Living Without Fear: Tackling Guns and Gun Ownership in Canada and the U.S.

Growing up in the United States, I never spent much time considering guns and gun ownership. I lived in a household with guns. I learned how to shoot those fire arms and, in addition to all five rights outlined in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, could easily quote the entirety of the Second Amendment as, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Guns were, and are, simply a reality of life in U.S. society.

Living in Canada is drastically different when considering guns. To be clear, Canada is not a gun-less society, and will likely never be. Canadians love their guns, too. So, how is it than in Canada there seems to be a drastically different relationship between guns and society?

I would articulate the differences with the following four points:

1. Registry. All guns and ammunition are required to be registered annually within Canada. Licenses must be renewed and licenses (and ultimately the firearms they permit) are revocable by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police due to inactivity or the sudden ineligibility of a licensee. They also require a first time licensees to complete a mandatory firearms safety course.

2. Tracking. There is a national database of registered, licensed guns and gun owners overseen by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and accessible by provincial and international law enforcement partners. This database includes photos of gun owners.

3. Restrictions on Ownership. There are reasons individuals in Canada are prevented from owning guns. These restrictions include court orders, domestic violence offenses (added in 2015), drug offenses, mental health concerns, potential risk to themselves or others, the provision of false information during the licensing process, unsafe firearm storage, and past, documented violent behaviour. More information regarding the numbers of individuals refused licenses on an annual basis may be found here.

4. Public Health and Safety. They WAY in which gun violence, among other social ills, are conceptualized and discussed within Canada is drastically different than in the United States. Here, they are fundamentally part of the larger conversations on public health and safety. When you share the costs of gun violence collectively in your pocket books - through the socialized health care system and higher taxes for public services- perhaps you have a drastically different perception on the damage that such violence takes on everyone.

 What does all of this mean for my experience as an American living in Canada? Well, it largely means I live without fear. While guns exist in Canada, and certainly the unthinkable can happen anywhere, the likelihood that a friend, relative, or that I, myself will be the victim of gun violence is drastically lower than it was living in the United States. In 2015 in all of Canada, there were 178 firearm-related homicides in the entire country. By comparison, in 2014, the most recent year for which data were available, the State of South Carolina  saw 767 deaths due to fire arms.

Without passing judgement on either country, there are some important points the U.S. could take from the Canadian experience. First, the ways in which we discuss gun violence matter. Offering condolences to those impacted sidesteps a discussion of the broader social causes and impacts gun violence costs everyone. Second, there are ways in which ownership can be restricted that reduce firearm-related homicides. Domestic violence offenses were added to the list of ownership restrictions in 2015 because many Canadians died at the hands of intimate partners without this restriction. It was possible to do this without making it impossible for other Canadians to lawfully own guns. Finally, allowing law enforcement a mechanism to track gun ownership does not prevent people from owning or using firearms.

For me, on a personal level, I carry a lighter cognitive load related to gun violence. Every time I sit at a service desk in my library, or teach in front of a classroom, or walk down the street by myself at night, I do not have to work at being vigilant in the same way I felt I did while living and working in the U.S. This is the personal benefit to living without that ever present fear. Would I give up my unfettered right to gun ownership again if given the choice knowing what the restrictions look like? Would you? What is that freedom from fear worth?

The "I" Word

Imagine you are a new immigrant to your country and community. How do others react? What do you say? How much do you share? In many ways, I think the experience might be a little like described by comedian Aziz Ansari below:

Make no mistake about it, immigrating to another country is an ordeal. Even if the culture, language, and general operation of things is similar to your own, the devil is always in the details. Each day in a multitude of small ways, you are reminded you are not part of this society yet. Canada, for the good or bad, is certainly not the United States. For a few examples, yesterday I spent 45 minutes researching the proper use of our recycling bins. (More to follow on this, folks.) We could not get water service without presenting ourselves in person at Kitchener City Hall, I keep having a visceral reaction when I am given my "rounding" change and no pennies appear, and I am having a horrible time with the move from miles to kilometers. My Midwestern self insists miles should roughly equate to minutes no matter where I am going.

The experience of being an immigrant in Canada has been an interesting one, but not in the ways I expected. Two days ago, I received a hug and a hearty "Welcome to Canada" in the grocery store when an elderly woman observed I was "buying enough food for a party" and I explained I was stocking our new home as we had just immigrated. Yesterday, the woman at the checkout at my local Winners (it's TJ Maxx with a more awesome name) told me it was so cool we had immigrated from the states, that we would love it here, and welcome. Today, I received an actual "Welcome to Canada" discount at the phone store while purchasing a case and screen protector for my new phone.

I can say having lived in over 10% of the states in the U.S. that I have received consistently chillier welcomes coming from different parts of the same country than I have as an immigrant here. Would it be different if I had a different skin colour, spoke a different language, or came from a country other than the U.S.? It is honestly impossible for me to say. What I can state is that the fact individual people of their own volition have been so positive, polite and, well, welcoming only makes the move easier and makes us feel more comfortable and confident in our decision to move here. This is one aspect of society where the U.S. could benefit by learning a little from the "Neighbours to the North."

What's the Deal with Daycare, Anyway?

If you are a parent, you know there is nothing more anxiety inducing than arranging child care. You need to find someone you can trust, but you are on a budget. They need to be nearby, but you are willing to go out of your way for better care if needed. You have to visit. You have to interview the caregivers. You have to closely review the curriculum. You have to review state regulatory ratings and violations for the potential daycare. You also have to find someplace that works with your work hours and that ensures all attendees are vaccinated (because not ever day care does in this state). As an American parent, this is completely overwhelming. So overwhelming, in fact, we arranged to have a combination of family help and a wonderful private nanny in our home because there was no available space in an acceptable day care that met our expectations and worked with our schedules. Most American parents are not lucky enough to afford such luxuries and must depend on center-based day care options.

Needless to say, the prospect of securing childcare for our very-soon-to-be two year old during the move to Canada was terrifying.

The Canadian daycare experience has been drastically different, which is especially surprising given we have been arranging day care from a distance. In the province of Ontario, where we will be living, you complete one daycare application online and can have the information sent to up to ten high quality, provincially regulated day cares in your geographic region. How do you know where the day cares are in comparison to your home or work? Simple, the application has an interactive map feature that will help you identify prospective day cares and their distance from those locations.

Now, the true beauty and elegance of the Canadian system is this: After you submit the application, the directors of the Day Cares ACTUALLY CALL YOU when a space becomes available. You then go through the paperwork and visit the centre to ensure it is a good fit all around. Because it is Canada, there are also some aspects (e.g. up to date vaccinations) that are non-negotiable for all day cares.

The day care provides lunch and snacks everyday, as well as outdoor playtime, story time, nap time, and a strong play-based curriculum designed for both enhancing development and school preparation. As a parent in Canada, I do not have to by 37 glue sticks or 15 boxes of tissues, because my fees actually cover those needs in addition to paying the teachers at the centre a living wage. Both the day care and my new job offer some flexibility with the scheduling, and the ratio of teacher to child is 1:5 instead of the 1:10 ratio it would be for a 2-3 year old in the state of South Carolina.

While the Canadian system is not perfect (you still must submit that application well in advance of when your child needs care), it is still quite different from the experience I have had as an American parent. High quality day care has been consistently proven to positively impact the cognitive and socioemotional development of children (Peisner-Feinberg et al., 2001; Vandell, Henderson, & Wilson, 1988). By making finding a day care easy, and appropriately regulating the curriculum of those day cares, Canada makes it easy to connect parents to the care the need for their children and ensure they can feel confident in the quality of that care.

Work it Girl, or How NAFTA Became My Favourite Trade Agreement

Whenever I share with anyone that we are moving to Canada, there are always many questions or comments that arise. Isn't it more expensive there? Trudeau vs. Trump. Snow: how are you going to handle that? Free health care sounds awesome.

For the record, it is more expensive, but no more so than moving to a major urban area in the U.S., I'm pro Trudeau, it's called a snowblower, and yes, yes it is. 

Prime Minister Trudeau with Jia Panpan & Jia Yueyue of the Toronto Zoo.
Image from https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau.

While these are all relatively simple, one question that comes up often, but has a more complex answer is this: How do you get a job in Canada anyway?

The short answer, in my case, is NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement.

So, what did the process of finding a job in Canada look like and why has NAFTA become so important to me? Here is what the process looked like:

1. Apply for a job in Canada. Most librarian jobs in both the U.S. and Canada are posted on the American Library Association's Joblist. This is especially true of academic library positions as such advertising is typically required by human resources procedures. 
2. Wait for contact. Normally this takes several months for academic positions. My wait time was around six weeks.
3. Phone interview.
4. Campus interview - about a month later. 
5. Job offer, kind of - takes two weeks. Note, when they say two weeks, they actually mean exactly that amount of time. This is not the "we will call in two weeks" but you hear in two days if you are the top candidate, like in the U.S. This is a job offer, kind of, because you will know if you are the top candidate, but they leave the job offer up to you. Did you like Canada? Will your family like it? Do you want to go through the hassle of immigrating? i.e. The "do you like us, do you really, really like us???" phase.
6. Actual job offer.
7. Salary negotiation. Under no circumstances should you take their first offer. And pay attention to the exchange rate; right now, Canadian dollars are worth less than U.S. dollars. 
8. Sign contract.

