ratso - they are using your name in vain again <s>
Refugees from Bush America prefer B.C.
Doug Ward
Vancouver Sun
Saturday, December 04, 2004
PORTLAND, Ore. -- "Go back to Canada, you traitor."
The angry anonymous message was left on the phone of Ralph Appoldt, a liberal Oregonian who plans to move to Canada because of the re-election of President George W. Bush.
"Good Riddance you NEO-RAT (i.e. Democrat) Loser," was another anonymous message aimed at Appoldt -- this one on a website after a news report surfaced about his desire to flee conservative Bush America for the land of the loonie, three-down football, Tim Hortons and the notwithstanding clause.
Appoldt, 51, and his wife Leianna, 49, are among those Americans who say they are so demoralized by the spectre of four more years of Bush that they want a Canadian address.
They're attracted to Canada because of its universal health care system, its opposition to the Iraq war and its liberal attitudes toward gay rights and drug laws.
They see little hope of the Democratic Party reversing the conservative trend in the U.S. And they're dismayed that a majority of Americans agreed with Bush's policies in the November vote.
"If the American people are good with everything that has happened here over the past four years, it's too much," Appoldt said.
He and his wife have retained Vancouver immigration lawyer Rudi Kischer of the Embarkation Law Group to help them gain permanent residence in Canada. They love Vancouver but are thinking of moving to Kelowna, where they have relatives and house prices are lower.
Ralph Appoldt is a regional sales manager for a company that manufactures power-assisted wheelchairs. His wife is a hospital nurse.
He was born in Winnipeg and spent the first six years of his life in Canada. He is hopeful he might be able to get dual citizenship.
About 5,900 Americans immigrated to Canada last year, said Nancy Bray, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada. She said it's too early to know whether those numbers will jump over the next few years because of a Bush blowback.
Kischer believes they will. He expects his normal client load of 20 to 30 American clients a year to more than double over the next 12 months.
Interest is so strong that Kischer is holding seminars on the Canadian immigration system over the next few days in Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
About 250 people have so far signed up for the $25-a-ticket sessions, with more than 100 set to attend the Seattle seminar scheduled for today.
"They're telling me that the Democrats tried so hard this time and lost that they don't see any change in the future," Kischer said. "And they can't take it anymore."
The Appoldts said their decision to move to Canada was not an easy one. They live in a comfortable split-level home valued at $275,000 in a Portland suburb. They own their home and are worried about moving into a more expensive housing market.
They also own property on the Oregon coast and enjoy hiking in the Columbia River Gorge area and cross-country skiing at nearby Mount Hood. Two of their four grown children live in California and the other two in Portland. They attend a liberal Lutheran church in Portland.
"We really like Portland, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. There's a lot going on culturally here and its a beautiful place," said Leianna Appoldt.
"And Portland is quite liberal. We feel supported in our political views here."
Leianna Appoldt is more ambivalent than her husband about moving to Canada. While their children, now in their 20s, are independent and have moved out of the family home, she is still wary about moving away from them.
Leianna Appoldt said she feels morally compromised, however, by living in a country whose policies -- especially the Iraq war -- she finds abhorrent. "I just don't like my tax dollars going to support what my government is doing."
Ralph Appoldt is also depressed by the success of initiatives calling for bans on gay marriage.
"It's okay to start an illegal war and kill tens of thousands of people, but God forbid you want to give people different from you equal rights."
Leianna Appoldt likes her job as a hospital nurse. She hopes to find a nursing job in Canada, but might put off a move if working conditions aren't as supportive as she finds them in Portland.
Kischer expects to pick up about 30 clients from the Seattle seminar alone.
"We're at the end of somebody's decision-making process. I don't try to sell Canada. Canada sells itself. It's more than a knee-jerk Alec Baldwin thing," said Kischer. Actor Baldwin famously said he would leave the U.S. in 2000 if Bush was elected. He remained in the U.S.
The Citizenship and Immigration Canada website experienced a post-election spike in interest from Americans. It received 261,000 hits from the U.S. in the two days following the election, compared to the 40,000 it would normally get in two days.
Kischer said backlogs at Citizenship and Immigration mean it typically takes Americans about two years to navigate their way through the bureaucratic process that results in permanent resident status.
Applicants must complete lengthy paperwork, detailing their family, work and financial history, and listing their places of residence throughout their adult life.
But the real reason for the two-year delay, Kischer said, is that Citizenship and Immigration Canada assigns each country quotas -- although they are called targets in bureaucratese -- and a backlog is deliberately created to control the flow of immigrants.
