President’s Message Karen Huestis CSA President On June 2, Ontario voters gave Premier Doug Ford another four-year term at Queen’s Park. The Progressive Conservatives, who won 76 ridings in 2018, increased their seat count by seven, capturing 83 seats to secure their second consecutive majority government. The NDP are once again Ontario’s Official Opposition, winning 31 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The Ontario Liberal Party failed to secure official party status for the second consecutive election, with only eight seats. Both NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca announced their resignations as party leaders shortly thereafter. In 2020, the Government of Ontario eliminated the Out-of-Country Travellers’ Program which provided reimbursement for Ontario residents facing medical emergencies while travelling outside of Canada. The CSA challenged that decision in Ontario Divisional Court − the Court’s ruling sided with us and reinstated this important coverage for travelling Ontarians. On behalf of the Canadian Snowbird Association, I would like to congratulate Premier Ford on his re-election and we look forward to working with him on issues of importance to our Ontario members. I would also like to thank Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath and Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca, who were always willing to listen to the concerns of our association. The CSA continues to pursue passage of our Canadian retiree visa bills. If successful, this initiative would extend the length of time for which Canadians aged 50 and older could stay in the United States annually from six months to eight months. In the current session of Congress, we have bills in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. The House bill, H.R. 4856 the Canadian Snowbird Visa Act has 12 bipartisan co-sponsors. The Senate companion bill, S. 2096 the Canadian Snowbirds Act is sponsored by Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott and Arizona Senators Krysten Sinema and Mark Kelly. Snowbirds are frustrated that these bills have not progressed faster, and we understand that. Frankly, it has been very difficult to get much of anything passed in the United States Congress for a number of years now. Negotiations are currently taking place to have these pieces of legislation included in the upcoming budget reconciliation bill. Reconciliation is a special tool that makes it easier to pass legislation in the United States Senate. Debate on a reconciliation bill is limited to 20 hours, so that it cannot be filibustered on the Senate floor. This allows the bill to be passed by a simple majority, in contrast to most Senate legislation, which requires a 60-vote supermajority. This is must-pass budget legislation with a deadline for passage of September 30, to avoid a partial government shutdown. As always, we will keep you posted on our progress. There is a new U.S. Ambassador to Canada. This past winter, President Joe Biden nominated David Cohen to fill the position that had been vacant since 2019. Ambassador Cohen most recently served as the top in-house lobbyist for Comcast, the enormous American internet, cable TV and movie company. He has also served as the chief of staff to the mayor of Philadelphia, Ed Rendell. Most important, he has been friends with President Biden for more than 30 years which will, hopefully, turn out to be a plus for Canada. Prior to the pandemic, it is estimated that approximately 400,000 people crossed the Canada-United States border every day. Our two countries share one of the largest trading relationships in the world, with more than $1 trillion in bilateral trade in goods and services in 2021. Clearly, both nations have an enormous interest in striking the right balance among security, trade and tourism. The CSA has had great working relationships with many of Ambassador Cohen’s predecessors. We worked hard to build those relationships and we will work hard to build this one as well. We look forward to sitting down with Ambassador Cohen in Ottawa and bringing him up to speed regarding issues of importance to our members. This summer, your association is working hard to shorten the lengthy delays which many of you are experiencing when renewing your passports, enrolling in Nexus and flying in and out of many of our airports. You can read more about these issues in Ron Steeves’ Government Relations column. Bill and I wish you a safe and happy summer with family and friends. 10 | www.snowbirds.org
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzMzNzMx