Canadian opportunity

My friends in Canada tell me that the ousted conservatives are trying to make a comeback by working from Donald Trump’s playbook. Some are trying to point to the Trudeau family charitable foundation as a conflict of interest for Justin Trudeau (just as the Trump campaign did to Hillary Clinton).

Others are saying that in the age of Trump, Canada needs a strongman at the helm, not a nice guy. There is a push to return to the disastrously fragile oil based economy that got Harper thrown out.

The way I see it, Canada’s great opportunity lies in the opposite direction. It wasn’t just a majority of U.S. voters who voted for Hillary Clinton — it was, more specifically, a supermajority of college educated voters.

There are many brilliant Americans — writers, inventors, artists, architects, filmmakers, neuroscientists, game designers, engineers, software experts, and more — who right now would jump at the chance to take a sabbatical north of the border. We’re not talking about giving up U.S. citizenship, just taking a little time.

Imagine the boost to Canada’s economy if much of that brain trust came to visit over the next four years. The Canadian government wouldn’t need to do much: just reach out a welcoming hand, maybe provide a few tax breaks, some grants for cooperative research.

It’s not like the U.S. would miss them. If I understand the Trump administration’s focus, it’s going to put its efforts into bringing back the U.S. coal industry, not on all that left-leaning intellectual stuff.

And boats. They’re probably going to invest in boats.

One thought on “Canadian opportunity”

  1. We could really use the brain trust too – Canada’s had a brain drain problem to the USA for years, so the way I see it you kind of owe us a debt 🙂

    And you’re always welcome to visit!

    In the meantime – encourage your Canadian friends and colleagues to register as members of the Conservative party and vote for Michael Chong in the leadership race. He’s much more moderate and principled than our Trump shill Kellie Leitch (who btw comes from the riding where our cottage is) and if the conservative party makes a comeback in 2019 I’d much rather have him at the helm than any of the others.

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