Is Canada or Denmark the ideal country?

The other evening I was giving an after dinner talk to an investment club.  I was asked which country I would advise a young British student to choose if he, or she, had decided to emigrate.  I had to answer without much time for reflection, and found that I was saying “Canada”.   A member of the audience commented:  “I thought you would say that.”   I then listed the attractions:  “A stable society, access to the U.S. market, good educational and health systems, nice people, a just system of law, economy based on strong raw material supplies, including oil.  Low crime rates.”  Afterwards I reflected that it would be hard to find a country with so many positives and so few negatives – apart of course from the Canadian winter, and even that may benefit from global warming.

What are the other candidates?  One of the guests commented that Denmark was the most civilised country in Europe.  The Danes also have a cold winter.

Comments

[P.Shepherd]

Canada should be renamed Canadasia. Asians have managed to hijack the Immigration Department.

[James Macdonald]

Well I think the remarkably beautiful blondes cycling around Copenhagen just shade this in Denmark´s favour, at least as far as summer is concerned. Both counties perhaps struggling in the winter months.

[Kay Tie]

Canada? You must be mad. It's like Britain of the 1970s: vastly more professions are guilds, run to increase prices and shut out competition. Each province runs its own alcohol monopoly. Taxes are sky-high. Car insurance is eye-watering (five times more expensive than the UK). Employees are normally given just two weeks holiday a year. The Government is a mix of Provincial and Federal, which each trying to blame the other. The result is entrenched ineptness. But this is all academic since you can't get to Canada easily anyway: it takes FIVE YEARS for the Canadian High Commission in London to issue a residence visa, and it costs thousand in fees paid to the Government (including a "landing tax" for the right to land in Canada as an immigrant!).

[John Whitmore]

There is probably some linkage between cold winters and pleasant, if bland, societies. The northern states of the US, for instance, tend to be more like Canada in outlook, despite the strenuous efforts by US media and governments to make them conform to the nationalistic ethos that demands subservience to one of two parties, and as little variation as possible from the bombastic, me-first attitude associated with the "Ugly American". Vermont is, in US terms, a socilaist entity, and Massachusetts is so "liberal" that there is serious discussion about forcing them to secede from redneck heaven!

Similarly, Norway, Sweden, or Finland could be seen as desirable for most of the reasons that apply to Canada, and Alaska has some attraction for the more "leave-me-alones". Iceland has some positive features, including a very high book-writing rate (unfortunately, only in a language that no-one else reads!) Only Russia, of the "northerns", is less than satisfactory.

Since there is no really "southern" country to match, I can't extend the parallel, except to give New Zealand a nod. Argentina might have qualified, but there is too much of that country too far north, and too little, with too little population far enough from the Equator.

Is all of this something to do with having to survive indoors, probably with people you are tired of, while those nearer the Equator can be out-and-about, cooking up trouble?

I would refer you to Margaret Atwood's "Survival" for more study on this.

[Rob]

I am a Canadian who has never been to Denmark, so I really cannot comment on that country. But certainly what the writer says about us is true. We have some difficulties, of course, but by and large we fairly sane, our cities are safe, our economy strong, and we welcome people from all over everywhere. And we are enjoying record warm temps thus far ths winter!

[SD Goh]

