Ron said: "the risk of something that may or may not happen is not worth taking him from a lifestyle and opportunites that he now enjoys as a citizen of the United States."

Neither the lifestyle or opportunities are less when you live in Canada, thank you very much. (One of the reasons being that the Canada-US economic relationship is the world's largest trading economy--we had a lot of doubts about NAFTA and free trade, and there have been both problems and opportunities associated with them). And if you are native-born US citizen, or your parents were, your US citizenship is not affected by where in the world you live. You can become a citizen of Canada three years after immigrating here, and still keep your US citizenship. The only way you can lose your US citizenship is by specifically, intentionally renouncing it.

Bears eat mostly German tourists in Algonquin Park. Seriously, there is very little danger from black bears which are common in wooded areas east of the Rockies. I saw one last week walking the dog (here in rural eastern Ontario). Cougar attacks have become a problem ONLY on Vancouver Island, particularly the north.

Greg is right about the trees being gaudy in October but he didn't seem to mind it when he was here last week. Perhaps he is having a delayed reaction and has been seriously traumatized by seeing the world in a different colour...

Both times there was a draft implemented in Canada,

1. there was a world war on, in which we were enthusiastically participating
   
2. there were riots in the streets
   

These days a draft here is totally out of the question, we could never afford it. We barely have a military. The condition of our military, and the crappy equipment they have, embarrasses even peaceniks.

I don't understand why anyone would be judgmental of people thinking of moving elsewhere. Living in a different part of the world than you grew up in is usually a worthwhile experience.

We have a long history of getting left-leaning immigrants from the States, while right-wing Canadians move to live in the States. (I would like to apologize up front to you for David Frum. Sorry about that.) Every indication is that this will continue. This conversation is going on in lots of places.

Bill