Strange Business Ideas, National Love And Hate

Imagine you walk into a store and collect $200.00 of merchandise in your basket. You walk up to the checkout, ready to pay for your goods. When you arrive, the cashier says to you, “May I see your receipt, please?”

“But I haven’t paid yet! I wanted to pay you now.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s not the way it works in this store.”

“You mean I don’t have to pay you?”

“Oh sir, of course you need to pay. But if you want these goods, you need to apply for a receipt first.”

“Ummm… ok. And how do I do that?”

“Well, you can go to our website, and fill in a form. Once you’ve submitted the form, we’ll send you a receipt in the mail. It should arrive in two weeks. After you’ve receieved the receipt, then you can pay. After you pay, then you can collect your goods.”

“But that seems ridiculous!”

“I’m sorry sir, but that’s the way it is, and that’s the way you’ve got to do things. This is our special way of collecting funds.” The cashier then yells out, “Next please!”

How often would you want to shop at such a place? I’ll bet you’d never do business with such a place ever again, if you could help it, right?

Well guess what! This is exactly what the Government of Canada does when you apply for Canadian Citizenship. Yes, believe it or not, you need to get an official receipt first, before you pay. You then take this receipt to a financial institution along with your payment, where the receipt gets stamped. Then you can send in your Citizenship application.

Years ago, I had been told that by virtue of the fact my mother was a Canadian born citizen, that although I was born outside of the country, I was a Canadian Citizen. I came to this country with my mom when I was three years old. When I was about 15, I wanted to apply for a Canadian passport for travel purposes, but was told I needed to provide a bunch of documentation that I didn’t have enough time to obtain in order to go on my trip.

Getting a U.K. passport was pretty simple though. I just needed to send in my old passport, along with a picture and an application. It only took three weeks.

But yes, I was a Canadian Citizen by virtue of my mother’s birth. Or so I was told and lead to believe. There was some special clause in some Federal Act which gave me citizenship, apparently.

When my father applied for citizenship when I was a teenager, he did not apply on behalf of my sister and I, as we were all advised the both of us were already citizens because of this special clause that granted citizenship to those born of a mother that was a citizen.

So recently, I’m told that apparently, this clause expires on August 14, 2004. In order for me to officially have Canadian Citizenship, I need to get my application in by that date. So, I’ve been busy looking for my birth certificate, getting my documents in order, locating my parents’ marriage certificate, proof of citizenship documents for my parents, etc.

Well, I’m ready a week ahead of time to put everything into a Fed Ex package to Ottawa. Except for one thing. I need to get an official receipt from Ottawa first, BEFORE I can pay the fee. This must accompany my application.

It takes two weeks to obtain this receipt.

This got me thinking. How come socialists are so keen on socialism, when the Government can’t provide services in any kind of efficient manner? To be required to obtain an official receipt BEFORE you pay is insane. And I’m pretty darn sure this is something new, as it was about a year ago that I helped someone find the information for citizenship application, and I could swear I saw something to the effect that payment had to be included with the application. There was nothing about applying for some official receipt before payment.

I suppose there MAY be some efficiency here for the Government to do things this way. But, isn’t the Government supposed to be serving citizens and residents of this country? In providing service, they simply seem to make anyone who wants or needs to do business with them, muddle through, wasting time, changing policies on a whim, and forcing individuals to do stupid idiotic things. Like obtaining receipts before you pay. How absurd is that?

My own libertarian ideas are that ‘citizenship’ is just something more that a government can use to take away or restrain your liberty. If you don’t have it, they can make you go places you don’t want to go.

But that means for me, it also has some utility value. I don’t want someone to tell me that I have to go and live in the United Kingdom because I don’t have the right papers.

In fact, with the recent introduction of the Maple Leaf card, apparently I am not even free to travel outside of the country, and hope to get back in unless I have carry around this new form of ID, or have a citizenship card. Yet this is where my four sons live, this is where I own a business, and where I have been a productive person, bringing money INTO the country as many of my clients live in the USA, and I add thousands each month back into my local economy.

I have no emotive attachment to Canada. I cannot stand up and say, “I love Canada.” There are however, parts of Canada, geographically speaking, I really enjoy. I loved visiting and living for a while in the badlands of Alberta. I enjoyed fishing near Mission, BC.

I hated the part of Montreal where the gas station attendant refused to help me when I was lost, but could not speak French. On the other hand, I really appreciated the gas station attendant across the road who could not speak English, but tried his best to help figure out where I was, and drew a map while in very broken English and sign language, we communicated with each other.

I’ve never been east of Montreal except when I was three years old, and arrived in Canada after a very long boat trip in 1966. Quebec City was the port we entered, according to my immigration documents, but alas, I don’t remember much about it. So, I have no idea if I like Canada, east of Montreal.