MightI suggest to WRM to pay a visit to Malaysia, if he has not already done so before?
Here is a country, though not a Utopia -- not yet, anyway -- that combines, in my opinion, some of the best things of the East and West. To start with, it has lots of greenery and eco wonders, shy but very friendly peoples (and not a few are multi-lingual including English), colorful cultures, all kinds of culinary delights, local and colonial buildings of historic and architectural interest (the pristine,little chapel of the missionary school that I attended in Malacca ie. St.Francis Inst, is surely worth a visit by WRM). I am sure, no doubt, of great interest too to WRM would be some of the Catholic churches built centuries ago, where I will be attending midnight Mass in one on C'mas eve, which, apart from its multi-ethnic congregation has a glorious choir to boot. There are a few theatres of high repute here too, and even an international orchestra, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orch. to cater to WRM's cultural needs. And many a fruitful day can be obtained at the Borders bookshop in town.
Ah, a book in hand and a cuppa of Darjeeling! What eternal joy!
On a more mundane level, there are various modern amenities to serve everyone's needs: designer coffee shops (gross anathemas!), gourmet restaurants, 5-Star hotels, hypermarkets, and shopping complexes etc. So, if WRM does not know this, for anyone who is considering to retire to a hot (but bearable) and beautiful country -- just like this one, which I also think is the best place in the world to live at this moment -- a Second Home Prog exists here. And yes, the only cold that the honourable WRM is most likely to encounter occasionally, is the one coming from the bureaucrat(same everywhere, I suppose) but I can assure him, that, at the very least, he will be spared the bien pensant PC secularists and leftists of whom it can be said, they hardly exist here! If Mr. Rees-Mogg will excuse me now as I need to hurry to get to Tesco for the fast diminishing stock of their wonderful seasonal mince pies and then afterwards in the dead silence of the night listen to a CD recording of Holst's 'In the Bleak Midwinter' with the Worcester Cathedral Choir. Pure bliss! A blessed Christmas to you and your family.

[mark]

You will find Vancouver BC has far milder winters than the rest of Canada.

[Kenneth Armitage]

On reflection, and having visited Canada very recently attending and chairing International meetings and before that Sweden, the USA, Japan, Italy, Japan and Denmark for similar reasons but we have noit yet managed to reach Australia, I have to agree with Lord Rees-Mogg, for the time being. Yes, Canada has a stable society, access to natural mineral and raw material supplies, nice people and is generally very civilised but I remain unconvinced that access to the US market is necessarily positive because I gained the understanding that this is a one-way flow and that the US is sucking out natural resources and natural water supplies to feed its voracious market. However, Sweden and Denmark are also very civilised as are Japan and Italy, but they are suffering, unlike Canada, from increased overcrowding. Perhaps it is a case of the number of people per square foot that makes one country more ideal than another. That is why I am hoping to convince Australia to host some meetings.

[enzo vivarelli]

What about Australia? It has all the pluses listed for Canada PLUS a livable climate.
Incidentally, the wine is great too.

[William Henderson]

This writer would support Lord Rees-Mogg commnents about Canada as a possible choice of countries one may wish to immigrate to, for all reasons he had stated.

British Columbian's born there or not, show the politness of those of the past Victorain age plus the the proudness to succeed and be a true Canadain.

Canada's French speaking people are proud been from Quebec,New Brunswick or else where in Canada. The common factor that ties Canada togeather is we are Canadians no matter where our ancestors came from.

We are not a country that feels we are better than others, but shows support to others when needed, Yes Canada is a nice place to live

[Winchester whisperer]

Permafrost or permaboredom and no cricket in either country...Give me Australia and a private jet anyday, or even cricketless California.

[p k casimir]

Low crime rate? Canada? You are grossly out of touch sir. Take out the homicide rate and Canada has a very high crime rate, much much higher than the United States. Toronto is ridden with violent street crime, rampant hard drug abuse, burglaries, and rapes. It also has a gang culture that would do Los Angeles proud. Like most British and European commentators, your view of Canada as a low crime society is way out of date. Do your research sir.

[Robin Hicks]

Well My Lord

Might I suggest Switzerland - the only true democracy in the world and in the heart of whatever it is you want to be in - principally Europe and Culture.
No suprise you chose NZ and Canada - its the Europhobe which dulls your normally clear mind.
Also they seem to understand how to deal with the hard things like drugs, taking leave in a civilised way - and the trains run on time without a dictator. And best of all - does anyone know the name of any politician there - what bliss!

[Gervas Douglas]

Denmark has an inhospitable climate and appalling taxes - hardly ideal ingredients for the ideal country. Mind you, the women are attractive.

[m.duforest]

as a resident of canada I can testify that mr.Rees Mogg is wrong on all counts1]Canada is one of the heaviest taxed country in the world 2]It might take you 18 months to get surgery to the point that the health dept must sent patients to the US.3]we have at the moment a righthist government recently elected but which is next year doomed to be replaced by the Liberals who have strong marxist tendencies.

[Gilman]

If peace, wealth and stability are your criteria why not choose Bermuda? Its warm, it has equal access to Europe and North America, it has the highest per capita income of any territory in the world, the people are friendly and there are no language problems.

On the other hand, there are other parts of the world where there are many more opportunities to enrich yourself, both in the financial sense and otherwise. Canada and Denmark are lovely places to live, but security is not everything.

[Mike Trapido]

South Africa surely? We have a low crime rate....ask our police commissioner. We had a stable economy until they stole the horse. Drug problem? Hardly, there's an endless supply..

Access to US and other foreign markets may not be as good as Canada but generically speaking....

We have revolutionised the fight against AIDS....more potatoes anyone? Hoi, not until you've had your shower!

We are world leaders in the fight against corruption....more gravy with your potatoes?

[David Pearson]

I didn't realise that Rees-Mogg was so perceptive. Of course he is right.

Canada is probably the most civilised country in the world, the quality of life is superb, it is still a gentile country, despite its extreme neighbour, and you can still smell the opportunities of the frontier.

A great country for a young person to move to, but don't tell too many.

[John Kidd]

Many of the comments Lord Rees-Mogg justifiably makes about Canada apply equally to Australia, my country of residence, except for the cold winters and nearness to US markets (though we now have a free-trade treaty with the US). Indeed, should our would be enterprising emigrant wish to sample cold winters with dramatic mountains, the scenic delights of New Zealand are readily accessible.
However, except for its beautiful Vancouver ground and once back in the 1930s even beating, in a social match, an Australian team including Don Bradman, Canada largely lacks appeal to a cricketing emigrant. That might well be the clincher for some to favour Australia, the land of the newly won "Ashes".

[David Chardavoyne]

Both are good choices. I also have a personal fondness for Switzerland, although it is expensive. The thing that I notice about all of these choices, though, is that their undeniable charms are made possible, to a large extent, by their neighbors and friends in the world of nations. As stand-alone countries, required to defend themselves and employ most of their ambitious young people and support their own industries, they might not be so attractive.

[Jens Hansen]

As Denmark is a country surrounded by seas that are navigable at winter, surely, our winters cannot be very cold. The real draw-back of Denmark as an ideal country is the taxation that hampers very-long-term growth and drains the country of its best brains thereby slowly eroding the foundations of the present high standards of living.

[Terence Flanagan]

A view from the colonies. Canada offers even more than those virtues enumerated. We have, at least outside Quebec, a strong British tradition. There are places (southern BC, southern Ontario) where winters are suprisingly mild. Our house and property prices are, at least by British standards, affordable. In short, send us your huddled masses of adventurous students, the more the merrier.

[John Charlesworth]

Canada’s main problem is the cold. Perhaps Global Warming may help. The Rocky Mountain scenery is breathtaking and the people generally friendly. I have always been a bit surprised at the antagonism between the USA and Canada.

Also Montreal and Quebec have long been divided between French and English speaking and culture differences: so much so if my memory serves me well that it has come very close to separating
away from Canada on more than one occasion.

[Andrew, Edmonton, Alberta]

I love Denmark and it is a good choice but, as a resident of Canada for 8 years, three of them in Quebec I can say that Canada is a wonderful country.

Is it the best place in the world to live? It is for me.

Tax is lower than the UK, previous writers comments not withstanding.

Standards of living and quality of life are exceptional and, although I earn less than I did in the UK, I keep more and it goes farther. I couldn't afford the house I am building nor the car I am driving in the UK even if my wife were working, which she is not.

Healthcare & Education are still excellent, even if not as good as they once were, which I would refute.

Canadians are the most welcoming people I have ever met and we have room to live.

I only ever got 3 weeks holiday a year which was tough at first but it's not the two that the previous comment implied.

What is the downside? There isn't one. Yes winters are cold but summers are fantastic and cold winters mean I get to ski.

It may not be the best place in the world but it is a great country full of opportunity and it is a great place to raise a family.

[A Owen]

The answer to the question 'which is the best country' is clearly Switzerland. She has no standing army (a militia is a very healthy state of affairs). Crime is low; liberty is prized. She is prosperous. The scenery is not bad either.

[helen heintzmann]

All true but dull as dish water!
Take your pick....culture,tradition, or shopping delights, pretty safe streets and fairly decent schools ....most cold northern countries offer these...

[Bren Axon]

I have to agree with Kay Tie on many points We emigrated to British Columbia this year. It certainly is like Britain of the 70s in many respects. Unions are very strong here in a way that they were in the UK at that time. Technologically, Canada is behind the UK in many respects. What Kay Tie says is true, especially about alcohol monopoly, taxes, petrol prices and car insurance! In British Columbia, ICBC (a government company of course) has the monopoly on car insurance - you have to have insurance with them. This is also the official body that deals with driving tests and issuing driving licences. This is felt by many to be a rather incestuous way of doing things. Yes, the wait to emigrate to Canada is appalling at the moment, and the requirements of the government of prospective immigrants are probably higher than those of Australia and New Zealand. In the emigration process, the Canadian authorities relieve you of your money at every given opportunity. The right of landing fee is very expensive, though last year it was halved and we who had already paid the fee were reimbursed half of it. Living in Canada is an expensive undertaking, especially where food, taxes and petrol is concerned. Unless you are on a low income, (and then you get help) prescription charges ar also horrendous, even with my husband's health insurance that he receives via his employment.

However, I do not agree with PK Casimir about the crime rate generally. Toronto is known for high crime rates,but well, it's a huge city! But here in BC and especially on Vancouver Island (our home) the crime rate is much lower and we never feel threatened in any way. This is one of the main reasons for moving here. Canadians are a generally polite and very friendly nation and we love them. We live here on Vancouver Island because its similar to the size of England (300 miles by about 80) but with only 750,000 or so population and most of those living around parts of the east, south and southeast coast line. The feeling of space and room to breathe is something that we wanted (we lived in Devon in the UK, which we found was becoming increasingly crowded). We can drive for miles and never meet a traffic jam (or sometimes, another car)both on our island and on the mainland. Therefore, although there are some disadvantages to living here, they are far outweighed by the advantages. We would not swap Vancouver Island for the UK right now with its overcrowding and high crime rates (even in our sleepy little corner of Devon.

[matamuermos]

are you all mad or what? Spain is the place, low taxes in comparison with us, still a lot of corruption around the 'costa 'local governmemt to do as you please for a few bobs in the right hands, and there is so manny of us around that you feel like you are at home with a nice whether.

[Mickey]

Canada might be nice for retirement. Any young student with ambition would do much better going many other places including the U.K.

[Shahida]

^^^^To the above poster; everybody complains about toronto's crime rate well heres a thought...STOP immigrating to my precious city which just 5 years ago was in a better position crime and infrastructure wise.

Out of all the countries my father had the choice to immigrate to (from the U.K., U.S.A. and Canada) he chose this great nation of ours. WE Canadians have no need to sell our country to anyone. It is what it is.

