BIRD TALK

Why can’t we Canadian snowbirds be treated with greater acknowledgement of the impact that we have on the American economy? Instead, we are restricted to 183 days. Even if we travel back to Canada for Xmas, the time out of the U.S. is still counted towards the 183 days. Canada is U.S.’s closest ally and largest trading partner. The southern U.S border is overrun with illegal immigrants, while we snowbirds line up and obey all laws and spend untold millions of dollars. I own my townhouse and pay property tax, but we don’t seem to garner the acknowledgement of our impact. It must now be going on six or seven years that the Snowbird Association has been attempting to increase the allowable time which we can spend in the U.S. with no luck. Even with the exchange rate, we look forward to heading down to our home in Florida. But the lack of progress with the snowbird visa and the unreasonable counting of days back to Canada are both beginning to have an effect on our future plans. We think that, as Canadians, we should be better acknowledged for our contribution to the economies in which we spend our undervalued money. We do not travel to the U.S. to take anything. We spend, to enhance their local economies.

Robert (Bob) Gould
Renfrew, ON

Ed.: We couldn’t agree with you more, Bob. And the CSA is working on it!