Want unemployment, slow health care? Move to Canada

Date published: 11/19/2004

Columnist Jill Porter wants to move to Canada ["Let's pack up and move north; at least you can get a flu shot there," Nov. 5]. After all, "there's no death penalty, real gun control, and legal gay marriage," not to mention free health care.

She will have a bit more trouble finding a job in Canada, because unemployment is 7.1 percent, compared with 5.5 percent in the United States.

And when she finds a job, she'll spend more time working for the government. "Tax Freedom Day," the day when we stop working for the government and start working for ourselves, occurs roughly 73 days later in Canada.

Her euphoria with gun control might subside when she's a victim of violent crime and can't get a gun to protect herself. According to the Fraser Institute, despite firearm restrictions and legislation, "Over the past decade, the rate of violent crime in Canada has increased, while in the United States the violent crime rate has plummeted. The homicide rate is dropping faster in the United States than in Canada."

Oh, and that free health care comes at a price. In Canada, expenses are reduced by limiting service. Canadians wait an average of five months for a cranial MRI scan. Americans wait just three days--many fly south to the United States for treatment.

So go ahead and move. But we'll see you back here soon.

Dave Fedorchak

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Date published: 11/19/2004