People like the first poster P.SHEPHERD are rare in our country, where they appreciate Asians. I like the racist connotations there. Please do not visit or immigrate to Canada anytime soon cause people like you are better suited to the U.S of A. Cheers :)

[Patricia Finlay]

My family: father's side--Highlanders driven off their land by the English-- settled in Canada, 1740; mother's side--part Irish--starved, dispossessed & hung by the English; and part French. They came in 1840. "Carré Finlay" in Quebec City is named for my ancestors. But I only feel at home in France, where I lived and worked for many years. I've seen enough trees, empty space and snow to last ten lifetimes, and English Canadians (I am one, even if bilingual) drive me mad: smug, ignorant, boring, insecure, self-righteous and hypocritical. Without Americans next door to hate, they'd disappear into nothingness, because they don't actually exist.As the writer said, it's not a real country, it's a multicultural hostel.

[Shahida]

how is being multicultural a bad thing? There seems to be a common thread amongst the racist people commenting on this artricle, that being multicultural is somehow an insult to a certain country?

So should all countries of the world become like France, eh? A beacon of light for all western nations by setting an example of how to treat minorities.

Anglophones, as we english speaking people are called, are known to be warm and welcoming to visitors. One visit to Quebec city or Montreal will prove how bitter and hostile they are to people who speak zee english. Dont get me wrong, going to Quebec is like a breath of fresh air, especially with ALL the trees. You will come back down to earth, with a loud thump, once you have interacted with a frenchie though but still worth the visit. Just have your armour ready and your rudeside ready to go!

[oldasiahand]

WRM is correct. For the young and ambitious Canada is a great choice. Australia is a great choice for those valuing the outdoors with a world class university system. ( More unis in the global top 50 on a per capita basis than the UK). For the less ambitious or those with some capital seeking a quieter lifestyle then NZ makes good sense. Unfortunatly, they do not have a retirees program the way Australia does. But Thailand and Malaysia score highly on that count.

If you are young and skilled today the world is your oyster. This comes from someone who has spent a third of his life in the UK, a third in North America and a third in Asia.

[ron williams]

OZ - swim all year round or surf for 4-5 hours before work 2 mins from the beach,

British stock, TV and language.

Cheap fuel/cars, homes, clothing,british sports and culture,

[Lord Truth]

So just WHERE has Lord Rees Mogg been wintering this last month? Canada? Denmark? Sorry!- but theres no way that that old man is going to freeze in those terrible places....When it comes down to it,lets see... hm...South of France? Australia? (Id bet on the latter)
Whitmores questioning concerning the balanced, essentially socialistic structures of northern countries can be explained by simply the desire for survival that produces togetherness...Russians and others are often laughed at for the male habit of kissing on meeting-in fact if you have travelled miles in minus twenty you would kiss your host when -with luck you finally met him-alive
Also of course the colder the climate the more important females are-for bed warmth keeping the fire going -cooking etc..This produces a natural sense of equality.
In hot climates the reverse is true-sex becomes tiresome and exhausting-food need only be a handful of dates and there is no need for a communal fire-so there is greater individuality and lack of social communality.
It is also true -in my opinion-that the greater "power" or position of women in colder climates is a potential threat to the male that is met by the action that ultimately leads to technological innovation.Science flourishes among those raised in cold climates.
I have always considered that the Tom and Jerry cartoons are a good example of this.The cat is in fact the potentially dominant female-the mouse is the endlessly innovative threatened male always inventing new ways to maintain his superiority over the female.
Please quote Lord Truth if you are putting any of these ideas in a thesis (or find me a publisher!)
I would also point out that my theories also apply to world disaters or particularly-in the past-a nuclear war.
The possibility of a war between Russia and the West was always essentially absurd as IF it had happened the world -what remained of it- would not have descended into some kind of anarchy as beloved by film makers but would have come together(who ever "won") quite naturally as a communistic society-just as in the London blitz ,within a year a thousand years of class collapsed into a largely all together communal society

[IceKo]

Canada is a pc-driven social experiment, smug and insecure at the same time, having as much a sense of being a guiding light to the rest of the world as the Pilgrim fathers ever did. Its health system may be better than the UK's, but that's not saying a lot. In many ways it's far behind much of Europe medically, and of Europe and Asia technologically. Competition is squelched in innumerable inventive and allegedly do-gooder ways, and nanny-state ideas are rife. Puerile anti-Americanism is the major foodstuff, mostly mental trans-fat, of any Canadian political identity that does exist. Perhaps WRM remembers a time in his youth when Canada was a real nation. Canadian foreign policy was always tinged with a naive moralism, but Canada was not the holier-than-thou know-it-all it has become. Most Canadians don't have a clue about any of this either, seriously entertaining ideas of themselves and their social models as the acme of human historical development to date. Too many Canadians really believe that the rest of the world looks to Canada adoringly and with great respect to know how to do things, especially societally, best. Perhaps they are right. Perhaps people do. Even WRM seems besotted. If so, what a con. Still, maybe young Brits would feel at home in Canada. They could certainly do more things privately there than they can in Britain, on a social level at least, and there is no debilitating class system in Canada on the scale there is in Blighty. The frying pan probably can look attractive to someone mired in fire. There are in fact, still a lot of Canadians who have their feet on the ground, but they have long been outnumbered by blindered social moralists comfortable with the insulated, pontificating life of national righteousness that moralists everywhere excel at.

[The Surlya Beaver]

As a Canadian living in Britain who is married to an Australian I'd like to offer the following thoughts on where the best place to live is.

If you like history and architecture, excitement, and "culture" stay in Britain. If you value good weather and orderliness, go to Australia. And if you love liberty, go to Canada.

Frankly I can't understand how anyone who has moved to Canada from Britain can write that the Great White North is expensive, highly-taxed, and is akin to the UK of 30 years ago. True most provinces still have government run liquor stores. But the rest is totally bogus. High petrol prices? Last time I checked, petrol costs about $0.95/litre in small markets such as Newfoundland or Saskatchewan which equates to approximately 40p/litre. Expensive? I think taxes are marginally lower in Canada and in general are heading in the right direction (down). Last I checked, in Saskatchewan, where I lived before moving to the UK, combined provincial and federal sales taxes (our equivalent to the VAT) stood at 11%, in Alberta it is 6%. And the so-called high price of auto insurance? This would be due to the fact that damages awards for injuries suffered in automobile accidents in Canada tend to be higher than in the UK, and also due to the fact that automobiles depreciate far more quickly in the UK than in North America. As for the suggestion that unions have some stranglehold on the Canadian economy - this is utter nonsense. Outside of the government sector unions have been declining in clout for ages. As for the suggestion

I agree that Canada does have problems. Canada has a high crime rate compared to the US, but not as high as the UK. And we still have too many traffic lights and not enough roundabouts. There is less choice in areas such as energy supply and mobile phones although this is changing.

Now set those few complaints against the various benefits. Housing prices which (unless you live in BC or Toronto)vary between the very cheap ($30000) to the relatively cheap ($300,000). No MOTs (the reason why automobiles depreciate so quickly in Britain), no CCTV cameras, no radar cameras, no congestion charging, and no talk of ID cards. Plumbing that works. Heaters that work. No carpets in the toilet/bathroom. More choice in TV and Radio. Better schools. Wider streets. More efficient bureaucracies (I know whereof I speak having had to deal with the Law Society of England and Wales, and apply to DWP for an NI number in the past year). Fewer yobs puking and pissing in the streets.

As for the winters? Some of us find -30 invigorating.

[The Surlya Beaver]

Oh, and did I mention - in Canada there is for all intents and purposes no inheritance tax?