I do love the Orangeville area, where I live. I dislike the Toronto area and stay away from it as much as possible. I do really enjoy the rugged areas around Central Ontario, including Hastings and Lanark Counties.

As well, there are individuals throughout this country that I love. There are also individuals throughout this country that I find despicable. Many of them work for the Government.

So, citizenship for me has nothing to do with ‘loving Canada’ whatever that means. I really don’t know what people mean by that. I certainly despise the administration of Canada. But I’m willing to put up with it, the best way I can, and with trying to keep my own values, because there are people here in Canada that I value more highly than I value anything else. And dammit, I pay taxes!

So citizenship to me has more utility value than any emotive value. You won’t find me flying a Canadian Maple Leaf flag, because for one thing, I think it’s ugly. And I’m just not the ‘flag waving’ kind of guy. On the other hand, I loved it when the Canadian Hockey team won gold at the winter olympics. And I love the Toronto Maple Leafs.

If we absolutely had to wave a flag in Canada, I’d prefer the Red Ensign. I just like it better. I also like the Red Hand of Ulster flag as well. But I’m slow to be someone that identifies with symbols of any sort, be they flags, statues, or religious symbols.

All that as it may, I do find it absurd that I need to obtain an official receipt before I can pay for my citizen application, which will take 2 weeks to arrive, and only have one week to submit my application based on a clause in some Government regulation.

When I was 15, there was no deadline of August 14, 2004. And it is such things that I hate about Canada. But the people I love live within it’s geopolitical boundaries.

The idiotic and absurd socialism, combined with stupid regulations about receipts, which only do nothing more than take away from my productive time and the choices about how I spend my time are what I despise about Canada.

And I guess I have to be careful now as well, for as of August 14th, I won’t even be a Canadian citizen, and could be forcibly removed from everything I love and have built.

All because of a stupid idiotic thing about obtaining a receipt before I pay. It’s funny huh? Socialists want a piece of my economic life, but they want nothing to do with my thoughts. They want to control me and my time, through regulation and absurd time consuming practices, yet will take every penny and moment of time they can get from me – pennies and moments of time I can no longer give to those I love.

Update

For those who think this is not the truth, please feel free to visit the Government of Canada website, and this page in particular to see for yourself about this ludicrous system of payment. This page is hosted on the Canada Post website for some reason, but is linked from this application page at Canada’s Citizenship And Immigrationsite.Imagine you walk into a store and collect $200.00 of merchandise in your basket. You walk up to the checkout, ready to pay for your goods. When you arrive, the cashier says to you, “May I see your receipt, please?”

“But I haven’t paid yet! I wanted to pay you now.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s not the way it works in this store.”

“You mean I don’t have to pay you?”

“Oh sir, of course you need to pay. But if you want these goods, you need to apply for a receipt first.”

“Ummm… ok. And how do I do that?”

“Well, you can go to our website, and fill in a form. Once you’ve submitted the form, we’ll send you a receipt in the mail. It should arrive in two weeks. After you’ve receieved the receipt, then you can pay. After you pay, then you can collect your goods.”

“But that seems ridiculous!”

“I’m sorry sir, but that’s the way it is, and that’s the way you’ve got to do things. This is our special way of collecting funds.” The cashier then yells out, “Next please!”

How often would you want to shop at such a place? I’ll bet you’d never do business with such a place ever again, if you could help it, right?

Well guess what! This is exactly what the Government of Canada does when you apply for Canadian Citizenship. Yes, believe it or not, you need to get an official receipt first, before you pay. You then take this receipt to a financial institution along with your payment, where the receipt gets stamped. Then you can send in your Citizenship application.

Years ago, I had been told that by virtue of the fact my mother was a Canadian born citizen, that although I was born outside of the country, I was a Canadian Citizen. I came to this country with my mom when I was three years old. When I was about 15, I wanted to apply for a Canadian passport for travel purposes, but was told I needed to provide a bunch of documentation that I didn’t have enough time to obtain in order to go on my trip.

Getting a U.K. passport was pretty simple though. I just needed to send in my old passport, along with a picture and an application. It only took three weeks.

But yes, I was a Canadian Citizen by virtue of my mother’s birth. Or so I was told and lead to believe. There was some special clause in some Federal Act which gave me citizenship, apparently.

When my father applied for citizenship when I was a teenager, he did not apply on behalf of my sister and I, as we were all advised the both of us were already citizens because of this special clause that granted citizenship to those born of a mother that was a citizen.

So recently, I’m told that apparently, this clause expires on August 14, 2004. In order for me to officially have Canadian Citizenship, I need to get my application in by that date. So, I’ve been busy looking for my birth certificate, getting my documents in order, locating my parents’ marriage certificate, proof of citizenship documents for my parents, etc.

