congratulations to two more new canadians!

Major congratulations are in order! Our friends and fellow expatriates "Gito and Mrtew" are now Canadian citizens! Or soon will be: they've passed their test and are scheduled to take their oath.

These guys have been through a lot to be together. Because Gito is not a US citizen, they couldn't live together in the US, since their relationship is not legally recognized. They stayed together through deportation and then the long wait of immigration. In Canada, they were able to get married, buy an adorable house in Windsor, and make their life together. Gito is now attending university.

We finally met in person for the first time a few years ago, and I'm sure we'll all see each other again. The Red Sox in Detroit are a great excuse to visit friends in Windsor. You can see Gito's amazing and unusual photography at eggfactory and Arte is Foto.

Becoming Canadian means a lot to me, and our journey from that first thought - "Maybe we should move to Canada... Could we? Should we?" - to the day we took our citizenship oath has, in many ways, defined our lives. But no matter how much Allan and I wanted to leave the US, we could have continued living in New York City. Gito and Mrtew, like our friends Tom and Emilio, didn't have that option. Tom and Emilio lived in constant fear of deportation; Gito and Mrtew were forced apart. It doesn't have to be that way. One day, it won't be. Until then, how many lives will be ruined?

Most of our old moving-to-Canada crew - a bunch of US couples who applied to emigrate to Canada within a few years of each other and found each other online - are now either Canadian citizens or soon will be. As each of us gets citizenship, we all celebrate. I feel a real bond between us all. They're like my extended family, Canadian edition.

Read More

welcome to canada, welcome to the blogosphere

I haven't done a "welcome to Canada, welcome to the blogosphere" post in a long time.

Many years ago, this kind of post was a wmtc staple. Folks who had found this blog and each other during their emigration process would start blogs, and we'd all cheer each other on as the months and years of waiting dragged on . . . then finally we'd welcome each other to Canada. Some of those folks have become mainstays of the progressive blogosphere, but most have moved on.

I'm very pleased to introduce a new moving-to-Canada blog, written by friend-of-wmtc Northern Girl. NG and her family escaped the hell of Florida, first for the limbo of Ohio, and now, at last, for the freedom they hope to find in Guelph. That's one more family to help make Canada the country we want it to be. You can welcome Northern Girl and follow her family's progress at Moving to Ontario.

Another USian defector introduced himself to me recently. He and his family moved to Canada - also from the US south - around the same time Allan and I did. They're the second US ex-pats we've met with that coincidence of dates. Charles, who lives in New Brunswick, contacted me asking how he could help the war resisters campaign. He doesn't blog, but he's written an essay on why he moved to Canada. It may surprise you.

And finally, a friend and comrade of mine has started an excellent new progressive blog: "your heart's on the left", musings on health and politics. I love the title, especially as the blogger is a physician.

Dr. J is the first socialist doctor I'd ever met, the first doctor I've known who doesn't introduce himself with his title. He's a committed activist and an excellent writer, and this is his first foray into blogging. I'm glad to tune in from the beginning, so I can read everything he posts. Check it out.

One of the items on my to-do list this past summer - one of the few things I didn't accomplish - was to re-design the look of wmtc. I'm already looking ahead to my winter break for the renovation. I'm totally sick of looking at this blog in its current form. I'm thinking of going stripped-down, minimalist. So one day I'll surprise you.

Read More

quiet? invisible? as if: american immigrants to canada get noticed

We've been discovered! Globe and Mail editorial.

The quiet Americans who are Canada’s invisible immigrants

Research into the least studied immigrant group shows that many come in pursuit of ideals

Canada takes pride in being a country of immigrants. Scholars devote much time to researching the social and economic outcomes of newcomers, most of whom hail from visible-minority communities. It is fitting, then, that someone has delved into Canada’s fourth-largest immigration source: Americans.

These invisible immigrants – there are one million, more than at any time since the Vietnam War – are a unique group. According to a leading American geographer, they come to Canada not for economic opportunities, but for the country’s set of values.

Of course, every immigrant’s motivations are intensely personal. However, extensive research by Susan Hardwick, a professor at the University of Oregon, shows that the over-arching inspiration for moving north of the border is an idealistic one.

Americans are attracted by their view of Canada’s more liberal culture. That includes support for a universal public health-care system, positive attitudes toward gays and lesbians, gun control laws and multiculturalism.

In British Columbia, for example, Prof. Hardwick found that most recent arrivals from the U.S. reported their primary reason for leaving was the idea that Canada is a safe refuge for liberal thinkers and idealists.

There are also a growing number of what she calls “midlife mavericks,” who are seeking new lives in what they see as the promised land.

The trend, it seems, is enduring. Reciprocal migration means Canadians need not worry about the brain drain south.

Prof. Hardwick attributes the spike in American immigration, in part, to dissatisfaction with the conservative policies of former president George W. Bush’s years in office.

Now that President Barack Obama, a Democrat, is in the White House, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper leads a Conservative minority government, will liberal Americans sour on Canada? Early research results show that American immigrants are not inclined to move back, especially in light of Canada’s stronger economy.

As well, given Tea Party activism, anti-immigration policies in states such as Arizona, and popularity of commentators such as Glenn Beck, liberal Americans remain unsettled by U.S. political culture.

American-Canadians are enthusiastic Canadians. Even those who retain dual citizenship embrace their new identity. Two-thirds of American immigrants have a “very strong” sense of belonging to Canada, according to the Canadian Ethnic Diversity Study. For many, Canada is the “America idealized” in the post-9/11 world, says Prof. Hardwick.

American-Canadians also earn higher salaries and are more educated than other immigrant groups in Canada.

Canadians should embrace these newcomers, and be careful not to tar them as overly individualistic, flag-waving or materialistic – stereotypical traits often, wrongly, associated with Americans.

The presence of American immigrants is doing as much to shape Canada as the influence of newcomers from China, South Asia and the Philippines.

Canadians should resist the urge to repeat negative clichés about the U.S., and view Americans as among the most buoyant new Canadians.

Read More

five years ago today, we move to canada

The fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is also the fifth anniversary of the day we moved to Canada.

It's a poignant anniversary, as two members of that family are gone now.

Cody was in a den of boxes at the far back of the World Fullest Mini Van™. She had no grey fur yet!

Buster was in the front, between us, touching me in some way for the entire trip. We had a cooler full of special food and medication for him.

So much has changed since then. Allan often says that his day-to-day life has changed little since moving to Canada, but I feel that mine has changed drastically. Suburban life, our friends here, the war resisters campaign, grad school - all new. I'm not writing professionally; I'm looking towards a new career.

Five years doesn't seem that long, but it's a lifetime of sorts.

Read More