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Bonner Still Can't Play for Team Canada

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  • Bonner Still Can't Play for Team Canada

    Man I can't believe this is still an issue. Why can't we just pay someone off like a real country would?

    TORONTO - Leo Rautins, the head coach of the Canadian men’s basketball team, gets so frustrated talking about Matt Bonner that he’s almost at a loss for words. And that’s saying quite a bit.

    Rautins is, after all, a professional commentator.

    The fact Bonner, a former member of the Toronto Raptors and current forward with the San Antonio Spurs, has been unsuccessful in procuring his Canadian citizenship, despite getting the ball rolling back in 2008, upsets Rautins to no end.

    “It’s very frustrating,” the head coach said on Tuesday, after a Team Canada practice at Ryerson University. “I see a lot of Canadians who are less Canadian than Matt Bonner. His daughter’s Canadian. His wife’s Canadian. His grandfather’s Canadian. He’s got a home here. When he’s not playing for the San Antonio Spurs, he’s here (in Toronto).”

    The main stumbling block seems to be the fact that Bonner, a native of Concord, N.H., spends most of the year in the United States. But he has no choice. He plays for San Antonio. Rautins said Canada Basketball has tried to make that point to the federal immigration ministry, but to no avail.

    “Trust me, we’ve tried everything,” said Rautins. “I feel bad for Matt. I don’t know if there’s anybody who wants to play more (for Canada) than he does.”

    Still, Rautins is optimistic that Bonner’s citizenship will come through in time for the Red Rocket to help Canada qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. There are two qualifying tournaments left for Canada, later this summer in Argentina, and next year at a still unnamed location.
    http://www.torontosun.com/2011/07/19...rautins-bonner
    Eh follow my TWITTER!

  • #2
    Matt needs to figure out a way to get back on the Raptors. Problem solved.

    Comment


    • #3
      is it really THAT hard to get canadian citizenship?

      my mexican neighbors are a line cook and a housekeeper AND canadian citizens who just moved here a few years ago, and still have a VERY loose grasp on the english language... if they can get citizenship, why the hell cant bonner?

      Comment


      • #4
        heinz57 wrote: View Post
        is it really THAT hard to get canadian citizenship?

        my mexican neighbors are a line cook and a housekeeper AND canadian citizens who just moved here a few years ago, and still have a VERY loose grasp on the english language... if they can get citizenship, why the hell cant bonner?
        If a millionaire basketball player can't get citizenship to play for team Canada after 3 years of trying...

        How did freakin Chris Kamen get citizenship for Germany? Has he even been there?
        Eh follow my TWITTER!

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        • #5
          heinz57 wrote: View Post
          is it really THAT hard to get canadian citizenship?

          my mexican neighbors are a line cook and a housekeeper AND canadian citizens who just moved here a few years ago, and still have a VERY loose grasp on the english language... if they can get citizenship, why the hell cant bonner?
          But like you said, they're there and for two years. The sticking point here is that Matt isn't here enough time to meet the requirements. I don't know, I don't want people obtaining citizenship and gaining all the benefits but who don't actually live in the country. Seriously, people would obtain citizenship in that case just for free health care. It's why rules like this exist. It's too bad that Bonner wants to be a Canadian for the right reasons but is unable to do so due to his career blocking it.

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          • #6
            Apollo wrote: View Post
            But like you said, they're there and for two years. The sticking point here is that Matt isn't here enough time to meet the requirements. I don't know, I don't want people obtaining citizenship and gaining all the benefits but who don't actually live in the country. Seriously, people would obtain citizenship in that case just for free health care. It's why rules like this exist. It's too bad that Bonner wants to be a Canadian for the right reasons but is unable to do so due to his career blocking it.
            Though I would agree with this normally, his Daughter and Wife are both FULLY Canadian. They live here I believe.
            To deny a man citizenship into the country where his family resides and calls home, is ridiculous.

            Ibaka just got citizenship to Spain, and he only played there for 3 years. Thats it.

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            • #7
              man have you seen his wife?
              @sweatpantsjer

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              • #8
                heinz57 wrote: View Post
                is it really THAT hard to get canadian citizenship?

                my mexican neighbors are a line cook and a housekeeper AND canadian citizens who just moved here a few years ago, and still have a VERY loose grasp on the english language... if they can get citizenship, why the hell cant bonner?
                Yes, but they are probably a neuroscientist and heart surgeon and have 8 Phds between them.
                Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

                Comment


                • #9
                  My fiance works as a student adviser as she finishes off her masters degree. She's told me immigrants come in all the time with engineering and doctors degree that are practically worthless here. They have to start over from scratch. I've hopped in cabs before driven by former accountants and engineers. At the same time though, they're probably making more money as a taxi cab driver here than they might have been making as an engineer where they once lived... Talk about status change though.

                  joey_hesketh wrote: View Post
                  Though I would agree with this normally, his Daughter and Wife are both FULLY Canadian. They live here I believe.
                  To deny a man citizenship into the country where his family resides and calls home, is ridiculous.

