Should We Pay? (Political)

[Straight-8]

Canada has the largest number of 'citizens' in Lebanon of the non-combatants and is planning to evacuate 30,000 of them. There are NOT 30,000 Canadian tourists in Lebanon. Of course, there are as many stories as there are evacuees. Some of them are Canadian citizens (only) and residents of Canada who happen to be there touring or visiting friends or relations, on the other extreme some are dual (or more) citizens and resident only in Lebanon. Many Lebanese (and citizen/residents of other 'hotspots) hold Canadian citizenship as a fallback for when things go bad in their own country.

So my questions are:
should Canada pay for the evacuation of all of these 'citizens'?
Some of them?
If so, how should we distinguish?
Should we make it more difficult to hold Canadian citizenship if you are a non-resident or are a citizen of another country?

 

[oggbashan]

If they have genuine Canadian citizenship, even if they are of dual nationality, then Canada should evacuate all who want to leave.

Whether they are given a bill afterwards is another matter.

The same should apply to all nationalities who want to leave Lebanon. The logistics depend on Israel's cooperation.

I would rather see headlines that say "10,000 citizens evacuated safely" than "200 Canadians killed by fighting between Israel and Hezbollah".

Og

 

[Antfarmer77]

I would rather see headlines that say "10,000 citizens evacuated safely" than "200 Canadians killed by fighting between Israel and Hezbollah".

Og

Ditto

 

[Straight-8]

Well that was easy! I wonder if it is representative or if I'd get a different response on, say, the General Board?

 

[3113]

This may have changed, but last I read, the U.S. was making it's citizen sign something that said they'd pay the U.S. Gov. back for evacuating them. The argument the U.S. Gov. was giving was that these folk decided to go to Lebanon knowing it wasn't the nicest place and could be dangerous so the U.S. shouldn't have to pay to bail them out--but the U.S. would loan them the money (as it were) to bail them out.

I haven't yet decided what to think of this.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

Well that was easy! I wonder if it is representative or if I'd get a different response on, say, the General Board?

LOL! Anything but that.

I won't tell the frosty folks to the North what they should do, but here in the land of freedom fries I would say no, we shouldn't make them pay, unless you want to bill them for the cost of a commercial airplane flight, or whatever. We're rich, we can afford to be generous and helpful, and that pretty much applies to Canadia too.

Should AH pay to evacuate AHers from GB? I'll kick in - that is a fate too horrible to contemplate.

 

[cheerful_deviant]

What is the whole evacuation going to cost? A million bucks? Maybe two? The federal government burns thru that in about 6 minutes on a good day. I'd say that in the relative scheme of things it's hardly worth worrying about.

My opinion: Thankfully, some people were removed from harms way, now lets turn our attention to helping the people that couldn't get out.

 

[Straight-8]

What is the whole evacuation going to cost? A million bucks? Maybe two? The federal government burns thru that in about 6 minutes on a good day. I'd say that in the relative scheme of things it's hardly worth worrying about.

If they are evacuating 30,000 at an average cost of $5000 that is one hundred and fifty million dollars ($150,000,000). I'd like to make it clear that I haven't heard the actual average cost but you can bet it will be at least that much.

But given the general feeling that 'we have to get these people out', should we look at tightening up citizenship requirements in the first place? What does it really mean to be a Canadian citizen? Is just holding a Canadian passport enough?

And regarding the comment that we a rich enough, of course we are, (it is always a question of priorities) but I remind you that Canada has the greatest number of citizens of any foreign nation in Lebanon (how did this happen?) and we have a much smaller tax base than the US.

 

[LadyJeanne]

This may have changed, but last I read, the U.S. was making it's citizen sign something that said they'd pay the U.S. Gov. back for evacuating them. The argument the U.S. Gov. was giving was that these folk decided to go to Lebanon knowing it wasn't the nicest place and could be dangerous so the U.S. shouldn't have to pay to bail them out--but the U.S. would loan them the money (as it were) to bail them out.

I haven't yet decided what to think of this.

I believe Tony Snow indicated this payment for evac was a law that Congress had passed, and you know, they just have to follow the laws...

The dollar amount I read somewhere was $150 to get to Cyprus; more if need be to get from Cyprus to another location.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

This may have changed, but last I read, the U.S. was making it's citizen sign something that said they'd pay the U.S. Gov. back for evacuating them. The argument the U.S. Gov. was giving was that these folk decided to go to Lebanon knowing it wasn't the nicest place and could be dangerous so the U.S. shouldn't have to pay to bail them out--but the U.S. would loan them the money (as it were) to bail them out.


I haven't yet decided what to think of this.

Ideally, we'd like to see the government say, "C'mon, the bill's on us." Honestly, I don't care if they pay, or the government. The point is to get them out of there.

Q_C