Dear Bird Talk,

When renewing my automobile insurance, the agent recommended that anyone travelling south should carry five million dollars of liability coverage. Is this a reasonable amount to carry, or is the insurance company doing a sell job?

Keith Johnson

The answer to both of your questions is "yes." There is an old adage that says, "When you need your insurance, you never have enough." Many automobile insurers limit their liability limits to $2 million or even $1 million dollars, and there is a reason for this. They have seen, and paid, claims that are more than these amounts.

We currently recommend $2 million dollars but, if the higher coverage is available and cost-effective, you should probably purchase it. Also remember that claims in the U.S. will be in U.S. dollars. Ask your insurance broker about "Umbrella Liability." It can be a very effective solution to obtaining higher policy limits. 

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Dear Bird Talk,

Am I missing something here, or are you and some CSA members spending too much time in the United States and thus losing touch with our parliamentary system? In the fall 2001 issue 40, you print a letter from H. Steeves suggesting a standard general election date of every four years in Canada. And in the editorial comment, you refer to a similar suggestion from Walt Huber, then comment that this sounds like a great idea to you.

But in Canada's multi-partied parliamentary system we have the chance, and a very likely one, of having a minority government. A minority government may be forced to resign at any time during their mandate, if they are defeated by a majority vote of the other parties in Parliament. Such a defeat could come in any number of days, weeks, months or years after the last general election. Although the Governor General does not have to call a new general election, the alternative choice has rarely been used in Canadian political history. Given this fact, a set mandate between general elections seems impossible, though the possibilities are intriguing ­ for example, a minority government with a guaranteed four-year term would have an interesting time passing legislation based on the platform on which they were elected, especially if the differences were as great and as varied as seems to be the case among Canada's five (or is it six?) federal parties today.

As an afterthought, I should mention that my wife and I and my in-laws had no problem getting the election kit for the 2000 general election delivered to us in Florida, completing it and getting it back to Elections Canada in time to have our votes counted. It did take a bit of work and it might be preferable to have in place a system that would allow us to vote by phone (something we are able to do at the municipal level here in Severn Township).

Michael Oliver
Severn Bridge, Ontario

Mr. Oliver is absolutely correct. Any preset election dates would result in several complications which would have to be resolved. Voting by phone is already a reality in many jurisdictions, and the Internet raises even more possibilities.

Dear Bird Talk,

Thank you for your recent article on Barcelona! My wife and I are transatlantic snowbirds and hibernate in Spain. Our nest is in Oliva in the province of Valencia. We know that there are more Canadians in that country, and we would love to hear from them. Our e-mail address is strakamn@hotmail.com.

Have a pleasant winter!
The Strakas

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CANPASS clarification

Paul Jenkins, CSA's vice-president, advised us that there has been some misunderstanding of the CANPASS program.

CANPASS is a photo identification card that has been designed primarily for frequent border crossings (i.e. people who live in Canada and work in the U.S., or people in "border towns" who go to the States to shop weekly, or even daily). The pass is used for people RETURNING to Canada and is of little value when entering the U.S.

Currently, the CANPASS is only recognized at a few borders (Whirlpool Bridge, Niagara Falls; the Peace Bridge, Fort Erie/Buffalo; Ambassador Tunnel in Windsor) and one in Quebec (Lacolle).

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Bird Talk, c/o CSA News
180 Lesmill Road
North York ON M3B 2T5
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