Formation Civique

So this past week has pretty much been consumed with the bureaucracy of immigration.

On Monday, I went for my full day of civic education. Basically this involved an instructor outlining the various aspects of the French Republic. The points that he chose to stress where: learn the language, men and women have equal rights, the French Republic is a secular state, and the constitution is the constitution we don’t question it. Although this last point seems a bit bizarre, it will make more sense to you when I describe the group that I was with. There were about forty people in my group the majority of whom where women, and except for myself, an Afghan and a Senegalese, the rest of the room was made up of people from Tunisian or Algerian backgrounds. Many of the women wore head scarves and one had to have her husband translate everything. Our instructor made sure that every time he said something important, he would say it in French and then repeat it in Arabic. Questions were raised about polygamy, wearing religious symbols in your place of work, and prayer. Really on the whole quite intriguing ideas, but the line our instructor provided for all of these was basically you are in France, the constitution says you can only marry one person, hence there is no discussion you are to follow the constitution. It is clear that he did not want to be debating how the law actually works in regards to these controversial topics, and I felt like I was in Junior high again.  There is obviously so much more history and debate around these issues in France, yet this class was clearly meant to push the message of a secular republic on those who come from countries were religious laws supersede or are combined with those of the state. In fact the instructor went so far as to say that a democracy can only function in a completely secular state.  I guess it was a good thing that everything was in French, otherwise it wouldn’t have been quite so easy to bite my tongue at these huge generalization.  This type of dogmatic presentation of the basic tenants of the French Republic makes me wonder again what immigrants to Canada are exposed to? What do they have to know about our constitution and Charter of Rights? How are they told to interpret it?

Tuesday Keith and I went down to the Prefecture to pick up our Carte de Sejour (permanent residency cards). Not only was it completely crowded and disorganized, but there were really only two sign that told us we had to wait in line to get a ticket to actually see someone. There was one person giving out tickets and it took us two hours of standing in line to get a ticket. The ticket person basically screened everyone to find out if they were in the right place (maybe some better signage could have done this) and then depending on their situation gave them forms or advice before issuing them a ticket. Needless to say it was a horrid afternoon. Everyone around us was grumpy and yelled at anyone who tried to jump the line. Everyone was on edge and there was really not enough room for everyone to stand comfortably.

Once we finally got to the ticket person, we were told that we could not buy the stamps at the Prefecture but had to get them at a Tabac (basically a tobacconist store). Yes that’s right you read correctly stamps. To pay for our Carte de Sejour we needed financial stamps, that basically look like mailing stamps and no they are not sold by the government but by private little stores. Crazy? So with twenty minutes before the Prefecture closes we run to the tabac to get the stamps. But wait the tabac doesn’t take bank cards for the financial stamps only cash or cheques! Yes again you read correctly, cheques. This involved a run to a bank machine, the realization that we would not be able to take out enough money for the two of us to both get our Carte de Sejour, and running back to the tabac and then to the prefecture. Luckily for us, the woman who actually gives out the Carte de Sejour gave me a special ticket so that I could jump the line the next day to just come and get my card. 

So Wednesday morning, I return to the Prefecture with my ticket ready to get in and get out as quickly as possible to discover that on Wednesday the Prefecture is only open in the afternoon. Back I went in the afternoon and watched the chaos as police opened the doors and established a bit of order over the line to get your initial ticket. After multiple people tried to wine their way past the police to jump the line, I was finally able to get passed the security and get my Carte de Sejour. So this should be the end right? No, not at all. We have to go back this week because the address on our cards is of the residence we were staying in while we were looking for an apartment. Let us hope that perhaps the line up is not quite so long and that we do have all of the correct documents with us because of course there is no website or pamphlet which tells you what you actually need for any of these steps.

Anyone who complains that Canada has too much bureaucracy has no idea what they are talking about. I long for a website or an information line that would explain what is needed to get through all of this red tape. I have a feeling that when we return to Canada we will be battled hardened by all of these crazy waits, and everything will seem pleasant in comparison.

Perhaps this is not the most inspiring entry for those of you considering living in a different country, but the truth is you need to be ready for anything. It's not all walks on the beach and fun adventures. Although, I'm hoping that those will soon outnumber the piles paperwork and various taxes that people keep telling us about.