Obtaining US citizenship means declaring allegiance to the Constitution and flag of the United States, above all other allegiances one may have.
I had no problems with that. Canada left me, before I chose to put the US as my #1. I retain my Canadian citizenship out of hope that things will eventually improve, but I'm not optimistic. Politically, Canada has become a euro/WEF-aligned kakistocratic sewage dump, run by treasonous incompetents who've created a sycophant bureaucracy large enough that it can just keep voting itself back into power almost incessantly. If that's your thing, because that $100 government check you get every month means so much to you that you're willing to ignore everything else, then good for you. It's not my thing.
But the question is obviously meant to be taken as hypothetical, because the overwhelming majority of Canadians wishing to obtain US citizenship will never do so. One needs to first be a permanent resident in the US for several years before applying, and US permanent residency is not just handed out as freely as the Canadian government hands out PRs in Canada.
Regardless, assuming (hypothetically) one could easily obtain US citizenship, the only real questions to think about before doing so are:
1. do your views align with, and will you support the principles and values of the US Constitution. This is the big one. Fundamental, inalienable freedoms for all - without any government notwithstanding clause to limit those freedoms. You get to dish it, and you also have to take it. A competent Supreme Court backstops government overreach.
2. do you prefer a model in which you have greater personal responsibility with less government 'management' of society's design, versus accepting fewer personal liberties in order to live a much more egalitarian, 'managed' life.
3. are you prepared to fulfill US tax obligations for the rest of your life (although truthfully, because Canadian taxes are WAY higher, most people wouldn't have anything to pay in the US. The pain mostly comes in the form of administrative headaches and a higher risk of audits).
You only live once. Don't waste it wishing and hoping.
I was born and raised in Canada - Montreal and Toronto. Got an education, got married, had kids, started a family back in the 90s. Life was good in the sense there was both stability and normalcy. It still felt like the old Canada I had experienced as a kid in a bilingual Montreal. As a country we happily rode on the US's coattails, and our economy benefited.
Things started changing in the late 90s (yes, that long ago), but the changes were subtle at first, and largely masked by rapid technological advancements. My career was ok, but it quickly became obvious to me that real financial success in Canada would not come through employment, despite my education. Lower pay versus US workers, higher taxes versus US workers, limited opportunities for advancement - everyone felt it, but it was worth it, right ? Stability, normalcy, politeness, safety, "free health care" (still mostly OK in the 90s and early 2000's), and "good governance" - tradeoffs we endured to avoid higher crime in the US, or so we were told. Nevertheless, most Canadians back then still felt a brotherly or sisterly bond with the US, despite the high crime warnings.
Then 9/11 came, and it hit hard.
Beyond personal connections with people who were killed or injured, many of us also felt attacked because while the terrorists had a US target, it felt like "our space" - fortress North America, home of Western values - had been invaded and assaulted. Canada reacted as it should have, sharing grief, anger, and resolve with our US friends - both at the personal and governmental levels.
We were connected with America, and America for its part was content having Canada as a little brother. There was a relationship. Trade deficits and surpluses weren't seen as a problem, so much as a feature of intertwined economies.
My wife and I made our choice to move to the US in the mid 2000s when the offer came in. It wasn't a 10% salary bump. It was an overnight 100% after tax salary increase, and it came with a great neighborhood, top notch healthcare, great schools, and even more professional opportunities. It was a hard choice, but culturally we knew we'd fit in, given the similarities between Canada and the US. And we did fit in.
Looking back at Canada now, I know leaving was the right choice. I still miss the old Canada, the old Toronto, but I know they're gone, dead, and buried - and what's replaced them is something straight out of Bizzarro world. Don't get me wrong, the US has its problems too - many being the same as Canada - but at least in the US, its Constitution controls government overreach, and was written in a way that permits States to compete with other. So when NY and CA go too far left, people and their money leave and head to TX, FL,TN, etc.
Canada has no such safeguards. No 1A, no 2A (to protect the 1A), and fully 1 in 4 people now "earning" a living working off taxpayer dollars. Orwell could have used Canada as his inspiration in writing his best-seller, and it wouldn't be too far off. Maybe the rat-in-the-face thing as still a little ways away, but we're getting there.
