Dear Editor,

I write in reference to Vanessa Hunt's article in The Daily Herald of February 4.

Ms. Hunt bewails the "High cost of Canadian education," pointing out that it is "about three times the amount domestic students pay."

Curiously, Ms. Hunt's complaints appear in the same issue that suggests too many outsiders are driving up the cost of living in St. Maarten.

I presume that by referencing "domestic students," Ms. Hunt refers to students who are either Canadian citizens or permanent residents of the country? Nonetheless, as one who claims that she would "be happy to call Canada home after graduation," she bemoans her financial disadvantage and the fact that she has been unable to save.

She may count herself lucky when she investigates the cost of obtaining an equivalent education in the USA or the UK. But then again, Canada is easier to enter, isn't it?

Ms. Hunt is right when she suggests that education is a fundamental right, but this is, I suggest, a right that each country should extend, first and foremost, to its own citizens and then, by option, to others. I sincerely doubt that Ms. Hunt was forced to enter the Canadian education system, which implies that she is there by choice. If such is, in fact, the case, one supposes that she did not enter York University without first establishing the costs. If so, her education apparently started way too late.

This leads to the conclusion that this woman has entered Canada and the Canadian education system of her own volition and, by the same token, is free to leave of her own volition, anytime she chooses.

I am an immigrant to Canada myself, as is my wife. Neither of us entered the country with any expectations other than those that come with studying and working hard. Canada is one of the most free, generous and peaceful countries in the world. Known as a nation of peacekeepers, at a cost of many lives, Canada also has an enviable health care system and social network; no doubt these are available to Ms. Hunt, but somehow she conveniently forgets to mention this, preferring to whine about the consequences of her own choice.

Why should Canada or, for that matter, St. Maarten or any other country make their own resources available, at the same cost as paid by Canadian taxpayers, to anyone who elects to show up?

My dear Ms. Hunt, I suggest, with respect, that you stop moaning about "downloaded costs" and either complete your studies and move to become a Canadian worthy of the name, or use your degree to advance your career back home here, in St. Maarten.

Linden Rees