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Canadian expats criticise special tax for non-residents

Canadian expatriates responded strongly to proposals for a special tax for non-residents saying it is a knee-jerk reaction to the evacuation of Lebanese-Canadians during the recent war.

  • By Mahmood Saberi, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 00:00 January 21, 2007
  • Gulf News

Dubai: Canadian expatriates responded strongly to proposals for a special tax for non-residents saying it is a knee-jerk reaction to the evacuation of Lebanese-Canadians during the recent war.

Immigration analysts are pushing for the tax and also a review of Ottawa's policy of dual citizenship, saying that overseas Canadians are getting a 'free ride at taxpayer's expense' for just the cost of a passport.

It has been suggested that overseas Canadians should pay more to get their passports renewed.

According to reports, Canada spent $94 million last summer for the evacuation of 15,000 Lebanese-Canadians trapped in war-torn Lebanon, and those evacuated were given return tickets and half of them returned to Lebanon within two months.

A political scientist was quoted as saying that if there was upheaval in Taiwan or mainland China (from where Canada gets the second-largest number of immigrants), the impact on Canada would be enormous.

But a lawyer and immigration consultant in Dubai, Sam Bayat questioned the policy saying, "Any responsible government will help its citizens abroad and will not distinguish between any of its citizens.

"Maybe the Parliament needs to determine what the rights are of dual citizens, and more importantly those of non-resident Canadians. As non-resident Canadians we do not get any social or health care services from the Canadian government," he said.

A non-resident who works as an immigration consultant in Dubai said overseas Canadians are 'ambassadors' and help promote their country abroad. "We bring more to the table than what we are getting," said Norbert D'-Souza.

M.C., a professional photographer, said the proposed hike in the cost of a passport to $500 (Dh1,600) for those living abroad for five years, was way too much.

"That's a huge increase," she said, pointing to the fact that it costs just Dh640 to renew a British passport (which is valid for 10 years).

"This [review] is targeted more to naturalised Canadians, who have taken citizenship as a 'safety net', rather than natural-born Canadians like me," she said.

But she said it was like "giving with one hand and taking with the other."

A journalist from Toronto however, said that $500 is a small price to retain the 'most respected passport in the world'.

But he said he was "worried that at some point, the small fee would become much higher as pressure from Canadian taxpayers grows to cut the looming cost of healthcare in the country."

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