🇨🇦 Canada spent years renaming streets, squares, universities, buildings and removing statues in the name of “reconciliation” and “reconsidering history.”
Yonge-Dundas Square → Sankofa Square.
Ryerson University → Toronto Metropolitan University.
Amherst Street → Rue Atateken.
Cornwallis Street → Nora Bernard Street.
Langevin Block → Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council.
Sir John A. Macdonald statues removed in Victoria, Regina, Kingston and Charlottetown.
Schools, parks and public buildings renamed across the country.
Then Trump renames Lake Ontario and suddenly Canada discovers:
“YOU CAN’T JUST ERASE HISTORY!”
Oh, NOW names matter? 😂🇨🇦
Apparently Canadian history is endlessly negotiable…
until an American picks up the Sharpie. 🇺🇸
@govt_corrupt Carnage is an elitist kakistocrat. He believes the common man and woman are beneath him and do not merit his attention. Parliament is beneath him and is not deserving of his time.
Only his fellow elitists and other heads of state could ever operate at his level of enlightenment.
@AndrewScheer Carnage is an elitist kakistocrat. He believes the common man and woman are beneath him and do not merit his attention. Parliament is beneath him and is not deserving of his time.
Only his fellow elitists and other heads of state could ever operate at his level of enlightenment.
Mark Carney says the "Old World Order" is gone and never coming back, but together, we can build a new one.
How about this, Carney?
Fuck you. Fuck your NWO. Fuck your WEF. Fuck your BIS, IMF, UN, and WHO. Fuck your Digital IDs and CBDCs. And once you get there, fuck off again!
@katyannjackson5@JasminLaine Carnage has been pushing his pro-China, pro-WEF New..World..Order for years.
He chose Canada as his target, because of its trusting, lemming voters, that he knew wouldn't push back.
His actions are beyond treasonous to just Canada - they are treasonous to Western civilization.
The problem here is not Canada-US relations, notably with respect to trade, but rather that people are actually supporting their own government taking choice away from them.
That's seriously messed up.
A noble and popular cause does not need strong-arm enforcement. If the cause is virtuous and has popular support, (normal) people will get behind it voluntarily.
But that people are ACTUALLY OK WITH having their freedom of choice suppressed is a telltale sign of fawning (fawn response), which in Canada has been instilled over decades of government control manifesting as satisfied slavery (satisfied slave syndrome).
There's REAL psychopathy at play here.
I do not disagree.
But the reality is these changes are seen as too dramatic to Joe.A.Voter. A very large percentage of Canadians are too timid (trained lemmings if you will), and will reject the disruptions they've been conditioned to believe would come from such changes.
How do we get Joe.A.Voter to see the benefits of such cuts to government waste, and get behind the program at the voting booth where it matters ? Sadly the message isn't resonating, though I do sincerely wish it would.
@DanBurmawy There exists a class of people, this gentleman being one of its members, that can't be efficiently dealt with within the parameters of our society's legal frameworks.
For them, alternate methods of problem resolution are better suited-methods that leave no trace and no evidence.
@libsoftiktok What's wrong with ICE ?
Do some people think it's OK that individuals without legal status in the US just get to stay anyway ?
How is it defensible to say "we want illegals and others without legal status to stay", when the law prescribes for such individuals to be deported ?
@MarcNixon24 I don't know whether or not he personally has the authority to do so, but if he does: I almost wish he does.
Not because I wish pain upon northern US States, but because the reaction he would get from the US might finally be serious enough to instill a little humility.
@govt_corrupt Right now: 5
When Carnage implements his "dollar-for-dollar" reciprocal tariffs: 6
When the US reacts (again) to Carnage implementing his "dollar-for-dollar" reciprocal tariffs: 8
When Carnage accelerates his "we're at war" talk: 9
When Trump says USMCA is done: 10
I don't care which country it is or how long we've been doing it.
I can understand symbolic gestures at quasi-governmental sites such as flag displays at stadiums, airports, international expositions and conferences, etc - but never at sites permanently staffed by government employees whose purpose is exclusively to serve the citizenry. The loyalty of any government employee must be to the citizens he/she serves, and never to a foreign nation. Nothing less will ever suffice if a country believes in its own sovereignty.