Reasons to leave the U.S. - U.S. Customs seized over 60,000 Kinder Eggs last year

The deadly Kinder Eggs!

OK - I couldn't resist this story in today's Star from the AP...

SEATTLE—On a recent visit to Vancouver, two Seattle men picked up some Kinder Eggs to share with family and friends back home.

But they ended up spending more than two hours in a detention centre at the border after U.S. border agents found the “illegal candy” in their car.

It turns out the eggs with the little toy inside are illegal in the United States because young children could choke on the plastic toys.

Importing the eggs can lead to a potentially hefty fine, but Brandon Loo and Christopher Sweeney eventually got off with a warning.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman declined to comment about the case last night.

The agency says it seized more than 60-thousand Kinder Eggs last year.

Healthcare oberservations

I've had my OHIP coverage for almost 9-months now, and thank God for it. I've been able to get a physical,  tests for a stomach ailment, and recently I was in a bicycle accident that I needed to be checked out for injury from. In the States, all of these care services would've meant cash out of pocket, and I would have had to decide whether I could afford to have them tended to by professionals, or trust WebMD with my health.

I've noticed through these events some differences in how doctors in Canada deliver health services. Mind you, this may just be with MY doctor, but I suspect core differences in how doctors are compensated may be at the root of it. What I've noticed is that if I don't bring an issue up specifically with the doctor, he's generally not going to inquire further.

So when I had my accident, I went in and he asked where it hurt, and I said my wrist, and he looked at it, I told him the rest just felt like pulled muscles (from head to toe), and he was willing to accept this. He didn't start poking and prodding, "how does this feel? Any pain here?" the sort of thing I'm used to in the U.S. - where they LOOK for problems to treat.

My theory is: they LOOK in the U.S. because it's an opportunity for the doctor to bill more time, or create more work for, let's say, the physical therapy department. Here, the province is footing most of the bill, family doctors have a lot of patients to see; there's not a profit motive for further inquiry.

I'm learning I need to be my own biggest advocate for my health in Canada. I go in with a list of questions to be sure I ask the doctor to cover everything I'm concerned about.

In the old world, too many useless questions and tests, procedures and expenses. In Canada, I need to be sure I'm getting all the care I need for any condition.

UPDATE - MORE INFO:
My love had to speak with her doctor about something the other day, so she called the office. The doctor wouldn't speak to her, but briefly answered questions through his assistant while she could tell he was standing right by her. Why wouldn't he just get on the phone and answer himself? Apparently, he only gets paid by the Province if he sees her in the office, in person. So they kept trying to schedule an appointment three weeks away (the first opening) for a question she needed answered now. So its not only the U.S. system that causes healthcare to be delivered in some backward ways. 

Canada Immigration News - Canada Still Open For Immigration

Many Canadian immigration programs remain open, despite the Canadian government’s announcement that it will be taking a ‘temporary pause’ in accepting Federal Skilled Worker applications. In this article, CIC News will briefly explore current open programs, as well as the future of the Federal Skilled Worker Program.

Read the article here

The Globe and Mail - Immigration Minister puts brakes on popular skilled labour programs until 2013

Unbelievable. on June 28, the Harper government, dealt a blow by the courts when it was told it couldn't just drop 280,000 skilled worker immigration applicants from its roles has now put a complete halt to the program for anyone who doesn't have pre-arranged employment. The moratorium is to be in place until 2013, but who's to say the majority Tory government wont just extend it at that time.

Kenney was quick to say after his speech that the move will not mean a drop in the number of immigrants coming to Canada.


How can he say that? My money would be on because he intends to fill the gap with Temporary Foreign Workers, who's numbers have skyrocketed to 182,276 individuals compared to 156,077 individuals who immigrated across all economic class categories in 2011. In 2011 the Skilled Worker program only approved 36,770 people for entry to the country (with additional family members numbering 51,991). At that rate, a qualified backlog of current applicants would take over seven more years to clear.