Andrew Beckerman, a 57-year-old architect living in Santa Fe, N.M., has also hired Kischer to help him immigrate.
"I'm going to be up there twice this winter nosing about," said Beckerman, who is keen to live in either Vancouver or Victoria.
"I only see things getting worse here. My country is moving toward fascism and I don't want to pay for it."
It's not as if Beckerman isn't connected to Santa Fe. He was named humanitarian of the year by the United Way of Santa Fe in 2003 for his volunteer activities, including helping in a local hospital, working with disabled children and co-chairing the Lesbian and Gay Funding Partnership.
"Friends here have urged me to stay and fight the good fight, but I don't feel that even what I'm doing can effect change here."
Beckerman said he's encouraged by the Canadian government's willingness to consider legalization of gay marriage. The architect said he has no interest in getting married, but "I feel that as a taxpayer, I should have the right to get married."
Beckerman is demoralized by the influence of the Christian right on American politics, the growing income inequality, and the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
"My country has reached a point where it is heading in the wrong direction. Your country seems to have reached a different point and is heading in the right direction."
Beckerman is also alarmed by the prospect of Bush appointing three to four new Supreme Court justices. "That would set up long-term obstacles to the kind of social change that I want to see."
Bippy McMaster, a 50-year-old school principal from northern California, moved to Nelson a few months ago.
She was angry over the policies of the first Bush administration, including what she called the underfunding of schools, and various cultural changes in American life. Bush's re-election reinforced her belief that moving north was the right decision.
"The November election was one of the most depressing days of my life. I was so surprised by the result. I couldn't believe that so many people thought the Bush government was on the right track," McMaster said.
"I know that the Canadian government isn't perfect. I know I didn't move to Utopia, but it's a gentler culture here -- certainly one that's more polite.
"I told my kids: 'You know, what you don't see here? People honking their horns. There's not an awful lot of road rage in Canada.' "
McMaster gained permanent residency here through the immigrant investor program, under which foreigners gain admission by investing in a business that will employ Canadians.
She and her husband, Lenny Kaplan, purchased a derelict church on Baker Street, and plan to turn it into an arts centre to be called Baker Street LIVE! The centre will feature live jazz. One son, Noah, is attending Grade 12 in Nelson while another, Sebastian, is enrolled at the University of B.C. as a first-year anthropology student.
McMaster said that although the Bush administration ran on a family-values platform, it was in fact the undermining of family life that prompted her to consider moving to Canada.
"The family system isn't working well in the States. Kids come to school with a lot of needs. In Nelson, kids aren't throwing tantrums in restaurants or libraries.
"And if they do, their moms take them outside and talk to them about why they shouldn't."
McMaster said many American families no longer share dinner together -- a symptom, she believes, of the decline in family life in the U.S.
"But I find in Canada, or in Nelson, at least, that everybody eats together. On Sunday the whole town shuts down and everybody is with their families."
The ascendancy of Bush's conservative agenda was the "icing on the cake," said McMaster, about her reasons for moving. "I'm not happy living in a country where Bush is president."
Lorraine Wright, a 45-year-old real estate developer from California, moved to Quadra Island recently. Her move north wasn't sparked specifically by Bush but was prompted by the two countries' divergent political values.
"If you come from the States, and you're against the death penalty and you're for gun control, universal health care and more diplomatic solutions to world problems, Canada is nirvana."
Wright spent summers in Canada while she was growing up. Her father was originally from Vancouver Island. Later, she bought a house in Whistler and spent ski vacations there.
"I never thought I would leave the U.S., but the more I was here, it was like this place was just more 'me.' "
Wright moved to Quadra Island, where she opened an island-based whale-watching and grizzly-bear-watching business. She also recently purchased the Heriot Bay Inn, which includes a marina and a pub.
Wright got her Canadian citizenship the day after Bush won re-election.
"The days when I got married, got my university degree and got my Canadian citizenship were the happiest days of my life.
"Don't get me wrong: 50 per cent of Americans reflect my values. But Bush's election just confirmed my choice, that this is the better place to be."
Then There's the Beer
A new website called CanadianAlternative.com is describing Canada as the "perfect alternative for conscientious, forward-thinking Americans."
Under the headline Cool Canada, the site lists five reasons for Americans to move north:
1. Canada has universal public health care.
2. Canada has no troops in Iraq.
3. Canada signed the Kyoto Protocol.
4. More than 50 per cent of Canada's provinces allow same-sex marriage.
5. The Canadian Senate recommends legalizing marijuana.
Ran with fact box "Then There's the Beer ", which has been appended to the end of the story.
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