Well, I’m ready a week ahead of time to put everything into a Fed Ex package to Ottawa. Except for one thing. I need to get an official receipt from Ottawa first, BEFORE I can pay the fee. This must accompany my application.

It takes two weeks to obtain this receipt.

This got me thinking. How come socialists are so keen on socialism, when the Government can’t provide services in any kind of efficient manner? To be required to obtain an official receipt BEFORE you pay is insane. And I’m pretty darn sure this is something new, as it was about a year ago that I helped someone find the information for citizenship application, and I could swear I saw something to the effect that payment had to be included with the application. There was nothing about applying for some official receipt before payment.

I suppose there MAY be some efficiency here for the Government to do things this way. But, isn’t the Government supposed to be serving citizens and residents of this country? In providing service, they simply seem to make anyone who wants or needs to do business with them, muddle through, wasting time, changing policies on a whim, and forcing individuals to do stupid idiotic things. Like obtaining receipts before you pay. How absurd is that?

My own libertarian ideas are that ‘citizenship’ is just something more that a government can use to take away or restrain your liberty. If you don’t have it, they can make you go places you don’t want to go.

But that means for me, it also has some utility value. I don’t want someone to tell me that I have to go and live in the United Kingdom because I don’t have the right papers.

In fact, with the recent introduction of the Maple Leaf card, apparently I am not even free to travel outside of the country, and hope to get back in unless I have carry around this new form of ID, or have a citizenship card. Yet this is where my four sons live, this is where I own a business, and where I have been a productive person, bringing money INTO the country as many of my clients live in the USA, and I add thousands each month back into my local economy.

I have no emotive attachment to Canada. I cannot stand up and say, “I love Canada.” There are however, parts of Canada, geographically speaking, I really enjoy. I loved visiting and living for a while in the badlands of Alberta. I enjoyed fishing near Mission, BC.

I hated the part of Montreal where the gas station attendant refused to help me when I was lost, but could not speak French. On the other hand, I really appreciated the gas station attendant across the road who could not speak English, but tried his best to help figure out where I was, and drew a map while in very broken English and sign language, we communicated with each other.

I’ve never been east of Montreal except when I was three years old, and arrived in Canada after a very long boat trip in 1966. Quebec City was the port we entered, according to my immigration documents, but alas, I don’t remember much about it. So, I have no idea if I like Canada, east of Montreal.

I do love the Orangeville area, where I live. I dislike the Toronto area and stay away from it as much as possible. I do really enjoy the rugged areas around Central Ontario, including Hastings and Lanark Counties.

As well, there are individuals throughout this country that I love. There are also individuals throughout this country that I find despicable. Many of them work for the Government.

So, citizenship for me has nothing to do with ‘loving Canada’ whatever that means. I really don’t know what people mean by that. I certainly despise the administration of Canada. But I’m willing to put up with it, the best way I can, and with trying to keep my own values, because there are people here in Canada that I value more highly than I value anything else. And dammit, I pay taxes!

So citizenship to me has more utility value than any emotive value. You won’t find me flying a Canadian Maple Leaf flag, because for one thing, I think it’s ugly. And I’m just not the ‘flag waving’ kind of guy. On the other hand, I loved it when the Canadian Hockey team won gold at the winter olympics. And I love the Toronto Maple Leafs.

If we absolutely had to wave a flag in Canada, I’d prefer the Red Ensign. I just like it better. I also like the Red Hand of Ulster flag as well. But I’m slow to be someone that identifies with symbols of any sort, be they flags, statues, or religious symbols.

All that as it may, I do find it absurd that I need to obtain an official receipt before I can pay for my citizen application, which will take 2 weeks to arrive, and only have one week to submit my application based on a clause in some Government regulation.

When I was 15, there was no deadline of August 14, 2004. And it is such things that I hate about Canada. But the people I love live within it’s geopolitical boundaries.

The idiotic and absurd socialism, combined with stupid regulations about receipts, which only do nothing more than take away from my productive time and the choices about how I spend my time are what I despise about Canada.

And I guess I have to be careful now as well, for as of August 14th, I won’t even be a Canadian citizen, and could be forcibly removed from everything I love and have built.

All because of a stupid idiotic thing about obtaining a receipt before I pay. It’s funny huh? Socialists want a piece of my economic life, but they want nothing to do with my thoughts. They want to control me and my time, through regulation and absurd time consuming practices, yet will take every penny and moment of time they can get from me – pennies and moments of time I can no longer give to those I love.

Update

For those who think this is not the truth, please feel free to visit the Government of Canada website, and this page in particular to see for yourself about this ludicrous system of payment. This page is hosted on the Canada Post website for some reason, but is linked from this application page at Canada’s Citizenship And Immigrationsite.