Letters to The Sun, Jan. 7, 2020: Revenue Canada hit all the right notes

Credit to Author: Stephen Snelgrove| Date: Tue, 07 Jan 2020 02:00:24 +0000

Revenue Canada is music to my ears — quite literally. And that’s something I never thought I would write.

But recently, I had a bureaucratic letter from the tax agency, which annoyed me enough to phone them. I was in a bad mood and was immediately put “on hold.” My mood got darker.

But then … hold on a moment.

The feared taxman started playing beautiful classical music. It was crystal clear. There were few interruptions telling me how long I’d wait, or how important my call was to them.

The sounds of Schumann’s The Chestnut Tree changed my mood to calmness. Compare the violin concerto Winter from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Gabriel Faure’s Nell to the usual endless and intrusive waits while calling airline, telephone or cable companies.

Revenue Canada has struck just the right note.

After 30 minutes an agent came on the phone, and my mood switched. I asked for her supervisor, and was put back on hold, for another half hour.

But — now listening to Christian Sinding’s Rustle of Spring — my mood became upbeat again.

I asked Revenue Canada about its “on hold” experience.

Like most call centres, the CRA is busy. They know it’s tedious when “hold” music is blasted, distorted, too “catchy” or repetitive, so they provide music appealing to a broad cross-section of callers.

So bravo, Revenue Canada — you are music to my ears. Let’s hope other companies follow your lead.

My problem was resolved.

I’ll be Bach.

Clive Jackson, West Vancouver

When I recently read about the growing problem of birth tourism I was annoyed. Pregnant women are coming to Canada to give birth because their children automatically become Canadian citizens.

In Vancouver, for example, Coastal Health administrators rake in money for the birthing procedures (assuming the fees are fully paid) while warning the hospital employees not to talk to the media. Politicians stand mute.

It is just another way for wealthy foreigners to buy their way into Canada and legally flout the immigration rules.

Where’s the fairness? Where’s the accountability? Wealthy foreigners are playing us for saps. Canada is indeed the land of political milquetoasts and door-opening money.

Lloyd Atkins, Vernon

I am glad that Daphne Bramham has raised the question about the value of Canadian citizenship and what does voting mean to Canadians.

Voting in Canadian elections is a sacred right to Canadian citizens, be they native-born or naturalized. Permanent Canadian residents now can get almost all the rights and privileges enjoyed by Canadians except the right to vote. They can even get a Canadian travel document to leave and return to Canada if they want.

At citizenship swearing-In ceremonies, citizenship judges always tell the new citizens that they can now vote and help decide on their country’s future “by ballots and not by bullets” and that they should be “informed” voters. What the judge says often brings tears to the eyes of many new citizens who come from war-torn countries who didn’t have the right to vote or had to vote in fear and under duress!

In spite of Elections Canada’s effort to promote voting in the last federal election in the media and allow overseas Canadians to vote, the turnout was about 66 per cent. More than one-third of Canadians still didn’t bother to exercise their franchise! I wonder what makes some politicians think that by allowing non-Canadians the right to vote will increase the turnout of voters if even Canadian citizens don’t bother to vote. Extending the right to vote at any level of elections to non-Canadians should not be taken as political expediency to increase the number of voters.

Maybe the schools can put more emphasis on voting in the civic curriculum and the media can also do more to educate the public to vote.

Canadian citizens should decide on the future of their country; permanent residents of Canada can wait. The right to vote should be restricted to Canadian citizens. Let’s not cut the foot to suit the shoe, as the Chinese would say.

Kelly Ip, Vancouver

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