The Cost of Being Canadian
August 1st, 2006 | by MadHacktress |Non-resident Canadians, or Canadians with dual citizenship who live outside of the country, are among the largest in the number of refugees fleeing war-torn Lebanon.
This morning, while waiting for the no-show Michael Ignatieff to sign in on CFAX, the commentator was speaking about non-resident Canadians and the burden they pose when things like the shelling of Lebanon take place. He posed an interesting idea about charging non-resident Canadians, who don’t pay taxes, an annual fee for Canadian citizenship.
The rationale behind this is that in times like this these Canadians look to our government to come to their aid. Some of them don’t regularly pay taxes, some of them haven’t paid taxes in years, yet the government shells out thousands of dollars to bring them to Canadian soil.
Now, I don’t begrudge people the opportunity to get out of a war-torn region of the world - no civilian who wants out should be left stranded there: Canadian, Australian or Lebanese. However, the taxpayers of this country have burden enough paying for basic services for the people of this country. Dual citizenship or non-resident citizenship should be a luxury.
If you want the protections afforded to Canadians you should live within its borders, or pay a fee.
Entry Filed under: General, Pure Opinion
Would this include Jewish Canadians as well?
Yes. This is not about picking the nations in which Canadians can have dual citizenship.
What about the non-Canadians who *do* pay taxes while living in Canada? They’re not getting the benefit of Government support, but they pay the same as you do. Non-residents pay even more tax here.
It all evens out.
That is a very interesting point. I like the idea.. but frankly I don’t think it goes far enough. Is someone wants to maintain dual citizenship then I think they should be required to live in Canada for a certain amount of time each year. Of course their would have to be exceptions, and in those cases then they can pay a fee to maintain their citizenship without residence. Anyone who does not pay the fee or live in Canada for a set time per year will have their Canadian passport revoked.
maybe a bit harsh… but just wait until I am in charge!! wahahahha!!
-T-
Let me know when you’re ready to seize control. I want to be ready for the new world order.
As for my position in the new society… I think we can come up with a special arrangement.
ummmm just a point canadians that live outside of canada do pay taxes to the host country and to canada. So if you are going to make everyone pay for being Canadian which i see no problem with what about say natives? they are canadian as well but get a special status of being tax free and what constitues paying your fair share if some one was to be in the military for canada for five years being sent to afghanistan should they get a reprive on taxes or even if they were another nationailty would they get a better chance of passing the immigration test and cheaper rates for getting into the country?