OH CANADA

Posted on March 17, 2003 by Dave Pollard
maple leaf Hurrah! Our Prime Minister Jean Chretien has announced that, since the UN and the Security Council do not support a war on Iraq, Canada will not participate in the war in any way. The old geezer keeps on surprising and delighting. Last fall he signed the Kyoto Accord, last January he introduced comprehensive campaign finance reform, last month he announced plans to decriminalize marijuana possession, and now he’s rebuffed massive lobbying and threats from the Bush war machine and voted for peace.<br>

I can hear the response in Congress already. Get ready for Freedom Dry ginger ale, freedom bacon, repeal of NAFTA and boycotts of NHL hockey. Alas, it will also mean even more high-handed, excruciating and arbitrary treatment of Canadians trying to enter the U.S.  Last week I was sent back to the beginning of the hour-long INS lineup at the airport for having the gall to fill in the form in pencil (there are no instructions anywhere saying it must be completed in ink), with a lecture that “it is important that you take security measures seriously; after all this is an official U.S. government document.”  Good thing I wasn’t wearing my Impeach Bush button…

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3 Responses to OH CANADA

  1. Andrew Bayer says:
    March 18, 2003 at 07:16

    …do you guys take defectors from the US? ‘cos I far prefer your head of state to ours…

  2. Dave Pollard says:
    March 18, 2003 at 18:24

    Andrew, I thought you were dreaming of China?During Vietnam, we got thousands of Americans, and I suspect that despite the lack of a draft, there will be some that will move here as a result of all this. Generally about 90% go home when things return to normal (they will, won’t they, eventually?), but those that remain are a fascinating and important part of the Canadian mosaic. My ancestors were part of the first wave, in the late 1700’s, called United Empire Loyalists; there are still hundreds of Pollards in Billerica MA, the descendants of those that stayed behind.Of greater concern is the flood of illegal immigrants into Canada now, as Big Brother steps up sweeps of illegals, expels most, and sends some with the ‘wrong’ ancestry to the Gulag in Guantanamo.

  3. Charly Z says:
    March 20, 2003 at 08:06

    I’d extend you an invitation to join me if/when I go back to Mexico, Andrew (nice weather, nicer señoritas), but I guess there’s the issue of language to consider.

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