American ex-pat says Canada is the place to be

Born in New York City, I married a Canadian girl and moved to Canada in 1977 and I’ve been here ever since. This country has been a wonderful place to live and work and raise a family.

Even so, I always believed that I had won the lottery by being born an American, a citizen of a modern-day Rome.

U.S. tax laws exact a high price for the privilege, requiring expatriates to annually file complex, personally invasive, time-consuming financial reports not required by domestic citizens — in addition to a U.S. income-tax return — whether or not you ever earned a dime in the U.S. Penalties for non-compliance can quickly become surreal, regardless if taxes are payable or not.

Although I became a permanent resident upon entering Canada, I never considered becoming a Canadian citizen. I don’t believe a person can genuinely pledge allegiance to more than one country.

All that changed in 2017, Canada’s sesquicentennial and my 40th year here. In August, I took the official Oath of Allegiance and became a Canadian citizen. And in September, I formally renounced my U.S. citizenship. Canada is easy to love but old loyalties don’t die easily.

Although genealogy (my mother was born in Quebec but became a U.S. citizen after marrying my Brooklyn-born dad) and the passing of time (I’ve spent almost two-thirds of my life here) were factors, “the Donald” and his numerous supporters changed my thinking.

The election of Donald Trump — an incompetent, narcissistic, misogynistic, mean-spirited liar — as President of the United States of America immediately brought the words of Walt Kelly’s Pogo to mind: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

It never dawned on me, however, that so many Americans had become so un-American in their thinking — on immigration, the press and the types of people they look up to, and down upon. How could so many voters fail to make a distinction between what should clearly offend them and who leads them?

Before sadly renouncing my allegiance to the U.S., my wife and I took an extended trip throughout the western United States, New York, Missouri and North Carolina. Despite many good people and all the wonderful things still true about America, she is retreating to a darker, divisive, more dangerous place.

As we boarded the plane for Toronto at the end of our trip, it felt good to be going home. God bless Canada!

Brian Lynch Toronto