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Column: So you want to move to Canada, eh? First, a few questions

On Super Tuesday in the U.S., Americans set a record for the number of times they used the term “move to Canada” in Google searches.
Andy Prest
Andy Prest

On Super Tuesday in the U.S. — in which rude 69-year-old talking cartoon orange Donald Trump became the runaway front-runner for the Republican party presidential nomination — Americans set a record for the number of times they used the term “move to Canada” in Google searches.

As that was happening, Canada’s immigration website was mysteriously experiencing technical difficulties, although government officials later claimed that the problems were unrelated to high traffic volume.

For those who couldn’t get on the website for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, I’m here to provide a quick and easy quiz to see if you’ve got what it takes to move to Canada. Share it with your American friends if they’re considering heading north. It’s multiple choice — we’re pro choice up here — so here we go:

• Guns are for...
A) Soldiers, hunters and law enforcement personnel.
B) Ringing in the New Year.
C) Ensuring no one steps on your shoes at movie theatres.
D) Weekends. And weekdays! Oh, and for turning off the TV when you’re really mad at your programs but you just ate a whole bucket of chicken and can’t get off the sofa.
Answer: A. Although that was a bit of a trick question. In Canada some of us call sofas chesterfields.

• Refugees are...
A) Probably terrorists.
B) Yup, definitely terrorists.
C) People who have experienced immense suffering and are in need of help.
D) I don’t know... Mexicans?
Answer: C. Although that definition could use some tinkering because the phrasing “experienced immense suffering and are in need of help” would include anyone who watched Netflix’s Fuller House.

• Canadian money is...
A) Not fake.
B) Good enough to buy Marvin Gardens but not Boardwalk.
C) Full of pretty colours.
D) Fake.
Answer: A. The colours aren’t pretty but it is real. Depending on what the stock exchange does on a particular day, you could come up here and trade one American dollar for approximately $Bieber.

• Health care is...
A) Your cue to snidely declare “Thanks, Obama.”
B) Only for fancy people. Cancer? I’ll walk it off.
C) A right guaranteed for every man, woman and child.
D) Socialist crap that I’ll endorse over my cold grave. Hey ma, I shot myself in the leg again. Can you bring the pliers, a mickey of whiskey and three packs of Hubba Bubba?
Answer: C. Although if you chose D you get partial credit for use of the word mickey. Unless you thought it was, like, a whiskey bottle shaped like Mickey Mouse.

• The leader of Canada is...
A) Called the prime minister.
B) Technically the governor general.
C) Technically technically the queen of England.
D) Sure as hell not Donald J. Trump.
Answer: All of the above. And the leader sure as hell isn’t Stephen Harper either, which will make Canada even more attractive now for people not interested in being governed by a dude who will trumpet whatever xenophobic ugliness pops into his head if it will help him gain power.