I'm a new Canadian

 

As of today, I 'm a Canadian citizen.

That I applied may surprise many. 

I became Swiss in 2006 where I'd lived since Sept. 1990. I planned to live there the rest of my life and wanted to be able to vote and be a fully contributing citizen where I lived.

I had planned to keep my American nationality. I had loved ones there. I stayed active politically regularly calling congress on certain legislation. I always voted. Giving up those rights hurt.

However FATCA and my reduced financial choices such as having a bank account and life insurance made that impossible. I renounced. On behalf of myself and other expats I fought for expats both with a lawsuit (along with Republicans and Rand Paul)  and going to Congress itself.

For seven years I had a credit union newsletter sent to approximately 1000 Canadian credit union executives. I attended conferences as a reporter, attendee and speaker in Canada. I made visits with my new husband to his client in Montreal.

If anyone thinks my Canadian connections are weak, they go way back.

In 1640 Michel Boudreau, my ancestor sailed from La Rochelle, France for Nova Scotia. He became a general, fathered 11 children. His descendants worked their way down to my grandfather, a lighthouse keeper. The family moved to the U.S. When my father, who was born in Canada, was 25 he also became American. Many of the Boudreau family still populate the area in Nova Scotia.

We were planning to visit Nova Scotia prior to the pandemic. I'd been by the parish church in La Rochelle where my ancestor was baptized and married. I studied the history that led to his deciding to change countries. I wanted to visit the graveyard where he was buried. I wanted to see the lighthouse my grandfather had been in charge of. I wanted to reach out to remaining relatives like some of my cousins had. The pandemic has delayed those plans. 

So as of today, I am once again a hyphenated person, Swiss-Canadian.