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Nov. 5, 2004. 01:00 AM `We're moving. Canada is looking pretty good right now' ALEXANDER PANETTA CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA—Canada's immigration website is being flooded with a record-smashing number of visits from Americans dismayed by the prospect of four more years living under President George W. Bush. A new record was set within hours of Bush's acceptance speech when six times more Americans than usual surfed the site Wednesday. The overall number of 179,000 visitors was almost twice the previous one-day record set last year. And 64 per cent of the visitors — 115,016 — were from the United States. Many were doing more than just casual surfing, a spokesperson for Citizenship and Immigration suggested. "The most-visited pages ... were the skilled worker online self-assessment pages (to check if) they'd meet the selection criteria," said Maria Iadinardi. "Applying and intent are two different things, she said. "We're only going to see this about six months from now." Americans moving to Canada must deal with the same rules as other immigrants — including the $500 application fee, the $975 landing tax, and the six- to 12-month wait. The waiting time is shorter if you're married to a Canadian, for which help is available at http://www.marryanamerican.ca, a Canadian satirical site also being inundated by visitors. A Google search under the terms, "move to Canada + Bush" turns up more than 8,000 Web pages — including chat groups and at least one opinion poll asking frustrated liberals whether they'd consider fleeing. About 60 per cent replied `Yes' to leaving in the tongue-in-cheek poll of more than 1,000 on CBS's Chicago affiliate website. One American who lives in Brooklyn says many people in the U.S. now feel they identify more with Canada than their own country. "I'm not alone," said Chris Walsh, a native of New Hampshire married to a Canadian. "The first thing people said to me when I went to walk my dog in the park this morning was: `We're moving to Canada.' People are very disillusioned, and Canada is looking pretty good right now." A mock map of North America circulated on the Internet illustrated an expanded Canada. The lingering rump of pro-Democrat states — namely the Great Lakes area, and the East and West coasts — would be carved into a larger new country called the United States of Canada. The rest of the continent was left alone in a new entity named, "Jesusland." Prime Minister Paul Martin tossed his arms wide open yesterday to aspiring immigrants from the United States. But he joked they shouldn't expect preferential treatment just because they're neighbours. ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca