[refurb]

Oh, I don't disagree at all that it's a smart move. If I lived in an unstable country, I'd likely do the same.

However, the question is is Canada getting the short end of the stick? If you are a Canadian citizen, you get full health care coverage if you live in Canada, you get fully subsidized post-secondary education and your offspring get Canadian citizenship.

I guess the thought is, with Canada providing all of those benefits, maybe the hurdle for Canadian citizenship should be a little higher?

I guess my thought is that Canadians need to decide what type of immigrant they want. One that views Canada as their new home or just a residence of last resort?

[ktizo]

You also need to factor the benefits to Canada of improved trade relations, as well as the saving in bureaucracy that you get from having a liberal immigration policy, rather than merely focusing on the direct cost or benefit of a given individual. Gut instincts of strict fairness when trying to judge people who are taking out but haven't put in yet don't always apply, especially if the cost of enforcement is higher than the cost of being more laissez-faire. And people under 25-30 pretty much can't be judged at all on that basis, for fairly obvious reasons.