Dear Medipac,

Thank you very much for mailing pictures of our house in Maple Leaf Estates, Port Charlotte, Florida, taken after the destruction of Hurricane Charley.

While I have received a number of pictures of my place in MLE, your pictures are by far superior in detail to any I've seen, and were most helpful in determining the extent of damage.

It would appear that I have come through the hurricane reasonably well and damage appears to be light to my house...although I still await word from the insurance adjuster following an inspection of the property.

Thanks again...service beyond the normal call. Good for Medipac - another example of why you are a great company and why I like being a customer of Medipac.

Bob Simpson

Thank you, Bob. We appreciate having you as our client and we are glad you made it through the storm without too much damage. Others were not quite so lucky, unfortunately.

Dear Medipac,

My sincere thanks to you and your organization for the excellent pictures of our unit in Florida. We were down 4 weeks ago and made minor repairs to get ready for our later stay. Our small damage claim was done on the phone, there, and the cheque has been received.

We were SPARED...your pictures immediately removed the stress and anxiety of the unknown and refuted reckless reports we had gotten from the site.

Please pass our thanks to the person who made the decision to help.

A.W. Curtis

The storm damage rumours were rampant and we were as relieved as you were to know the real truth. Some good news, and some bad news, but knowing is always better than not knowing, in our opinion. Ross Quigley and Chris Bradbury made the decision to send in the photography team and your thanks are most appreciated.

Dear Mr. Brissenden,

Retired Canadians are severely disadvantaged compared to Europeans and Americans.

The European Union allows people to travel freely and work and retire within Europe. For Northern Europeans, it is a Godsend to be allowed to live in the Southern climes year'round! Indeed, many a retired Brit now owns property and lives year'round in Spain or in France.

U.S. citizens have a sufficient variety of climates within their own country to allow their retirees to spend all their days in the warm sun, if they choose to.

It is only Canadians who are limited, and financially penalized by their own Government, should they seek the same retirement options as in other Western Societies; and at a time in their lives when they need to be, and are entitled to be FREE! There is a significant proportion of retired folk who would simply like to REMAIN in place when spring rolls around. Over time they have friends and relatives and a sense of community and may not be physically up to the stress of packing up to return "home". However, they currently have no choice: instead our Canadian governments cause needless stress by threatening to cancel their Medicare coverage!!

What is the difference to the Government if someone falls sick in Canada or gets sick in the USA? The plans currently limit reimbursement costs to amounts those medical expenses would have cost within Canada, so what is the problem?

I could, perhaps, understand the attitude should someone decide to become a non-resident for tax purposes, but the Government's attitude seems to be: "We'll tax you as though you were here for the whole year-but we will steal your benefits if you were not in Canada for more than 6 months!"

I believe a good case can be made that this prejudicial attitude may violate the Canadian Charter of Rights.

Is your association lobbying Provincial Governments to drop the (5 or 6 or 7 month) out-of-province travel limitations? If not-why not?

Best personal regards,

Steve Segal
Montreal, QC

Thank you for your comments, Mr. Segal. The Canadian Snowbird Association has a history of conducting lobby efforts with all levels of government, dating back to 1992. We have been trying to remove these restrictions that effectively hold provincial residents as prisoners. The greatest oversight in this travesty is that snowbirds support the social structure that our Canadian society relies upon by paying income, property and sales taxes while reducing the burden on our country's resources by living healthier lives in the sun. The Charter of Rights legal appeal has been investigated, and is under review by the CSA Government Relations Committee, once again. As a footnote, it sure would be nice if the governments indeed paid what is required under the Canada Health Act. THEY DO NOT! We are working on that, as well.

Dear Mr. Brissenden,

I have been a member for several years because I believe in the goals and have benefited, in many ways, from my CSA membership. I continue to promote the CSA but often with limited success. Some people are just not joiners.

There is a certain animosity between the West and East. Looking at a recent issue of CSANews, when I show this to people they say, "It's geared to people in Ontario or people in Florida. There's nothing about RVing"

Many people in the West are choosing an RV rather than a more permanent winter home. They are not interested in hotel discounts or telephone deals, because they use cell phones. They travel with satellite dishes and can not only watch TV, but can send and receive e-mails. Like other snowbirds, they play cards, golf and tennis but also do other things like hiking, boondocking, windsurfing and almost any other activity you can think of.

I would like to see more information in the Government Report, more reports on health care and articles like the Closer Connections Form 8840 and less on movie reviews, recipes and jokes.

Yes, we can write to "Bird Talk", but why don't you solicit information on upcoming
events? Arizona has the largest gathering of RVers in North America. Maybe we could have a section where members could send in photos of events such as this. If I didn't believe in the CSA I wouldn't be wasting your time or mine. My husband and I have been promoting the CSA for years and want to see it grow. Would you be able to send me extra magazines and membership applications to use to promote the CSA?

Sally Banks

Dear Ms. Banks:

I am pleased to hear you are long standing members who have benefited from your membership and that you promote the CSA to your friends and acquaintances.

I agree that some CSANews issues talk more about Ontario and Florida and there is nothing in some issues about RV'ers. Yes, we would like to change that. We are a national association and would be pleased to have equal representation across this great country. Our work is designed to help all Canadian travellers, wherever they reside.
This is where you, and other members from the West, come in. We would like to print more articles from our Western members, use photos of your events and include more information on the RV lifestyle. We would also be pleased to have one of our CSA directors attend your events, should you wish to invite them.

Our executive director and I have been in touch with the executive director of the Recreational Vehicle Dealers Association in an effort to promote the CSA to new RV buyers. We also placed an ad in the RV Times publication. We met with the Federation of Quebec Camping and Caravaning and, hopefully, we will be advertising in their magazine, as well.

I thank you for contacting me and advising me of your valued support in the West and your valid concerns. As President of the CSA I would be pleased to hear from any member and I encourage all members to submit articles and photographs of your snowbird events for publishing consideration. And, we will certainly send you copies of both our application forms and copies of CSANews, to assist you in your quest for new members.
Thank You, Sally.

Yours truly,
Gerry Brissenden, CSA President

Dear Bird Talk,

We are members of the CSA and have always enjoyed your magazine, from humour to serious information. However, I don't think I have ever read any item that has been more truthful and to the point than the article written by Don Slinger about the happenings in our society and how we have compromised our standards of living. Keep up the good work. It's never too late to see our failures and to turn back if we want to.

Clayton Blair
Mount Pleasant, ON

Many things in our lives have changed over the past many years. If we all work together, we may still be able to get "IT" right.