Pubdate: Sun, 20 Jul 2003
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)
Copyright: 2003 Lexington Herald-Leader
Contact:  http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/240
Author: David Crary, Associated Press

SOME AMERICANS LOVE IT BUT LEAVE IT ANYWAY

Canada Is Choice Location For Liberals Tired Of Fighting

NEW YORK - For all they share economically and culturally, Canada and the 
United States are increasingly at odds on basic social policies -- to the 
point that at least a few discontented Americans are planning to move north 
and try their neighbors' way of life.

A husband and wife in Minnesota, a college student in Georgia, a young 
executive in New York. Though each has distinct motives for packing up, 
they agree the United States is growing too conservative and think Canada 
offers a more inclusive, less selfish society.

"For me, it's a no-brainer," said Mollie Ingebrand, a puppeteer from 
Minneapolis who plans to go to Vancouver with her lawyer husband and 
2-year-old son. "It's the most amazing opportunity I can imagine: to live 
in a society where there are different priorities in caring for your fellow 
citizens."

For decades, even while nurturing close ties with the United States, 
Canadians have often chosen a different path -- establishing universal 
health care, maintaining ties with Cuba, imposing tough gun-control laws. 
Two current Canadian initiatives, to decriminalize marijuana and legalize 
same-sex marriage, have pleased many liberals in the United States and 
irked conservatives.

New York executive Daniel Hanley, 31, was arranging a move for himself and 
his partner long before the Canadian announcement about same-sex marriage. 
But the timing delights him; he and his partner now hope to marry in front 
of their families after they emigrate to British Columbia.

"Canada has an opportunity to define itself as a leader," Hanley said. "In 
some ways, it's now closer to American ideals than America is."

Though many gay American couples are now marrying in Canada, virtually all 
return home, hoping court rulings will lead to official recognition of 
their unions.

Thomas Hodges, a computer systems major at Georgia State University, said 
his dismay with American politics started him thinking last year about 
going abroad. He recently wrote an article in a campus journal titled, "Why 
I Am Moving to Canada."

Hodges, 21, complained about a "neo-conservative shift" in the United 
States and praised Canada's approach to health care and education.

"The U.S. educational system is unfair -- you have to live in certain areas 
to go to good schools," he said.

Rene Mercier, spokesman for Canada's immigration department, said any surge 
in U.S.-to-Canada immigration based on current political developments won't 
be detectable for a few years, because of the time required to process 
residency applications.

During the Vietnam War, U.S. immigration to Canada surged as thousands of 
young men, often accompanied by wives or girlfriends, moved to avoid the 
draft. But every year since 1977, more Canadians have emigrated to the 
United States than vice versa. The 2001 figures were 5,894 Americans moving 
north, 30,203 Canadians moving south. Canada's population is about 
one-tenth that of the United States.

Mollie Ingebrand, 34, said she has felt an affinity for Canada for many 
years, fueled partly by respect for its health care system. Her doubts 
about the United States go back to a childhood spent with liberal parents 
in a relatively conservative part of Ohio.

"In school I was always told this is the best country on earth, and 
everyone else wants to be American. And that never really rang true to me," 
she said.

Her husband, George, 44, has spent little time in Canada, but said it seems 
to offer a more relaxed, less competitive way of life. He has no qualms 
about leaving his law practice and selling the family's upscale home in 
Minneapolis.

"I don't idealize Canada the way my wife does, but I'm ready for an 
adventure," he said. "I don't know what I'm going to be facing. That's what 
I'm reveling in."

The Ingebrands have completed the first batch of paperwork to apply for 
Canadian residency, hoping their talents and finances compensate for lack 
of specific job offers.

At Georgia State, Hodges said some conservative schoolmates have challenged 
his proposed move to Canada, saying he would be abandoning his homeland.

Conversely, Mollie Ingebrand says some of her friends -- people who share 
her left-of-center views -- argue that she should stay at home to battle 
for changes here.

"I've been there and done that," Molly said. "I don't want to stay and 
fight anymore. I can have that bittersweet love for my country from 
somewhere else."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom