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July 30, 2006
Evacuation of citizens: some thoughts
When hostilities started it became known that there were about 40,000 Canadian citizens in Lebanon, almost all of them held also Lebanese citizenship and a majority were residents of Lebanon. Around 8,000 of them (I can be mistaken) were evacuated. Many canadians began to ask: “Who should pay the bill: Canadian taxpayers or evacuees?” and suggested that only Canadian residents should be evacuated for free. Their opponents countered claiming that all the Canadian citizens are equal and thus should be treated equally.
This argument holds no water: there are residency specific duties and benefits: non-residents do not report foreighn income and not eligible for provincial health plans. Some duties like serving in jury fall only on those who are citizens and residents while many jobs are open only to those who are citizens or residents.
Posted by Victor at July 30, 2006 02:52 PM