Oh, NOW He Promises to Drop the Fee

Barely hours after we paid the immigration processing fee of CDN$975 (US$847 at today’s rates), Prime Minister Paul Martin announces that if elected, the Liberals will drop the fee. Wendy and I had better get the full-on tasting menu dinner (with wine pairings, natch) for four at Susur’s if you win, Martin!

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Some reality checks:

• Oh, quit yer whinin’. If you’re going to immigrate here, the least you can do is cover the administrative costs of doing so. Perhaps some system can be put in place so that young-but-capable immigrants from countries with bad economies can defer the payment, but really, if you’re going to ride the Canadian Roller Coaster, you’ve got to pony up.
• The fee was introduced as part of a 1995 budget (here’s the “Budget in Brief”, PDF version; here’s the HTML version) drawn up by the Finance Minister at the time, who just happened to be…Paul Martin.

But hey, I could throw a good party with that $975…