If that basically sounds like the academic hiring process for all librarian jobs, it totally is. However, throughout the process in small, but meaningful ways, NAFTA has been stepping in to help with the job search. The real story of the search looks like this:

1. Apply for a job in Canada. Most librarian jobs in both the U.S. and Canada are posted on the American Library Association's Joblist. This is especially true of academic library positions as such advertising is typically required by human resources procedures. 
2. NAFTA allows individuals in certain positions, including librarians, to seek professional positions in the other NAFTA countries and be considered in the same manner as citizens of those countries. For a complete listing of these professions, see Sec. 214.6 of the USCIS.
3. Wait for contact. Normally this takes several months for academic positions. My wait time was around six weeks.
4. Phone interview.
5. Phone interviews are easy - Canada uses the same basic phone number structure and country code (1) as the U.S. The area codes in the Waterloo/Kitchener area are generally 519. NAFTA has made inter-country telecommunications across North America easier and cheaper since implementation.
6. Campus interview - about a month later. 
7. Job offer, kind of - takes two weeks. Note, when they say two weeks, they actually mean exactly that amount of time. This is not the "we will call in two weeks" but you hear in two days if you are the top candidate like in the U.S. This is a job offer, kind of, because you will know if you are the top candidate, but they leave the job offer up to you. Did you like Canada? Will your family like it? Do you want to go through the hassle of immigrating? i.e. The do you like us, do you really, really like us phase.
8. Actual job offer.
9. Once again, because of your specialized profession, you were able to be offered the position, even if there were qualified applicants from Canada. Thanks, NAFTA!
10. Salary negotiation. Under no circumstances should you take their first offer. Remember, Canadian dollars are worth less than U.S. dollars. 
11. Sign contract.
12. The institution you work for will then have to file for a Labour Market Impact Exemption, again based on Sec. 214.6, stating you are an exempt professional with needed skills. 
13. Congratulations, you now have all you need to apply for your Canadian work permit and move to Canada. 

Throughout my life, I have heard significant amounts of grumbling about NAFTA and the impact it has had on American workers. What I did not realize was a trade agreement forged in North America long before I knew librarianship was my calling would make it possible for me to pursue my dream job and become an American worker abroad. The next time you hear a politician railing on about how NAFTA has hurt Americans, remember that it also helps many others, like me, pursue amazing professional opportunities. I know I, for one, will never again take NAFTA for granted.

Oh Canada! Northward Bound

First, the announcement for those who do not know: We are moving to Canada. 

Though it may seem sudden, this move has been in the works for several months. I have happily accepted my dream job as an Instructional Design Librarian for the University of Waterloo Libraries. This is a fantastic opportunity to spend my work life solely devoted to the issues of teaching and learning in libraries with a team and the resources at a large Canadian research institution to support that work.

While the opportunity to do what I have always wished to do, and only that which I have always wished to do, was tempting, the move is not purely about the job. In some ways, it is about the benefits I will have in the position including pensions, a 35 hour work week, more vacation time, a flexible schedule, free health care, and a significantly shorter commute. It is also about family. Living in Southern Ontario puts us within a single day driving distance of almost all of our families, much closer than the two days now required to visit most of our relatives. In other ways, this move is about options. We are in the process of applying for Canadian Permanent Residency and, assuming we are successful with that application, in 4-6 years we can apply for Canadian Citizenship. With that citizenship comes more opportunities, greater access to worldwide agreements within the Commonwealth nations, and a different cultural perspective.

Moving to another country is no small undertaking. We have had to submit to medical examinations, take English language proficiency exams, apply for background checks, submit our educational credentials for analysis, and work through seemingly endless amounts of paperwork to establish everything from cell phone numbers to bank accounts. We have been lucky to find a home rental in a nice family-oriented neighbourhood and are lucky enough to have movers supplied by UW to pack, load, and unload our goods.

How will all of this go? How will we adjust? What things to we love and what drives us crazy? Who knows. This is a huge adventure with high risk and potentially high reward. I want to document the experience and will be blogging about the experiences here. I hope you will follow along with me as we embark on this, the next chapter of our lives.

-Kari