In my opinion, the Harper government has no intention of offering a broad-based Skilled Worker program in the future. The re-tooled program in January will be one that is almost exclusively employer-driven. This narrow focus won't bring the best and brightest to Canada - it will bring in widgets that fill employment gaps. It will also open the doors to abuse, with the sale of immigration to workers willing to pay unscrupulous employers for the elusive "offer of employment".

Read the entire article here 

4th of July in Canada

My first Independence Day in Canada. I have a U.S. flag flying in the condo window for the construction workers on the high rise across the street to see. Later today, my Love and I will have a bar-b-que of steak and veggies in the high heat of early summer. But this is just another Wednesday for Canadians, and I'm working as usual. I had my long weekend already, for Canada Day (July 1). If I were in the U.S. my brother and I would be going to see friends and fireworks later on, and I do miss my brother a lot, but we had years to prepare for my leaving the states, and both our lives are going happily on. I feel free from heavy handed government, from useless politicians, from a violent police force in Seattle, from taxes that only line the pockets of the wealthy. I am proud to be an American, but I don't feel America is the "land of the free" anymore. Here in Canada, I feel free.

canadafaq.ca - immigration infographic

Immigrating to Canada by http://www.canadafaq.ca/.

Now that's hot!

There's a chance that the high temperature today with the humidex value included, could reach 42C - that's nearly 108F. There has also been an extreme heat and smog alert issued for City of Toronto. These are temperatures associated with mid-summer. Thank goodness for air conditioning! 

Eyes open

Summer hasn't quite begun here in Toronto, but some dog-days are coming. Humidex values in the next few days are going to be in the 40's, and that's some dangerous levels of heat. While I didn't get the Canadian winter I was expecting this year, clearly the summer plans to show up - ahead of schedule actually.

Toronto is beautiful right now. I look out over the city from my home and amid the construction cranes and scaffolding, trees are full and green and fountains are bubbling. Young women walk briskly, no longer constricted by the weight of parkas and snow boots; replaced instead by chiffons and skirts and mysterious bug-eyed sunglasses. The Bay Street hedge fund boys try not to sweat too much in their prerequisite suits, on their way to master the universe. The haze over Lake Ontario leaves a ragged blur on the horizon more like a low mountain range than a great lake.

These sights and sounds and weather are not all new to me, save in that they are now a daily part of my life, not something I visit and leave for something more familiar. Back in Seattle, the report is of a rainy springtime that has yet to really end. I'm used to that. I'm sure in a few years I wont notice this much either - but I hope I always do - that I don't become immune to my new home.

As an immigrant, your eyes tend to be open a little wider to the world around you. I don't think that's a bad thing. 

The Star - Ottawa loses legal battle over immigration backlog

Ottawa has suffered a major setback in eliminating its immigration backlog after the federal court ruled the government is obliged to process all applications it accepted into the system. 

About 900 applicants under the federal skilled workers’ program sued Immigration Minister Jason Kenney for violating the pledge to assess and finalize decisions in a timely fashion. 

 They asked the court to order the immigration department to process their applications within a reasonable time frame. 

 In a decision released Thursday, Justice Donald Rennie rejected the minister’s argument that the delay is justified because he has the authority to make policies.
Read the rest of the article here

“If the House cannot hold the government of the day to account, then why have the House at all?’’

Last year, former speaker Peter Milliken ruled the Conservatives had withheld information on the costs of its crime bill and F-35 fighter jets, a finding that ultimately led to the government being found in contempt.

In the ensuing election Canadians collectively shrugged and handed Stephen Harper his majority.

But it has become a Conservative pattern and in this case there is no discernible reason why the information would not be released, leaving, as Cullen puts it, MPs to vote “blindly” on the bill.

The information was requested by the independent parliamentary budget officer, Kevin Page. He quite logically believed he had an obligation to report to parliamentarians which departments will be affected by the $5.2 billion in budget cuts, and what services could be affected.

He was told to go away.

The government has never said it does not have the information, but instead cited collective bargaining agreements that prevent it from providing the data until all the employees were notified.

But the unions told the government to go ahead, they welcomed the release of the information.

“If the House cannot hold the government of the day to account, then why have the House at all?’’ Cullen asked.

Read the article by Tim Harper at the Star online