6 ms·

Am Canadian. No offense to my southern neighbours, but if it ever comes time to move because of this, my direction won't be south. I'll probably play twister a

Am Canadian. No offense to my southern neighbours, but if it ever comes time to move because of this, my direction won't be south. I'll probably play twister and hope the direction it lands is a good one. North American trends have not been great lately in general. Maybe I'll finally get that European passport I've been putting off.

takenpilot 5y ago
Same. Am Canadian, already south. This is not the place. I'm looking at Northern Europe (good privacy laws) or Singapore (the rules are draconian, but very clear).
- type0 5y ago
  Netherlands, although not perfect still has some classical liberal ideals. Singapore is a "Disneyland with the Death Penalty", who in their right mind would go there.
  - weiliddat 5y ago
    And the death penalty is applicable to a tiny proportion of the population (disproportionately drug smugglers). It might not be your ideal, but please refrain from implying someone else is crazy for living there.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - curation 5y ago
    I lived in Eindhoven for three years. I found it very uncomfortable.
    - todd8 5y ago
      In what ways if I may ask?
- weiliddat 5y ago
  Singapore would be a toss up in terms of privacy, but it is excellent and friendly for work-focused, law-abiding, norm-conforming kind of people. I don't mean it in a bad way.
  - uniqueid 5y ago
    Canada is 'becoming a police state' somehow, and the answer is to move to a bastion of freedom like Singapore. Just... I... ugh.
    - filoleg 5y ago
      Yeah, I found that pretty questionable of a move as well. On the opposite side of the political isle, you could observe the same thing, with a bunch of republicans loudly proclaiming on the internet their "plans" to move to Canada whenever Obama implemented Obamacare or tried to raise taxes on anything. Given that Canada has socialized healthcare and higher taxes, they looked just as ridiculous as people in this thread "planning" a move to Singapore due to Canada pushing anti-privacy laws. That's the taste of self-hating north americans for you. A good quote in relation to this comes to mind: "There is no geographical solution to personal problems." Note: it doesn't mean that moving to another country due to your current one becoming unlivable is bad idea. But it seems weird to want to leave your country due to poor internet laws for a country with even worse internet laws and privacy. Which is what you can see with those mentions of Singapore, they didn't quite think it through at all. That's the taste of a group of self-hating north americans for you.
Mikeb85 5y ago
Yup I'm applying for an EU country passport myself (via family ties). Canada is a terrible place if you want to start a business, now house prices are getting insane and the recent encroachment on freedoms as well as lack of pushback from the population is pretty much the last straw for me. You can make more money and pay less taxes while having more affordable housing and better healthcare and education in a number of countries.
- barbazoo 5y ago
  I wouldn't agree it's as bad as you make it sound. However, I'm also not sure which other first world country has lower taxes, more "freedoms", higher salaries and cheap housing though.
  - Mikeb85 5y ago
    The US is a very obvious example. Take a look at housing affordability indexes, Canada is behind the EU average and certainly behind the top EU destinations. Also behind Australia, the UK, the US. Toronto and Vancouver are literally 2 of the most unaffordable places on the planet. Also the US, UK and half the EU have lower taxes. The only places with comparable taxes have better healthcare and cheaper or free education. Honestly, go to the US, UK, Australia, nearly any EU country and you'll find housing prices more in line with local salaries, better infrastructure, better services, more bang for your tax dollar, etc... In what country can you give away 40% of your paycheck making less than 6 figures to then pay for dental work, prescriptions and education out of pocket while needing to make 3x the average salary to afford an average house?
    - Jordrok 5y ago
      > In what country can you give away 40% of your paycheck making less than 6 figures to then pay for dental work, prescriptions and education out of pocket while needing to make 3x the average salary to afford an average house? Yeah, I dunno... Maybe there's a little bit of the "grass is greener on the other side of the fence" effect going on here, but as an American, if I hadn't read the rest of your post, I would have sworn you were giving a brutally accurate description of the US in that last sentence.
zo1 5y ago
And when it gets worse there too, what then?
- Mikeb85 5y ago
  There seems to be a lot more pushback against government overreach in most EU countries as well as the US. In Canada, most people applaud more government overreach. Just like everyone was more than happy to snitch on their neighbours during the pandemic.
  - totony 5y ago
    >Just like everyone was more than happy to snitch on their neighbours during the pandemic. This is what set me off the most in the start. Canada has an history of encouraging snitching (software piracy, zoning requirements, work permits, social gatherings). Hoe they think this is good for social cohesion is beyond me. I've only seen it fuel hatred between neighbors.

