moving out of Canada, lots of stuff for sale

[jacquesm]

I know that it's kind of cynical, but after now 5 years in total and three years of waiting for a permanent resident status my wife and I have finally given up on waiting for the Canadian government to make up their minds. Our son will be 12 next year, which is the last chance he will have to connect to high school in Europe (which in many countries there begins at age 12), so we have decided to move back there while we still have time to bring his education up to European standards for that age.

This is quite a heavy decision, we've got our lives invested in Canada and it will take a lot of doing to move us, our dogs and a small portion of our posessions back to Europe.

One mans misery is another mans good luck though, and I have for sale a whole pile of RE related stuff, tools and so on, you probably all know from the various pictures in my diary what I've got laying around here.

I have 4-8 weeks of getting all this done, I won't be in a position to drop stuff off (though I may go and visit Tom, RonB and the Dans with any leftovers if there is time to do that), but if you're interested in any of the following (maybe this should go under classifieds, but the 'Canadian bit' is more of a rant then please let me know and make an offer, there is no way I can take this stuff with me. I'm on St. Josephs Island, Canada, so most people nearby in Michigan or thereabouts or in Ontario would probably be best positioned to take advantage of this.

Another option would be to use Ebay, but I'm not too hot on that, have used it once and didn't like it (I know some of you make a living there, it's just preference).

I have for sale:

(prices in Canadian dollars)

Meuser lathe (7' between centers and 22" swing with the gap bed removed)+tooling+accessories+toolcart $5000, Excello turret milling machine with lots of tooling, clamping kit, vice and indexer $5000, ford 9n 1942 tractor in extremely good state with a backblade $3500, John Deere 310 backhoe pretty rough but it works $7500 and a Kubota 4950 DT 55HP four wheel drive tractor $10,000, a ton of RE related gear, including two motor conversions (one 'Zubbly' machine I bought for $1500 and other than a few tests I didn't get around to do much more to it) and the 'gray' machine from the diaries. South Bend small precision lathe with lots of tooling $1500. A small fortune in hand tools and various smaller items (you probably would have to be here to take a look at what we have). A 240 V 3/4" capable thermal dynamics plasma cutter $3500, a plama/woodworking CNC table (without software, you'd have to

hook up a pc and such to the stepper drivers to make it work, that part does

not go with it because it is very experimental in nature) $3000 (the drivetrain

alone is worth a multiple of that), this machine will need some work but it

is an absolutely amazing tool to have and use, again see my diary for pictures.

Either this stuff is brand new or old and restored to good state and in perfect

working condition.

Also, but that's another story altogether I have for sale a 98 acre farm with a 2400 sq ft house with attached 2400 sq feet garage & workshop, completely off the grid. Reasonable offers will be considered.

If anybody is seriously interested let me know and we will see if we can meet up and make some deal, also if you are seriously interested in any of this stuff then I'll shoot detailed pictures but if you are wondering what any of the above stuff is then you probably should not buy it

I can not tell you guys how much it pains me to have to shut down this project, but there really is not a whole lot of choice for us, we can not continue to live in uncertainty for ever.

All the rules have changed and it has caused us to fall in between so many cracks that besides all kinds of delays the demands that are made of us have gotten so extreme (police clearances from countries where we haven't lived for years, paperwork dating back to '96 and stuff like that) that I can not see how this will end in a good way, in spite of local and provincial officials doing everything they can to make it work. The Federal government has the final say in all this and they seem to have been out to lunch the last 3 years. Which is kind of ironic because at the very same time they are scouting in Europe to find companies that are willing to move here at their expense in order to create jobs (which we were already doing quite a bit, employing between 5 and 10 people depending on the time of year).

This farm, the people around us and the projects that we were doing are a lifes dream come true, and unfortunately as all dreams do they come to an end.

We are still researching a remote possibility of moving to the US with the

whole kaboodle, but it looks like the chances of doing that in an orderly fashion are very slim indeed, so for now I have resigned myself to shutting things down.

I'm still planning one farewell trip to The Dans, RonB and Tomw and whoever else is on that route.

[walsdos]

Hello Jaques,

Really sorry to hear of your impending departure, a sad loss for the country.It seems the bureaucrats can't see a good thing when it hits them in the face.

  Have you considered having your son move in with relatives in E.U. to finish his schooling? Itis something we discussed insofar as post secondary ed was concerned for our kids but the cost was too much for us and Guelph seems like a good alternative at a little less money. It is,I know a personal choice and had friends return to England so they could be with their duaghters while at uni..