                  Ibaka just got citizenship to Spain, and he only played there for 3 years. Thats it.
                  It's not like they're telling him you can't come to Canada. They're telling him if you want to be a Canadian citizen you have to live in Canada. That makes sense to me and it seems reasonable to me. All the people who are getting citizenship without any problems live in Canada. I like Matt Bonner and I'm happy he wants to become a Canadian. He would be a fine addition. I do understand why the rules are the way they are though. By the way, based on talks with many different immigrants, Canada is one of the easier countries in the world to obtain citizenship.

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                  • #10
                    Apollo wrote: View Post

                    It's not like they're telling him you can't come to Canada. They're telling him if you want to be a Canadian citizen you have to live in Canada. That makes sense to me and it seems reasonable to me. All the people who are getting citizenship without any problems live in Canada. I like Matt Bonner and I'm happy he wants to become a Canadian. He would be a fine addition. I do understand why the rules are the way they are though. By the way, based on talks with many different immigrants, Canada is one of the easier countries in the world to obtain citizenship.
                    It still shocking to me. I can't believe they're not making an exception. This guy would prob be the most talented guy on the team (yikes!). While I agree with you that this is one of the easiest countries to get citizenship, they also don't seem like they're able to bend the rules even a little for athletes, which seems to be the exception for other European and Asian countries.
                    Eh follow my TWITTER!

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                    • #11
                      Jason Kenney is a hockey guy from Alberta and doesn't care much for non contact sports like basketball.

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                      • #12
                        stretch wrote: View Post
                        Jason Kenney is a hockey guy from Alberta and doesn't care much for non contact sports like basketball.
                        He's also a massive wanker.

                        when my brother got married, we had a bunch of family friends flying in from Mexico for the wedding... it was a pretty big deal for us to have them there.. while not blood related, they were very much like family to us, and we hadn't seen them in years..

                        3 weeks before they fly out, jason kenney makes a change to the tourist visa policy, basically all mexicans have to get visas PRIOR to leaving mexico instead of just the regular stamp at the airport... and an exception would only be made for people with tickets within two weeks of the announcement...

                        the canadian embassy in mexico is in mexico city.. most people had to take additional days off work, and travel to mexico city overnight, only to wait in retardedly long lines, only to get rejected because they didn't have enough money in their bank accounts... from what i understand, they needed something like $3000.00 in their accounts in order to prove that they could financially support themselves on vacation..

                        literally, not a single one of them got approved for their visas... they all had decent jobs.. all had individual letters from us, with the addresses of the homes they would be staying at, as well as the wedding invitations to prove their reason for coming... and still, dickhole kenney f$%#ed us..

                        i hate that bastard.

                        /end rant

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Apollo wrote: View Post
                          It's not like they're telling him you can't come to Canada. They're telling him if you want to be a Canadian citizen you have to live in Canada. That makes sense to me and it seems reasonable to me. All the people who are getting citizenship without any problems live in Canada. I like Matt Bonner and I'm happy he wants to become a Canadian. He would be a fine addition. I do understand why the rules are the way they are though. By the way, based on talks with many different immigrants, Canada is one of the easier countries in the world to obtain citizenship.
                          Yes and no. Definitely if you want to come to Canada to live and work, gaining citizenship is far easier than most countries. But if you want to live abroad and still gain Canadian citizenship as Bonner does, it's far more difficult than some european countries who allow decedents of citizens to apply for citizenship, even if they don't reside in that country. (I know this is the policy in Belgium, and have heard anecdotally that other countries have similar policies.) Most have language conditions as well, but for Bonner that's clearly not an issue.

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                          • #14
                            heinz57 wrote: View Post
                            He's also a massive wanker.

                            when my brother got married, we had a bunch of family friends flying in from Mexico for the wedding... it was a pretty big deal for us to have them there.. while not blood related, they were very much like family to us, and we hadn't seen them in years..

                            3 weeks before they fly out, jason kenney makes a change to the tourist visa policy, basically all mexicans have to get visas PRIOR to leaving mexico instead of just the regular stamp at the airport... and an exception would only be made for people with tickets within two weeks of the announcement...

                            the canadian embassy in mexico is in mexico city.. most people had to take additional days off work, and travel to mexico city overnight, only to wait in retardedly long lines, only to get rejected because they didn't have enough money in their bank accounts... from what i understand, they needed something like $3000.00 in their accounts in order to prove that they could financially support themselves on vacation..

                            literally, not a single one of them got approved for their visas... they all had decent jobs.. all had individual letters from us, with the addresses of the homes they would be staying at, as well as the wedding invitations to prove their reason for coming... and still, dickhole kenney f$%#ed us..

                            i hate that bastard.

                            /end rant
                            I just wrote him an angry email questioning his patriotism and love of sports. No joke.
                            Eh follow my TWITTER!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Employee wrote: View Post
                              I just wrote him an angry email questioning his patriotism and love of sports. No joke.
                              automated response, intern quickly glances at your email, and then quickly deletes.

                              i worked at revenue canada when i was in college. part of my job was checking somebody higher up's "personal email"... i also picked the movie at the theatre across the street that we watched on "Matinee Mondays"

                              your tax dollars at work.

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