[Andrew Milner]

If you are already stuck with an all-British family, your options are limited. If not, then try Asia as a region. Depends where you are in life; starting out or starting over, which can be another way of referring to retirement. The Holocaust-denial laws make Europe something of a write-off. Not that you plan to deny the Holocaust, but the very fact that so many European countries have these archaic laws should give pause. Now I'm not saying an Internet cafe is downtown Vientiane is your answer, but you need to put yourself in a favourable supply-demand situation. A Brit. moving to Canada; what you have to offer is not that obvious. In Asia, English gentleman is flavour of the month, and an Asian spouse is hardly the supreme sacrifice. The usual route is entry-level English teaching while you establish yourself and get to grips with the language. So tuck in your ego and work out the difference between a subjunctive mood and a hole in the ground.

[nick]

OZ is the place to move to.

[Steve, Massachusetts]

Canada is indeed a wonderful, beautiful, comfortable place.

And yet young professional Canadians move en masse to the USA.

[Leila]

P. Shepherd: "Canada should be renamed Canadasia. Asians have managed to hijack the Immigration Department."
>>>And be reminded,"Native INDIAN Canadians" were annihilated. And left to die on dismal freezing reservations by your invading foreigners! Very nice, eh

[Dave]

Up to a point, Lord Rees-Mogg!

[Tam O'Ranter]

Right on, IceKo! Smugness, anti-Americanism and political correctness run riot. And I haven't even mentioned the lack of culture. Very tedious!

[Tam O'Ranter]

Right on, IceKo! Smugness, anti-Americanism and political correctness run riot. And I haven't even mentioned the lack of culture. Very tedious!

[Calum Aikman]

All of the above posts merely prove that there is no 'ideal' nation, no recognisable utopia that can put the rest of the world to shame. And thank the Lord for that! Imperfections and flaws provide countries with character - and are necessary for societies to improve. While it is mildly distressing to find that almost all of the lands mentioned are characterised by bland uniformity - there is very little to choose between two developed nations as faithful to the tenets of liberal democracy as Canada and Denmark are - the fact that their respective values (or disadvantages) are ferociously argued over indicates that there is no common perception of what makes a nation state a 'desirable' place to live in. People have differing perspectives, conditioned as they are by their own opinions.

As for my own advice? Forget Canada, or Denmark - or even Oz! As there is clearly no nation which truly has greener grass, my advice would be to stick with Blighty. If you must migrate - a compulsion which is surely unnecessary in the First World, at least - then close your eyes and stick a pin on the map at random.

[yogesh]

At present i am working in india .I eagar to working in canada or australia Which country is better to job?

[Hamish D. Kerr]

Sir, You are right, Canada has all the efficiency of the USA without the inhumanity and all the humanity of the UK without the inefficiency !
However,we expat British need your help...
I paid complete mandatory payments into the UK pension scheme for 45 years and as I stand here on the precipice of retirement,at least I have the UK old age pension to look forward to. However, for the first time in my life I am the subject of discrimination...you see since 1994 I have lived in Canada and whilst the UK pension is paid to British citizens living here, it is at a FROZEN RATE .There will be no increases,no uprating, no index linking - EVER !
If I lived 600 yards away on the US side of the border ,or in any of 100 other countries, I would enjoy full uprating every year.
If the UK Pensioners living here were all Black, all Jewish or all Gay this discrimination would stop in a heartbeat.We are however predominately Christian,White,and heterosexual and without exception OLD !
We need the help of every British MP who believes in justice and equality to sign Section 1 of EDM 856,currently before the House, which would help to end this "AGEISM" and our FROZEN PENSIONS .

[GK]

Finland, Finland, Finland
The country where I quite want to be
Your mountains so lofty
Your treetops so tall
Finland, Finland, Finland
Finland has it all!

[barkerplace]

I moved to Canada 21 years ago from Ireland. It's been a reasonable place to live. Income tax is high but indirect taxes are low - an automatic RAV-4 is almost twice as expensive in Ireland as here. But my advice would be - stay at home, if possible. You'll miss the sport, food, accents, maybe even language of your home country more and more as the years go by, to say nothing of your family.