Anyhow,good luck and hope everything works out for the best.

[jacquesm]

Having a kid is a pretty serious decision and we are pretty strong when it comes to doing stuff, all of us or none of us, he goes where we go. Same with the dogs, we're all family here.

We have looked at ways to get around all this but I don't really see how we can get to have our cake and eat it too, short of doing things that are illegal and I don't swing that way. It either happens above board and by the rules or not at all. I can't see myself taking responsibility for cutting off the possibility for the little guy to finish his schooling in a good way and to be with his family (after all he did not ask to be brought in to this world) without us sacrificing our project here. That's a strain on all of us anyway (any kind of moving is, and an international move doubly so), but at least we are no longer being toyed with, which is really what it starts to feel like.

the government here has the gall to suggest that we then should have waited outside of Canada, but the truth of the matter is that we long ago (1999) had a business interest in Canada, and that we only decided to move here when the center of gravity of our lives had shifted here. At that time I was on a working permit for two years, but that does not count at all towards your status here. At the same time they have an incentive program to lure succesful European entrepreneurs here with cash prizes, tax incentives and relocating bonuses. It's just crazy.  

So, it's ok to employ tons of people and pay your taxes but after 5 years of that you do not have any rights, your application gets delayed more and more without any valid and visible reason other than arbitrary rule changes, and some smartass border guard felt that it was a must to point out to me that he did not have to let me enter Canada at all because in my work permit it states that I do not have a'right to re-entry'. It's my life at the other side of that desk, excuse me ?

The amount of bs that we have put up with over the years would fill books, and maybe one day I'll sit down to write that book, it would make for interesting reading.

We're probably strange characters in that we left behind country, family and friends in order to try to build up a new life here, but that part of it seemed to go pretty easy. It's the bureaucracy that I just can't stomach, and in that respect this is one of the worst places in the world that I have had any experience with so far, contrary to Canada's public image abroad.

We offset the Canadian trade imbalance by a tidy sum each year and I think we have a very positve influence on our environment here but it seems that those criteria do not count at all.

And that counts in all kinds of fields, for instance if you want health insurance you have to be a resident first, if you want to run a business you have to be a resident (or you will not get any banking short of a checking account) and so on.

We've been third rate citizens for the last 5 years now (1st rate: born & bred Canadians, 2nd rate: landed immigrants, 3rd rate people like us).

Also they would impose a whole pile of conditions on us that would imply that we could still lose the whole deal if at some point in time they decide that we have not complied with any of the 'rules', subject to change without notice.

[nothing to lose]

Well I am very sad to hear this, and wish you the best of luck. I am sure we will not be losing you here at the board though, right?

Once you are settled into your new home will you be engaging into the same interests and works there as you do now. Still participating here through the world wide web and such??

 I will be making my first visit to Canada myself (US citizen) and am planning to buy land at some point myself. Preferably very rural northen area though. I wonder if I also will at some point have the same type problems? Though I will not have children to worry about at that time, just myself. Even if I buy and build, I would not be moving permant for 3-4years when my daughter is 18 or so and starts her own adult life or collage...

Best of luck to you, I wish you well in both sales and the move, new life etc...

You have many things I would be interested in, unfortunately the timming is bad for me, no money and no land to move things to, or I would take a look myself.

I don't have the time to sell off cars to raise the money either being your time frame and my planned trip for the summer conflict or I would try to help us both out here.

One side note, don't know if it's any good though. If you will want need these items at your new home, have you looked into shipping them over? I never did anything like that, but a freind that dealt in very expensive cars years ago used to ship containers to various countries. The shipping he said he paid was not nearly as bad as I had expected, though not really cheap either. Course if you run into duties/import fees etc.. it could kill the deal also. He was shipping large antique and exotic cars, several tons each. Back about 8-10yrs ago.

Depending on costs of equipment there, perhaps shipping would be better than selling here and buying more again over there? I geuss the sales price now and purchase price later and currancy exchange all need to be considered as well. Perhaps selling now and re-buying later could end as a somewhat profitable deal as well for some items??

Just trying to help a bit, often some things get over looked as posibilities, and I am sure this is a stressfull time that could add to overlooking some options.

[pyrocasto]

I'm very sorry to see you having to go, but I guess you'll make the best of it. I hope we'll see you on here, when you get to the other side.

