Without A Country

Well.

Perhaps it is time for me to find a small piece of Crown land, annex it and claim it as my own independent country. Disallow the vaunted and admired Canada entrance or recognition. Impose a levy upon all who would want to venture into my domain. Bar any incursion into my dominion, with force as required.

Now, why would I even consider such a drastic move? Let me tell you a story.

Eight years ago, I was asked by my father to drive him and my aunt to Minnesota to visit family there. I was willing, but I needed to obtain a Canadian passport to make the crossing into the USofA.

No problem. I got all the required documentation together -- applications, birth certificate, driver's licence, photo and a wondrous piece of paper issued by the ruling Canadian government of the time called "Registration of Birth Abroad". It was created because I was born in that same USofA in 1957 and it proclaimed me as a citizen of Canada.

But, Passport Canada (a Canadian government agency) did not recognize the paper I had as being valid. It was a copy. Never mind that this thing had taken me to the States many times and even helped to land me a contract with the Canada Revenue Agency. Sorry, bub...

OK. I heard about an enhanced driver's licence issued by the Ontario government that would allow a person to cross the border sans passport. I went to a Service Ontario office to apply. The clerk behind the desk didn't know wtf this Registration of Birth Abroad was and began to ask co-workers about it. One said, " I've seen that before. It's good." and I got my EDL.

Fast forward to the present. I tried to get myself placed as a signing authority on a bank account for a group I am a member of. None of my pieces of ID were satisfactory. I had lost my EDL because the ON government said my eyesight wasn't good enough to continue driving. I didn't have a Social Insurance card showing my SI number, it having fallen apart after 40 years and me not willing to spend the $10 or so to get a piece of paper... well, yeah. The ID I had used satisfactorily for over 50 years was now worth fire kindling.

Skip a couple of months, and I again tried to become a signature on another account for a group that I was elected treasurer of. Guess what? SSDD.

Hm. I decided to budget my pennies (which we no longer have in Canuckistan) and get an official Ontario Photo Card. I went to the same Service Ontario office where I got my EDL. Hello? The Registration of Birth Abroad isn't on their list of "official" documents. Plus, I had the original document in my hands, not the copy which previously stymied Passport Canada.

I mean, really. Just a few short years ago, this office gave me an enhanced driver's licence based on lesser docs. But, now... sorry, No Soup For YOU!!

Sigh. Anyway, I found that I had an opportunity to go to a convention in Minnesota that just happened to be on my clean date. -[don't ask]- But, I need a passport. Instead of going through the hoops & hurdles of paperwork and photo, I went to the Passport Canada today just to see if the improved Registration of blahblah was sufficient, based on recent roadblocks.

Nope. That document is not listed as a valid form of identification. I didn't want to point out my last visit there and that I had the thing they said they needed and that they were being absolute fucking dickheads about... well, yeah.

My next step is to fashion two letters of concern. One to the Ontario government (ie. Kathleen Wynne), the Minister of Identification Fuckery, and my local Member of Provincial Parliament. That is, one letter to three separate Provincial offices.

The second letter would be the same but directed to three branches of the federal government. One to the PM, one to the Minister in charge of Passport Fuckery and the last to my local Member of Parliament. And each and every one of those six people are all fucking Liberals! I am screwed.

At this rate, I doubt the USofA would even grant me entrance. Thus, I might just have to take a page from les maudit Québécois playbook and actually declare independence. Look out, world, here comes the Royal Republic of Greybeard!! (population:1)

Keep The Faith*