My husband has family in Edmonton. He is talking about moving to Canada to be near them. I figured we should do a little research first!

So, I have a few questions for those of you who live in Canada...

1. What is the political climate like? Is Canada more conservative than the US? More pro-life? The US is "going to hell in a handbasket" these days...

2. What is the religious climate like? Is there an Eastern Rite parish on every corner, or is it like the US, where Byzantine parishes are few and far between and you're lucky to live in a city where you've got one? Do the Eastern Rite churches face the same discrimination from the Latin Rite as they do here?

3. What are the prospects for jobs? Is unemployment high? I am an office manager - is there plenty of work in that area?

4. Specifically, what is Alberta like in these questions?

5. How much red tape is involved for a US citizen to move there and find work? In the US, an immigrant must get a "green card" to be eligible to work. To get a "green card" one must have a person to "sponsor" them and guarantee they will not go on welfare. Does Canada have similar restrictions?

I'd appreciate your comments on this.

Tammy

Oy vey.

Canada is even more liberal, anti-life, and socialist than the US (if you can believe it!)

More than that I know not.

Dear Tammy,

LatinTrad knows not what of what he speaks.

Yes, we have social safety nets that the U.S. doesn't. But less so in oil-rich Alberta.

And we have public health care. I didn't know that was part of the communist plot to take over the Americas.

We don't have the heritage of racial antagonism the U.S. has and we're very anti-gun, although Albertans are like their American counterparts on this matter.

In terms of religious liberalism etc., I think you will find Catholics who are liberal and those who are conservative here.

In the U.S., I understand you will find Catholics who are liberal and those who are conservative.

In Europe, you will find . . .

There are many Eastern Catholic parishes in Alberta and many that have English liturgies.

Also, like their American counterparts.

And we don't salute flags, but pledge allegiance to the Queen of Canada . . . once, unless you are born here, then you don't ever have to do that.

Alex

You didn't?

Dear Alex,

Public health care is considered "part of a communist plot to take over the Americas" because its chief proponents in the US are ultra-liberal, pro-choice, closet socialists in the Democratic party... Such as Bill and Hillary Clinton.

I've heard it works quite well in Canada and Ireland, though.

I wonder how my husband's Irish Catholic family felt about swearing allegiance to the Queen of Canada, who is also the Queen of England, when they came over from Ireland, considering the anti-English sentiment among the Catholics in Ireland. But then, why would they leave Ireland for Canada in the first place if they had a problem with it...?

Tammy

Many Ukrainian names end in 'chuk' (ex: the former president of Ukraine was Kravchuk). There are 'gazillions' of Ukrainians in Edmonton so EVERYONE calls the city "Edmon-chuk" . So in answer to your question "are there a lot of Eastern Catholics there ?", the answer is yes.

There are devine liturgies in English so you will feel at home. There is a bilingual (English-Ukie) Ukrainian Greek Catholic bishop for the province of Alberta. I think that people would be facinated with the fact that you are an Irish (heritage) Byzantine Catholic and would welcome you in their church. However, be warned, that church, culture, and politics mix a lot with Ukes.

Canada is far more liberal in every way than is the United States. However, Alberta is perhaps the most conservative province in Canada so you may not notice much of difference relative to where you live now. Quebec on the other hand ..... ).

The weather in Edmonton is temperate with extreme fluctuations over seasons (ie: very cold in the winter with short very hot and dry summers). The land is flat and Prairie like. If you like skiing, the Rockies are at your doorstep.

Alberta is a relatively prosperous due to the provinces natural oil and gas reserves. It's kinda of like the 'Texas and Nebraska' of Canada. Taxes are lower than in the rest of the country but still higher than in the USA.

Living abroad (or in another region of your own country) at some point in your life is very important for spiritual and cultural growth. Go for it even if it's only for 2 or 3 years. In the end you will be a better person.

Send me a private e-mail if you want to get visa info.

Dear Hritzko,

Right on!

Quebec is probably the most liberal province.

The (Latin) Catholic bishops there refused to obey Rome on the issue of gay marriage, saying that the Church is not a lobby group . . .

And it is also the most Catholic . . .

It's a good thing neither of us go in for conclusions based on simple statistics

Alex

Quebec is also where in 1970, tanks rolled down streets, and soldiers and policemen arrested over 4000 almost entirely innocent people on suspicion of being linked to terrorists. All because Pierre Trudeau thought a band of no more than 30 FLQ terrorists were going to attempt to start a revolution. But in all honesty, we'll probably top that in a year or two in the States, count on it.

Dear Tammy:

Actually, I think that most political pundits will tell you that while Bill appealed to the left-wing of his party during his first campaign and his first two years in office, his administration tended toward the center once they got their feet wet. (Hillary is quite a bit further to the left than Bill, though).

Still, I am interested in the original question posed regarding the economic climate in Canada. Is the weak Canadian dollar having any effects, positive or negative? Are governmental tax incentives limited to NHL franchises or is there more than is reported here south of the border? And, most importantly, how are the job prospects outside of the oil fields of Alberta?

Yours,

hal

Dear Hal,

I need answers to those questions too!

Tammy

the Clintons are hardly "closet socialists" and any good European social democrat would tell you that. Bill Clinton belongs to the moderate-conservative Democratic Leadership Council part of the Party.
Ireland came relatively late to national health care and Canada's system is modeled only on what many Western European democratic countries already had such as Britain after WWII. labels such as "ultra-liberal" "closet socialist" and yes "right-winger" too often are thrown around without precision.

Brian you left-winging, closet-socialist, ultra-pink . . . uh . . . whoops.

Brian and Hal,

Sorry guys. I didn't mean to offend anyone. I was trying to respond to Alex's humor with some of my own.

Tammy

"Ces't le lutte finale!!! Groupons-nous et demains,!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Tammy,

Forgive me for overreacting!!!