When is a Canadian a Canadian?

CBC reported on a story a day or so ago about two sisters, (ages nine and fourteen) who were trapped in Nairobi because the eldest had lost her Canadian passport. They need to leave where they are living partially because of the political unrest but primarily because their aunt - who was their caretaker - has recently died. There is no other adult who can look after them. For some reason, replacing the lost passport has become a problem. The father was asking the Canadian government for assistance to get his daughters home to Canada.

All of which makes some sense - except for the fact that while the father is a Canadian citizen and therefore both of his girls are, neither girl had ever been to Canada. In fact, it appears as if there had been originally little intent for them to ever live here. How can someone claim to be a citizen when they do not live in Canada and may never do so? The fourteen-year-old may not speak either of our two national languages, has never attended a Canadian school and in all likelihood knows almost nothing about Canadian culture, politics or history. And yet - in four years, when she turns 18 she will be able to vote in a federal election. She will also when she does get here have full access to medical and educational resources. I am not sure if she should.

Canada has a reputation for being relatively open about accepting and embracing people from elsewhere. While we struggle with some of the issues that arise from such policies, Canada has generally been successful in assisting immigrants and refugees to become Canadian citizens. Our economy and our culture need people moving here from other countries. And most of us know it.

However in spite of our good intentions to be accepting and our attempts to insure that all have full access to our rights and freedoms, it may be that we have been too generous in awarding citizenship to those who may have no intention of ever using it - until they are in need somewhere halfway around the world and then demand Canadian government intervention.

Canada is, of course, far from perfect. Our collective record of racism is something that we are only now starting to acknowledge; we have not always been as welcoming of other cultures and indeed there are still many Canadians who struggle with accepting those who are different into their communities. We are a work in progress. I, however, am not convinced that handing out Canadian citizenships to people who may never live in Canada - just because one's father is a Canadian- does anything to either redress the wrongs of the past, or to ensure that they do not happen again.

Canadian citizenship should be reserved for those who wish to make Canada their home and who have a desire to make it a better country for everyone.

How a Doctor Wasted My Time

Yesterday I had an appointment with my new cardiologists - in Victoria. Not a big deal - but I had been waiting a while to see him. Not that anything new is going on but it seemed to me that it was important that a specialist review my relatively minor heart condition just to ensure that things had not changed.

To cross the Malahat - a relatively small mountain that lies between Duncan and Victoria, the law requires one to have snow tires. It doesn't often snow in southern BC but that particular highway can be a bit slippery and one accident can block the road for hours. I do not have snow tires so I took the commuter bus. It left at 6:15 AM. It cost $10.00 - one way.

I got to Victoria by 7:30, had a great breakfast at my favourite breakfast spot in town (John's Place), got on a city bus (I bought a day pass for $5.00) bought some warp cotton at a store and then got on another bus to get to the doctor's office. I knew I would be early, but I had a book to read and I was content to wait the 45 minutes.

The doctor was a bit behind schedule - to be exact he was 45 minutes behind schedule. His assistant did the cardiogram but did not do a social history or collect any information at all. The doctor came into a room - we talked for about six minutes and we were done. It was obvious that he had not read my file or even looked at my most recent echocardiogram. I gave him the original referral letter from my cardiologist in Peterborough but he demonstrated little interest in my medical history. When I mentioned that I was chronically tired, he suggested that sometimes the medication I am on has that effect. He suggested that there were other options including a different medication or surgery. As the possibility of surgery to correct the problem had never been discussed with me, I asked him about it- but all he said was that that would be in the future.

He made another appointment for September.

I hung around Victoria until the first commuter bus left at 3:45 and I was back in Duncan by around 5:00.

11 hours of travel and hanging around and $25.00 in transportation costs - all for 10 minutes total time of medical contact. Whatever the province paid the doctor for his time was a waste of the tax payers' money. My GP could have done exactly the same thing - wasting less of my time and while she may not be technically as qualified as the specialist was - I would not have left her office as dissatisfied as I did yesterday in Victoria.

I know doctors are busy - I know that there are ever increasing demands on their time. But I would have preferred to wait a few extra weeks for an appointment if it would have meant that I would have had a more detailed review of my current heart health. As it was - he just wasted my time.