As for buying, what other RE stuff do you have. I have lots of "needs"(wants) for smaller items, to help me out with bigger items. :-)

Best of luck,

[richhagen]

I am so sorry to hear of your situation.  I wish there was something I could do to help.  It will be a big loss to my neighbors to the north.  Please keep us posted on your whereabouts if and when you move.  You have contributed greatly to the community here and I hope that you will continue to participate.  Rich Hagen

[JW]

I moved out to phoenix back in 1996.

 They had acrage land 60 or so miles from the metropolas at like 2000 bux for like 8 acre parcles. No utilites, but "some" road, to the parcels if I remember correctly. I have moved back to miami fl since then. A nice thing about living close to the metropolis is that you can gain some income. Actually Jacquesm You Are a smart guy with some obivious skills, capitalize on that, and you can do well. Sign back on when you can...

JW

[thumbnail101]

well sorry to hear about this ass backwards gov..here..

  I lived in the soo, for 23 years, now im down in windsor

but bin to the island many time...parents still live in the

soo, out by the airport., but they have a cottage in thessolon,

on big basswood lake, Are you the guy, that was selling solar on the island??

 

[drdongle]

Good luck J.I had no idea that Canada had fallen prey to the same sort of convoluted immigration insanity that the US has in recent years ( post 9/11)

I have a friend( born American)who lives in Russia 1/2 the year and Cypris the other half and they put him through hell over his Russian wife last time he tried to visit the states for business and family.

Seems that you picked up a lot of nice high dollar equipment, ALL of it out of my price range, this speaks highly of your skills so I suspect that you will land on your feet. Good Luck Again!!

[electrondady1]

very sorry to hear of your troubles. you and your family would be an asset to any nation . may i suggest you make your predicament public , ( use the media to shame the beurecrats into action) i would think that if you employ people,( especialy in the north) you have leverage. make a big stink on tv. can you local mp do nothing on your behalf?i feel shame you have fallen into the hands of these people who worship only inertia and there pathetic power.

[jacquesm]

most of the RE physical stuff is tied pretty strongly to the farm, if it sells 'on grid' (in other words if the new owners do not wish to have the RE system and will reconnect to the grid) then I'll have an enormous amount of RE stuff for sale, until then it's mostly tools and the two conversion machines.

To answer the question about moving the tools, I've looked at that in detail and there are three costs associated with that, moving costs, conversion costs and import duties. By the time you've done all that you can buy the stuff again on the other side.

[jacquesm]

No, but he's a very good friend of mine (Laurence McKay). Him and his wife Dina are the people that helped us in getting this farm off the grid, he is one of the most knowledgeable people in the RE field that I have ever met with the exception of the Dans and Victor (who knows an enormous amount about windpower). He's been off the grid himself for almost 20 years now and he sells and installs systems for 100's of miles around.

The area where your parents are living is really quite nice, I've been there a few times on the lakeside (I have some friends there) and I think it is by far the best part of Sault Ste Marie.

[picmacmillan]

i was wondering the other day what had happened to you?..hadnt heard a post in a while...can you not do like some others do?, and visit your homeland for a day or so every 2 years?, until they sort it out?...i have a  friend from germany, and thats what he does?..but all in all, i respect your decision and wish you the best...doesnt matter what we do today, it wont matter a hundred years from now anyway ,..not to us anyhow....good luck my friend...pickster

[jacquesm]

I've been thinking about that, the problem is that it could backfire in case I ever want to come back here (say in 5...10 years or so when my kid is out of school).

something has to be done though to protect others from falling in to the same trap.

Our local mp has already become involved, so have the Mayor of Sault Ste Marie (who is getting pretty mad about this, he's working day and night to attract viable businesses which is pretty hard and the ones he gets thrown into his lap are being made unsustainable). The immigration officials for Ontario are on our side and on and on.

But the fact remains that in spite of all that the last 5 years count for nothing, it's as if they never happened, all kinds of threats will be hanging over our heads in case we do not 'perform'. Which I think is very unfair.

The real losers though are our now ex-employees, that is where the real pain is, as someone already remarked we will land on our feet, we've made a move like this once, we can do it again and we'll survive.

I do plan on continuing with RE when I get to Europe, initially on a much smaller scale though (space is at a premium there) and closer to a city with hopefully better schools than what goes for general education around here.

[jacquesm]

The Canadian immigration officials - get this - claim it is 'the us that is making them do all this'. I call bs on that. Canada is a sovereign nation and has it's own government and rules & regulations.

If they're so much under the heel of the US that they can not even make their own immigration laws anymore then I suggest they apply for membership of the US. That will get rid of 'blame Canada' for good

I'm not kidding on this, it has been quoted verbatim many times by border / immigration officials. They say the same to US citizens that they harrass at the border, as if it is some kind of payback scheme.

I would like to express the wish that the combined governments of the US and Canada will make some kind of pleasure cruise and then I would be in the market for renting a submarine

Democracy -> the government of the people: How come that no ordinary thinking person can see reason in what the government is doing. Way too much paper and too little connection with the real world if you ask me. It's all about job protection for politicians and ways to ream the coffers of the state.

[jacquesm]

I've seen some pretty old people that were visiting their children in Canada for the first time treated at Pearson Airport in Toronto in such a humiliating way that I made a point of reporting the official that did that to his superiors. These people were visiting their children and newly born grandchild for the first time in their lives and instead of being made welcome they were mistreated so bad that the old man was ready to turn around and go home again. Contrast that with entering Europe as an outsider. The assumption seems to be here that anybody that wants to enter Canada is doing that to 'live off the system'. The irony is that it is hardly ever the immigrants that live off the system.

It's absolutely unbelievable the way these goons are treating visitors to Canada, as if half the world would want to be here.

I've lived here for 5 years now or so, and Canada is a strange country. There is a generation of people that are say 45 and up that are extremely hard working, and then there are a lot of people that are hanging of that older generation for their sustenance. An army of inspectors and unionized nonsense the likes of which I have not seen since the heydays of socialism in the former east block countries.

These people contribute a very low portion of the work but consume an enormous amount of the wealth. And then there is a political system that feeds of both groups without really contributing much other than vast quantities of hot air and paper (there's an energy source for you!).

It's interesting to note that if there is one country that really has untapped potential other than Australia it's Canada.

[whatsnext]

Jaques, I don't want to try to talk you out of your plans but does your son really want to move? Kids are very flexible and your son will adapt to his new surroundings easier than you. That said there is no better chance than a coin flip that he will do better in Europe than in Canada. If you're really worried about his educational oppertunities have you investigated having him private schooled? In six years you could ship him off to Michigan Tech, where I went, and he could learn how to consume beer and perhaps come back qualified to help you with your RE work. That should give you the time to get the Canadian goverment to just give up and let you stay.

John........

[jacquesm]

if I were alone, or if it would be just my wife and me, then I would consider such a thing, but my kid needs a stable home, not something that changes every few years on this scale.

A friend of mine - who for obvious reasons remains unnamed here - has been doing this for almost 20 years now but he's single and if he is ever refused entry he just turns around, cancels his rent in Toronto and he's gone. For us that's not an option.

[finnsawyer]

Sorry to hear about your problems.  Whatsnext mentions Michigan Tech (MTU), which is located in Houghton, Michigan, about five hours drive west of you.  Are you aware that the west shore of Lake Superior (west of Houghton) is the one area in Michigan considered favorable for wind power development?  That's where I live.  As far as schools are concerned, I graduated from Houghton High School and went straight to MIT and then The University of Michigan.  I don't know why you feel the European schools are better.  It seems to me it's what's in the individual that counts.  Anyway, land is still fairly available here in large amounts, so you might consider locating here.  If you wish to stop by drop me an E-mail at thefinnsawyer@yahoo.com.

I'd be happy to show you around.  In any case I'd like to wish you the best of luck.  I did enjoy reading your posts.

[ivandenisovich]

"then I suggest they apply for membership of the US. That will get rid of 'blame Canada' for good "

No, No, you don't want to ruin Canada too...  My wife and I have some land near Perth in Ontario.  Her family is from up there, although she and I are both US citizens.  We hope to move up there in a few years and build a house.  All of this sounds somewhat discouraging, but perhaps by that time the situation will have changed.

I hope that everything works out well for you.  I know what you mean about family staying together, I could not imagine being separated from my wife and daughter.

What part of Canada are you?

Regards,

Paul

[rotornuts]

I think the whole sytem in Canada is geared to deny you. My cynical take on the matter is they feel if there is any opportunity to deny you anything then they simply no longer have to "deal" with you. In Canada the beurocrats are trained with the mentality of an insurance adjuster. I think this country is in for some sick times ahead if an individual such as yourself can't at least get landed immigrant status. My wifes mother just last year recieved her permenant resident status after 33 years as a landed immigrant. Now that's service!!!! Oh, and I'd like to say that the beurocratic cluster @%$#ing has nothing to do with the United States new boarder policy and I'm ashamed that a representative of the federal goverment would say so.

Feeling less proud to be a Canadian,

Mike

[troy]

Jacques,

Sorry to hear of your troubles, but not entirely surprised.  I lived in Ontario (an hour east of Toronto) for almost five years.  I did eventually become a landed imigrant, but it took heroic amounts of time, patience and no small quantity of money.  The ironic part is that even the immigration officials admitted that this was a slam dunk example (no criminal history, Canadian wife, US husband, everything in order, etc, etc, etc), but was still tedious beyond description.  And that was pre-911...

So now we're back in the US and much happier for it.  I wish you the best, but think you could get a terrific education for your son on U.S. soil.  

But every situation has its own complexities, and you're a pretty sophisticated decision maker so I leave it for you to do what is best in your family's interest.

Finest regards,

troy

[jacquesm]

We're on St. Josephs Island, in Lake Huron, about 30 km from where the

three lakes meet.

[jacquesm]

33 YEARS Holy $#|+, I thought we were in rough shape ! The not having to deal with it is something that strikes me as very true. We've paid a substantial fee to have our application processed and they're doing everything they can to avoid really looking at it but to disqualify it for some missing stamp or something like that. This obviously does not benefit Canada at all but these people do not really seem to care that much.

The fee is sufficient that they can pay a full timer for several months to go through those application with a magnifying glass, and an hour of dilligent work would show that we are doing some pretty cool stuff here.

Give my best to your wife's mom and tell her we sympathise !

I wished I had that kind of patience, but unfortuntaly that's not my strong suit. I like to move things and get things done and I feel seriously hampered in this.

Case in point: we can not do any decent corporate banking here until we get our status, which is dependent on our income which is dependent on our banking ability and so on.

We've invested in excess of $500K to get this all off the ground and we'll be lucky to get back half. I guess it's one way to get money in to the country but it's the people that really matter, the money is a side effect.

[jacquesm]

Hi John, that's excellent input. Whatever happens is conditional on having the security that when we do something it becomes part of something stable. We currently do not have that feeling at all and it starts to effect us all in less than subtle ways. I don't really know how to describe living 5 years in limbo slowly having all the options closed one by one and still not knowing where you stand.

Public education here sucks, it's that simple. Private schooling is available, but my son is 12 which means we would have to ferry him there and back (no schoolbuses for private schools) which adds roughly 4 hours of traveling time every day, including the winters which are murderous up here.

I realise that going to a good univerity in the states is an option but he will have to have a minimum level of high school in order to be able to qualify and I do not see that happening here.

From what I've seen so far the schools in Europre outshine the North American ones by an almost unimaginable difference. I can't really put that into words without going in to tedious detail, but let me just try to phrase it like this: After 3 years in school here my kid knows less than what he knew when he came here with the exception of the English language. He's the first reader/speller in his class nad he's a foreigner that had never spoken this language until we came to this part of Canada 3 years ago (I've been here a little longer than my wife and son, I was commuting Toronto->Amsterdam for two years before we moved).

[jacquesm]

I agree so much with you that it's the individual that counts, no contest there. But the schools are geared towards bringing out the best in their kids or they're geared towards being places where people leave their kids while they go to work to have them looked after.

I simply can not excuse the educational system here and it has explained a lot of the difficulties that I have seen our various employees get in to over the last couple of years.

Imagine: a bookkeeper that can not do basic arithmetic without a calculator, a salesperson that doesn't know how to find Japan on a globe (no kidding, and I hear that in America that's worse), someone who has a student loan that does not know how to do basic interest calculations and believes her loan is interest free and so on.

And we're talking about Toronto here, during the first two years I was here. On the Island here the situation is - unbelievable but true - very much worse.

[jacquesm]

Thank you Troy, it's amazing how many people have popped up out of the woodworks in the last couple of days with similar experiences.

The interesting bit is that 'true' Canadians are of the opinion that their country is very easy to get in to. I wonder where they get that impression because it simply is not true.

[whatsnext]

Alright, one more idea because none of us here want to see you leave. Home schooling. Many parents do it here in KC because our schools are the worst. It's a huge effort and a sacrifice but these are two things you seem capable of doing. If the schools are that bad you probably have other people on the island who would help. BTW, I thought you were a DIYer.

All the best however it works out, John............

[jacquesm]

Yes, there's a lot of that going on around here, and we have been doing just that for the last two months in order to get my sons basic skills up to a level where he can connect with a school elsewhere at a little higher level.

The problem with homeschooling is that while it works well in theory in practice there is no substitute for interaction with others in a group. It's about developing social skills, factual knowledge and mental abilities.

