada’s imports come from the States. Sounds chummy.
And it has been since before Canada was a country. Except for one time…
“We burned down your White House in 1817,” Ashton says.
The Web site www.whitehousehistory.org gives a slightly different account of the event: Yes, the torchers came from the north, but they weren’t Canadians — they were British troops stationed in what is now Canada, and they burned the building in 1814 in the midst of the War of 1812.
Still, “We don’t like to talk about it,” Ashton says. “It upsets you.”
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