curiousGeorge
Registered Users (C)
Since the Lebanon evacuation debacle in the summer of 2006, there have been discussions of Canada changing its citizenship laws to not allow for dual citizenship. This could mean that if you get Canadian citizenship you may have to renounce all other citizenships, and you leave Canada, then you may have to renounce your Canadian citizenship if you want to keep another citizenship instead.
The other options being discussed are to force Canadian citizens to pay Canadian taxes, even if they do not live in Canada, or to impose a fee upon Canadian citizens living abroad.
All these options would make Canadian citizenship less attractive for immigrants.
Canada realized that there are many people with Canadian citizenship, who also have a second or third citizenship, and they have chosen to live outside of Canada, using their alternate citizenship(s) as the ticket to live in another country, otherwise know as the Canadian Diaspora. Currently Canada would let such a person keep their Canadian citizenship, if they wish to live outside of Canada. Some of these areas are hot spots for violence. When a problem arises, these Canadians living abroad, who probably rarely ever come back to Canada, now take advantage of the Canadian government's generosity to evacuate them and get them out of harms way. The Lebanese/Canadians then proceeded to criticize the makeshift travel arrangements that were provided for the evacuation. This has caused an uproar in Canada, since it is the Canadian tax payers who ended up paying for the bill, and it was intended as an emergency evacuation, not a first class flight.
My opinion: $94 Million really isn't a lot of money for a country the size of Canada to spend on an exceptionally rare emergency evacuation of approx. 15,000 people like the one witnessed during the Lebanon violence.
Quite frankly, it is my opinion that almost every country paid for the evacuation of their citizens from Lebanon when the violence broke out. Countries like the United States probably paid 10 fold to get their citizens out, and we never heard a peep out of the American people about the related costs, or the sub-standard travel conditions one might see on a Navy ship, or an Air Force plane.
For that matter, how often does a situation like this occur? When was the last time Canada had to evacuate its citizens from a war torn country? I doubt it happens every year. Probably more like every 10 or 30 years. That’s why its called an emergency. Its not a charter cruise.
If the Canadian government wants to force folks to pay taxes even if they live abroad, then they need to sign tax treaties like the United States has with many countries to avoid double taxation. Otherwise it would be very greedy of the Canadian government to ask for those taxes, when they already pay taxes to the country of residence, especially if the only purpose is to fund emergency evacuations, which are not the norm.
If they want to force people to renounce all foreign citizenships to keep their Canadian citizenships, then they need to calculate how many people will decide to leave Canada, or how many will stop considering the Great White North as an emigration option in the first place. This could affect many businesses that are set up on the premise that one can have dual citizenship, especially American-Canadian citizenships.
Let's use this thread to focus on any developments or opinions on this issue.
Has anyone heard or read anything about this lately?
The other options being discussed are to force Canadian citizens to pay Canadian taxes, even if they do not live in Canada, or to impose a fee upon Canadian citizens living abroad.
All these options would make Canadian citizenship less attractive for immigrants.
Canada realized that there are many people with Canadian citizenship, who also have a second or third citizenship, and they have chosen to live outside of Canada, using their alternate citizenship(s) as the ticket to live in another country, otherwise know as the Canadian Diaspora. Currently Canada would let such a person keep their Canadian citizenship, if they wish to live outside of Canada. Some of these areas are hot spots for violence. When a problem arises, these Canadians living abroad, who probably rarely ever come back to Canada, now take advantage of the Canadian government's generosity to evacuate them and get them out of harms way. The Lebanese/Canadians then proceeded to criticize the makeshift travel arrangements that were provided for the evacuation. This has caused an uproar in Canada, since it is the Canadian tax payers who ended up paying for the bill, and it was intended as an emergency evacuation, not a first class flight.
My opinion: $94 Million really isn't a lot of money for a country the size of Canada to spend on an exceptionally rare emergency evacuation of approx. 15,000 people like the one witnessed during the Lebanon violence.
Quite frankly, it is my opinion that almost every country paid for the evacuation of their citizens from Lebanon when the violence broke out. Countries like the United States probably paid 10 fold to get their citizens out, and we never heard a peep out of the American people about the related costs, or the sub-standard travel conditions one might see on a Navy ship, or an Air Force plane.
For that matter, how often does a situation like this occur? When was the last time Canada had to evacuate its citizens from a war torn country? I doubt it happens every year. Probably more like every 10 or 30 years. That’s why its called an emergency. Its not a charter cruise.
If the Canadian government wants to force folks to pay taxes even if they live abroad, then they need to sign tax treaties like the United States has with many countries to avoid double taxation. Otherwise it would be very greedy of the Canadian government to ask for those taxes, when they already pay taxes to the country of residence, especially if the only purpose is to fund emergency evacuations, which are not the norm.
If they want to force people to renounce all foreign citizenships to keep their Canadian citizenships, then they need to calculate how many people will decide to leave Canada, or how many will stop considering the Great White North as an emigration option in the first place. This could affect many businesses that are set up on the premise that one can have dual citizenship, especially American-Canadian citizenships.
Let's use this thread to focus on any developments or opinions on this issue.
Has anyone heard or read anything about this lately?
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