We can provide some of that, but not all of that. There are very few children living in this area and in Europe at age 12 he would be getting 'subject teachers', who are a lot more knowledgeable than I am in their specific fields.

Highschool to me at his level is 28 years ago for me and my wife, and while we're anything but stupid I would hate to risk my kids education on my dated and by now very incomplete knowledge.

It really has gone past the stage where this is a decision yet to be made, the decision has been made, we've thought about this very much for the last 6 months or so (basically since RonB went back to the US), and we've come to the conclusion that our interests are not served by holding on to what we've built up here at all costs. Canada is a great country in many ways, but on balance I'd say that it's not that great that we have to give up life and limb for the right to be here.

as tough as the decision is I really can not think of any single issue being solved that would sway us the other way.

[rotornuts]

Something to consider is the fact that you are in the east. I mean no offence to easterners as I was born in Ottawa and my mother lives in Nova Scotia. Aside from British Columbia ,which is it's own worst nightmare, I find the eastern provinces to be exceedingly beurocratic(funny that word has taken on such a derogatory slant). I've been in and out of Alberta from BC for several years now and find Alberta a far different place in which to deal with goverment, even at the federal level. The regional federal employees here seem to have a somewhat better attitude and as you've pointed out that's the real problem. The culture of the unwilling civil servant has taken hold at several levels of goverment in much of this country which is a bleeding shame for my kids but so far... I have been having fair success at most levels here in Alberta. I don't know if immigration applications are processed at regional centers or if they all go to Ottawa but representatives from a different region may be more helpfull.

I recall when Canada's new Immigration policy came into effect a while back, an NGO decided to take the list of Nobel prize winners and see if they would qualify. Appearently the results were along the lines of 10 - 15% would qualify under todays rules.

Frankly I think this country has rode it's reputation into the dirt along time ago and those in control just can't see it. We have expected that our successes during the 40's to late 60's should carry us forever.

Mike

Edmonton Alberta Canada

[jacquesm]

Hey Mike,

That's interesting stuff about Nobel prize winners, but I wouldn't even begin to class myself in that league, I'm just a handyman, not much more than that.

The decision is not even made in Canada !! Canada has several immigration centers, in Buffalo, Berlin and a bunch of other places abroad. There simply is no procedure whereby you can start working here under a work permit and then transfer that into a residence, the only thing you can do is pretend you never were in Canada and act as if you are immigrating from abroad. It's the most backward system I have ever seen.

Ostensibly this is to avoid people using the work permit as a way to immigrate, but what better way to asses who does or does not qualify for citizenship or landed immigrant status. My tax bill - which is quite hefty - tells them all they need to know as far as I'm concerned.

When I started working here we never even thought of immigration, but after a few months of contstant air travel it was pretty clear that something had to be done about it sooner or later.

And in theory Canada is very cooperative in this, it's just that in practice they are not.

[zubbly]

Hello Jacque!

what the hell can i say, i think most of my thoughts have already been expressed here by most already.

you must make decisions based on what is best for you and your family as we all would do. I did have the pleasure to once meet personally with you and i feel i am privaledged for that opportunity. myself, as well as many others have really missed your input from time to time on this board, and once you have settled once again, please drop in.

politics and all the departments that go with it leave such a dirty taste in my mouth. my sincerest apologies for what my government has done with you.

your friend always! and wishing you and your family a happy and rewarding future wherever you settle.

zubbly

[laskey]

You know, as a Canadian, the thing that galls me the most is that we've built a good chunk of our society on the idea of diversity.  We're supposed to be a mosaic of people that draws it's strength from it's differences!  We built our country on immigration, and then don`t want foriengers dragging on our social systems?  What kind of stupid crap is that?

If it were me, I`d sue.  I`d sue the Canadian government for denial of due process.  The Canadian government should say what they are going to do and do it.  If they are going to let you in they should let you in.  If they aren`t, then they should say that.  You can`t keep people hanging for years at a time.  It`s just not right!

At the very least, I`d right the Prime Minister.  Tell him your story, and that all you really want is a decision on your case, so you know if you should close up shop (and fire all your empolyees) and go back to Europe, or stay here continue (being a productive member of our society).  Maybe it won`t do any good, but at least you went to the top, and it only cost you a piece of paper (I`m pretty sure you still don`t have to put a stamp on it to send a letter to the prime minister).  I mean all you really are doing is asking the government to do it`s job. It shouldn`t be that hard. It can`t continue to be that hard! Something must be done.

I`m very sorry you are having this trouble,

Chris