11779 replies to this topic

[SimonH]

why has she not applied to become canadian?  keeping options open?  taking advantage of other benefits of being whatever nationality she is?
 
my issue is this.  if you want to vote become canadian.  show your commitment and we'll give you the benefit.

I too am a PR, I would love to apply for citizenship however as we travel outside Canada for 6 months a year I never achieve the number of days needed.

[Nparker]

Proof that not all the crazy in municipal politics has ended up at Victoria City Hall.

A Quebec municipal councillor who was already under fire for denying the existence of Islamophobia is drawing new scrutiny for recent comments questioning whether the Earth is round. Nathalie Lemieux of Gatineau...suggested there is a conspiracy to eliminate evidence that the Earth is flat. She asked who decided the Earth was round and why should that be believed...

https://www.vicnews....earth-is-round/

Of course this kind of crazy probably doesn't cost the Gatineau taxpayers the way ours does.

[Mike K.]

I guess any story about a wacky Canadian politician not from the CoV is a relief for Vic News...

[Kapten Kapsell]

Unfortunately the US doesn't allow for dual citizenship like a lot if countries do.

Thus if you paid into Social Security for x number of years, you lose that by becoming full on Canadian.

So, like if you started working at 16, left the US and then became a Canadian citizen, you don't get those years in your CPP calculation for working x number of years. x number of years calculates you CPP benefit payable. If you stay a PR, you can still collect that Social Security as well as the CPP that you are eligible for.

As well to denounce your US citizenship starts at $6K.

 

The US *does* allow for dual citizenship; I know because I am a dual citizen of both countries.  This has been true since the 1980s when the US courts ruled against the prohibition on dual citizenship.   I immigrated to Canada in the mid-2000s and became a naturalized Canadian citizen some years later whilst also retaining my US citizenship.

 

I have no problem with voting rights being restricted to Canadian citizens; personally, I was excited to become a citizen Canada *in part* for the privilege of voting in local, provincial, and federal elections.

[jonny]

My wife too is a dual citizen of the US and Canada and it says right in her US passport that all she has to do to renounce her US citizenship is work for a foreign government.

Edited by jonny, 05 February 2019 - 07:45 PM.

[Nparker]

My wife too is a dual citizen of the US and Canada and it says right in her US passport that all she has to do to denounce her US citizenship is work for a foreign government.

So has she given any thought to working in the Trump administration then?

[Victoria Watcher]

My wife too is a dual citizen of the US and Canada and it says right in her US passport that all she has to do to denounce her US citizenship is work for a foreign government.

 

renounce people. renounce. not denounce. denouncing is optional and free.

[rmpeers]

I think the goal is to broaden the base of voters who don’t pay municipal taxes directly. If you are not paying taxes then you are less concerned about what council is spending.

I'm sure the motivation is to ensure we continue to have the same calibre of, um, leadership we currently have for many years to come. A way to help the Together Isittoria slate achieve total domination.

[Nparker]

I'm sure the motivation is...A way to help the Together Isittoria slate achieve total domination.

I would say that is precisely the reason. Comrade Ben says or does nothing that isn't entirely self-serving and/or pandering to his base.

[jonny]

renounce people. renounce. not denounce. denouncing is optional and free.

Damn autocorrect. I'm sure the grammar police never run across that problem.

[AllseeingEye]

Sound opinion piece from Andrew Coyne on the subject:

 

https://nationalpost...-why-stop-there

 

I would add in this (local) instance another completely non-altruistic reason for Isitt to champion this issue is, as has been mentioned on VV by many others, name recognition particularly when it comes time for a municipal election: as mayor Lisa Helps will obviously garner the lion's share of press and media coverage.

 

However by semi-routinely popping his head up and coming up an original idea or "plan" or pubic comment - ahem, the poinsettia incident et al - or supporting an issue already raised by others (and remember per the article Andrew Weaver has previously supported this idea of a lowered voting age), and which is guaranteed to get air time, ol' Ben ensures his name stays in the public consciousness - even if the idea is whacked. Smart politics. Too bad fixing the potholes and other unexciting but critical day to day stuff that he should be focused on per his job description, tend to fall by the wayside.

 

But then unlike suing Big Oil, or denouncing Christian religious beliefs or, for that matter, Capitalism - they don't tend get his name in the paper or the 6 o'clock news do they...?

[Nparker]

If I lived somewhere else I might find the idea of there being a Marxist media whore on Victoria city council laughable. To quote our city's namesake* "we are not amused". 

 

* until our dear comrade reignites his Camosack campaign of course

[Matt R.]

My wife too is a dual citizen of the US and Canada and it says right in her US passport that all she has to do to renounce her US citizenship is work for a foreign government.

I learned something new today. Thank you.

Matt.

[sdwright.vic]

Yet I went to a seminar held by a law firm here in Victoria about renouncing, and this is the info I was told. The laws changed again in the 2010's somewhere.

I work for a "foreign" government, trust me that is not enough. The lawyer handed me his card and said in my position it was not worth what it would cost. But if I won the lottery, to give home a call.

But head all off you base you x number of years ago experiences on today's law.

[sdwright.vic]

it’s free to denounce.

Under the new laws denouncing doesnt get you out of tax laws

[Victoria Watcher]

I work for a "foreign" government, trust me that is not enough

But head all off you base you x number of years ago experiences on today's law.

do you also speak a foreign language?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 February 2019 - 07:46 AM.

[sdwright.vic]

Really? You job today is autocorrect police?

If your serious, no I only speak English.

[Mike K.]

I think VW and the rest of us are confused by this sentence:

 

But head all off you base you x number of years ago experiences on today's law.

[spanky123]

Sound opinion piece from Andrew Coyne on the subject:

 

 

We can debate the merits of allowing non-citizens to vote, the benefits of PR, or the age at which someone is aware enough to vote but the underlying issue here is that those proposing the changes don't care about that. It is political gerrymandering no more no less and those making the proposals are the very ones who claim to be above it.

[Rob Randall]

^You can call it social gerrymandering but really it's been a consistent path towards broadening the pool of people who can participate in a democracy. At first it was only wealthy male landowners and now here we are. A thousand year experiment and counting. Who are we to draw a line and say "no more"? Who gets to make that call and why?