SOME AMERICANS LOVE IT BUT LEAVE IT ANYWAY

Canada Is Choice Location For Liberals Tired Of Fighting

NEW YORK - For all they share economically and culturally, Canada and the
United States are increasingly at odds on basic social policies -- to the
point that at least a few discontented Americans are planning to move north
and try their neighbors' way of life.

A husband and wife in Minnesota, a college student in Georgia, a young
executive in New York. Though each has distinct motives for packing up,
they agree the United States is growing too conservative and think Canada
offers a more inclusive, less selfish society.

"For me, it's a no-brainer," said Mollie Ingebrand, a puppeteer from
Minneapolis who plans to go to Vancouver with her lawyer husband and
2-year-old son. "It's the most amazing opportunity I can imagine: to live
in a society where there are different priorities in caring for your fellow
citizens."

For decades, even while nurturing close ties with the United States,
Canadians have often chosen a different path -- establishing universal
health care, maintaining ties with Cuba, imposing tough gun-control laws.
Two current Canadian initiatives, to decriminalize marijuana and legalize
same-sex marriage, have pleased many liberals in the United States and
irked conservatives.

New York executive Daniel Hanley, 31, was arranging a move for himself and
his partner long before the Canadian announcement about same-sex marriage.
But the timing delights him; he and his partner now hope to marry in front
of their families after they emigrate to British Columbia.

"Canada has an opportunity to define itself as a leader," Hanley said. "In
some ways, it's now closer to American ideals than America is."

Though many gay American couples are now marrying in Canada, virtually all
return home, hoping court rulings will lead to official recognition of
their unions.

Thomas Hodges, a computer systems major at Georgia State University, said
his dismay with American politics started him thinking last year about
going abroad. He recently wrote an article in a campus journal titled, "Why
I Am Moving to Canada."

Hodges, 21, complained about a "neo-conservative shift" in the United
States and praised Canada's approach to health care and education.

"The U.S. educational system is unfair -- you have to live in certain areas
to go to good schools," he said.

Rene Mercier, spokesman for Canada's immigration department, said any surge
in U.S.-to-Canada immigration based on current political developments won't
be detectable for a few years, because of the time required to process
residency applications.

During the Vietnam War, U.S. immigration to Canada surged as thousands of
young men, often accompanied by wives or girlfriends, moved to avoid the
draft. But every year since 1977, more Canadians have emigrated to the
United States than vice versa. The 2001 figures were 5,894 Americans moving
north, 30,203 Canadians moving south. Canada's population is about
one-tenth that of the United States.

Mollie Ingebrand, 34, said she has felt an affinity for Canada for many
years, fueled partly by respect for its health care system. Her doubts
about the United States go back to a childhood spent with liberal parents
in a relatively conservative part of Ohio.

"In school I was always told this is the best country on earth, and
everyone else wants to be American. And that never really rang true to me,"
she said.

Her husband, George, 44, has spent little time in Canada, but said it seems
to offer a more relaxed, less competitive way of life. He has no qualms
about leaving his law practice and selling the family's upscale home in
Minneapolis.

"I don't idealize Canada the way my wife does, but I'm ready for an
adventure," he said. "I don't know what I'm going to be facing. That's what
I'm reveling in."

The Ingebrands have completed the first batch of paperwork to apply for
Canadian residency, hoping their talents and finances compensate for lack
of specific job offers.

At Georgia State, Hodges said some conservative schoolmates have challenged
his proposed move to Canada, saying he would be abandoning his homeland.

Conversely, Mollie Ingebrand says some of her friends -- people who share
her left-of-center views -- argue that she should stay at home to battle
for changes here.

"I've been there and done that," Molly said. "I don't want to stay and
fight anymore. I can have that bittersweet love for my country from
somewhere else."