takenpilot 5y ago

Same. Am Canadian, already south. This is not the place. I'm looking at Northern Europe (good privacy laws) or Singapore (the rules are draconian, but very clear).

type0 5y ago
Netherlands, although not perfect still has some classical liberal ideals. Singapore is a "Disneyland with the Death Penalty", who in their right mind would go there.
- weiliddat 5y ago
  And the death penalty is applicable to a tiny proportion of the population (disproportionately drug smugglers). It might not be your ideal, but please refrain from implying someone else is crazy for living there.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- curation 5y ago
  I lived in Eindhoven for three years. I found it very uncomfortable.
  - todd8 5y ago
    In what ways if I may ask?
weiliddat 5y ago
Singapore would be a toss up in terms of privacy, but it is excellent and friendly for work-focused, law-abiding, norm-conforming kind of people. I don't mean it in a bad way.
- uniqueid 5y ago
  Canada is 'becoming a police state' somehow, and the answer is to move to a bastion of freedom like Singapore. Just... I... ugh.
  - filoleg 5y ago
    Yeah, I found that pretty questionable of a move as well. On the opposite side of the political isle, you could observe the same thing, with a bunch of republicans loudly proclaiming on the internet their "plans" to move to Canada whenever Obama implemented Obamacare or tried to raise taxes on anything. Given that Canada has socialized healthcare and higher taxes, they looked just as ridiculous as people in this thread "planning" a move to Singapore due to Canada pushing anti-privacy laws. That's the taste of self-hating north americans for you. A good quote in relation to this comes to mind: "There is no geographical solution to personal problems." Note: it doesn't mean that moving to another country due to your current one becoming unlivable is bad idea. But it seems weird to want to leave your country due to poor internet laws for a country with even worse internet laws and privacy. Which is what you can see with those mentions of Singapore, they didn't quite think it through at all. That's the taste of a group of self-hating north americans for you.

Mikeb85 5y ago

Yup I'm applying for an EU country passport myself (via family ties). Canada is a terrible place if you want to start a business, now house prices are getting insane and the recent encroachment on freedoms as well as lack of pushback from the population is pretty much the last straw for me. You can make more money and pay less taxes while having more affordable housing and better healthcare and education in a number of countries.

barbazoo 5y ago
I wouldn't agree it's as bad as you make it sound. However, I'm also not sure which other first world country has lower taxes, more "freedoms", higher salaries and cheap housing though.
- Mikeb85 5y ago
  The US is a very obvious example. Take a look at housing affordability indexes, Canada is behind the EU average and certainly behind the top EU destinations. Also behind Australia, the UK, the US. Toronto and Vancouver are literally 2 of the most unaffordable places on the planet. Also the US, UK and half the EU have lower taxes. The only places with comparable taxes have better healthcare and cheaper or free education. Honestly, go to the US, UK, Australia, nearly any EU country and you'll find housing prices more in line with local salaries, better infrastructure, better services, more bang for your tax dollar, etc... In what country can you give away 40% of your paycheck making less than 6 figures to then pay for dental work, prescriptions and education out of pocket while needing to make 3x the average salary to afford an average house?
  - Jordrok 5y ago
    > In what country can you give away 40% of your paycheck making less than 6 figures to then pay for dental work, prescriptions and education out of pocket while needing to make 3x the average salary to afford an average house? Yeah, I dunno... Maybe there's a little bit of the "grass is greener on the other side of the fence" effect going on here, but as an American, if I hadn't read the rest of your post, I would have sworn you were giving a brutally accurate description of the US in that last sentence.

zo1 5y ago

And when it gets worse there too, what then?

Mikeb85 5y ago
There seems to be a lot more pushback against government overreach in most EU countries as well as the US. In Canada, most people applaud more government overreach. Just like everyone was more than happy to snitch on their neighbours during the pandemic.
- totony 5y ago
  >Just like everyone was more than happy to snitch on their neighbours during the pandemic. This is what set me off the most in the start. Canada has an history of encouraging snitching (software piracy, zoning requirements, work permits, social gatherings). Hoe they think this is good for social cohesion is beyond me. I've only seen it fuel hatred between neighbors.