What Happened to “the True North Strong and Free”? Part I

An Israeli-Canadian’s story of life in Canada, Covid, and her escape

Buenos Días, amigos 😎

It has been quite the whirlwind few weeks of moving to a new home (also on the beach), settling in, and now having Tom’s parents here to visit. My Dad also turned 70 last week, back in Canada, which has almost felt like a milestone for me—because he is so healthy and vibrant still. Shoutout to you, Dad! 😍

Life and our years here on earth are such a mystery!

As Moses (yes, Moses!) said in Psalm 90:

“Teach us to number our days, so that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

For this post, I wanted to share the story of one of our good friends here, a woman who is incredibly strong and brave, and who values freedom like we do. Originally from Israel, she spent many years in Canada and now lives here in El Salvador. She has been like a sister to Tom and me, and like an auntie to our girls, ever since we met her over a year ago. She is a “kindred spirit”—as Anne of Green Gables would say!

I’ll refer to my friend as Hadasa to respect her privacy. We’d heard her story in bits and pieces, and we loved every part. So, I wanted to put it together for you, my dear readers.

Enjoy the ride, just like we enjoyed riding these waves a few nights ago! 😊

What led you to your decision to move from Israel to Canada?

Hadasa: I came to Canada in 2008 to visit friends. Born and raised in Israel, I never felt that there was something wrong there. I had a pretty good career and enjoyed my life. I had travelled to many places around the world before. But when I came to Canada, I felt a sense of calmness. I used to describe it as if the sky is closer to the earth in Canada. For some reason, I felt more spiritually connected there, even though Israel is the “spiritual centre of the world” for so many religions and people. For me, I just felt closer to God in Canada—immediately I felt like I was home.

What was it about Canada that you loved, and made you decide to stay?

Hadasa: The Canadian people were so helpful and kind—everywhere I went, they got out of their way to help out. I loved the diversity of Toronto—so many different cultures, and they were all getting along together. Every summer there are many festivals for each culture: Italian Festival, Greek Food Fest, and even a “Walk for Israel” event.

In Canada, I didn’t feel that I had to disguise my identity as an Israeli like we are used to doing whenever we are outside of Israel—for fear of being harmed for being Israeli or Jewish.  2008 was one of the worst winters in Canada that I can remember—so cold and so much snow! But for me it was fun and exciting, and over the years, the harsh winters were a reasonable price to pay for living in a country like Canada.

In Israel, you are constantly attached to the news, just to be aware if anything bad or dangerous is happening. There is a news broadcast every hour and a newsflash every half an hour, and everybody usually listens to it all the time. The one thing that for me was a real difference in Canada is that the first item on the news, which is supposed to be the most important one, is the weather. 😄

I really didn’t care about Canadian politics—I was just happy that I didn’t have to listen to the news all the time!

Several months passed, and I got a job offer which led to a work permit residency, and then citizenship in Canada. Time flew by, and I really enjoyed the “multiculturalism” and the openness of the Canadian people, or so I thought.

I bought my first home in Canada, and across the street there was a car dealership which had a very tall pole with a huge Canadian flag waving (photo above). I used to look at it and feel so proud to be part of this amazing country, where everybody gets along—no matter what their background, religion or opinions.

And then came Covid…

What was it like to be in Canada during Covid in 2020-2021?

Hadasa: When Covid hit, I was as nervous as the next guy—I wore gloves, a mask and even a face shield. I kept my distance and did everything I was told, but as the restrictions got harder, I started asking questions: “How come the whole world is unanimous on this subject, and on no other subject was there ever so much agreement…? And on no other subject were the opposing opinions so censored, the way they’re being censored now…?!”

That was very strange to me, and I started digging, and as I dug deeper, I fell down the rabbit hole. I also didn’t like the shift of the Canadian people’s behaviour, from being an inclusive culture, to now changing. It became a culture of people that snitch on each other, and nobody was questioning the government for closing small businesses. And yet they were allowing, 200-400 people to come into a huge supermarket or a department store like Costco, Superstore, or Walmart—they all stayed open while the small businesses had to close, and yet the owners continued to have to pay rent.

How did the lockdowns affect you?

Hadasa: To be completely honest, the lockdowns were a blessing for me. They allowed me the time to educate myself on different subjects, but it also caused me to fall down some deep rabbit holes. By the time the vaccines started to roll out, I was already a sceptic about the way our government was handling this so-called pandemic. I didn’t see people dying in the street, yet the media was panicked about the “death toll.”

When a survey came out, saying that around 27% of Canadians were in favour of jailing the unvaccinated, I also lost faith in the Canadian people.

But I still played along—I wore my mask, and I took the tests in order to be able to go to work. I was hoping that at some point, people would start questioning what was going on. I’m not the type of person to raise riots, but I couldn’t shut up either, so whenever I was confronted, I spoke my mind. And anyone who knew me knew exactly what my opinions were. I tried to wake as many people up as I could to what was happening—but to my dismay, I didn’t have much success.

What led you to making the decision to leave Canada in late 2021?

It was at the beginning of October 2021 that Trudeau made his famous speech saying that the unvaccinated will not be able to go on a bus or a train or board a plane by October 30th. And that he would be closing the borders soon, and unvaccinated people won’t be able to leave the country!

With my family history as a Jew, it all sounded too familiar and very horrifying. I decided at that moment,

“I’m not going to be one of those who said ‘the writing was on the wall, but we didn’t do anything.’”

So, within the next two weeks, I packed my house, threw two suitcases in my car, and was aiming to cross the border to the United States. It really felt like: “I’m escaping tyrannical Canada.”

I was horrified by the measures that the Canadian government was willing to take, but even more, I was disappointed at the Canadian people for not standing up for the rights of maybe a “minority” or maybe just a group of people with a different opinion.

I heard more and more people agreeing that the unvaccinated should not get medical care for anything because they chose to put themselves at risk. But when confronted with the argument that anybody who skis or does any other type of sports is also willingly putting themselves at risk, it was dismissed as  irrelevant.

“I didn’t leave Canada because I wanted to;

I left because I had to.”

…to be continued…I’ll post more of her story in a few days ☺️

Sneak peak: In part II of her story, Hadasa packs up her car and attempts to cross the border…stay tuned for her adrenaline-filled adventure of escaping Canada 🇨🇦

Thanks for reading!

I appreciate each one of you & all of your moral support for these last two years 😊