Anyone who thinks they wouldn't go south of the border if the offer was better money, way more purchasing power, lower cost of living, unlimited top quality medical care, better weather all year round, and a culture that idolizes their success, is lying to themselves.
Oh what about the Orange Man? What about wealth inequality? Abortion? Scary guns? Give me a break. None of that matters when you are making a few million a year.
At our Monday editorial meeting, when Scott told us the basic outline of the idea that would become this column, I quipped that I was also requesting a trade to Florida.
This does not only apply to professional athletes. A neighbour of mine worked at Magna in St. Thomas. His marriage failed, so he asked for a transfer. He went to Tennessee or somewhere similar, got an instant raise in nominal dollars because the job paid more in the States, pays lower taxes, enjoys a superior cost-of-living, more home for the buck, less crime (no crime?), far better access to healthcare, functioning public services, higher community standards, and an all around better life.
Canadians would be shocked to the point of disbelief at how high our prices are and how low and dysfunctional our standard of living is compared to many other places.
It's only stubbornness borne of inferiority and provincialism that results in this "rah-rah-Canada we're the best" head in the sand mentality. Canadians travel weirdly less, and less meaningfully, than they think, and are constantly exposed to a media drum that tells us to accept our lot in life because the alternative is horrifyingly scary.
Yet if you are even somewhat successful here, and not even close to sports star level, your equivalent in the US is living a life you could only dream of.
I was jousting with someone yesterday on this very subject.
I have known approximately 30 folks who left Canada for the USA at various stages of their lives, for a variety of reasons.
Some were athletes, some were doctors and nurses, some were entrepreneurs and some were developers. Some were folks who had topped out of career advancement in Canada and left for work opportunities.
The common factor? Not a single one of them returned.
The crux of the current pro-Liberal moral panic madness is that it is ok to be poor and dysfunctional as long as we are less like the US. This is going to set our prosperity back another 10 years.
I maintain that Donald Trump, just by existing, has made Canadians hurt themselves far more than he ever could if he directly tried to harm them.
Two posts on this page thread speak explicitly of “Donald Trump’s attempts to annex Canada”.
In my opinion, President Trump has taunted and trolled Canada, but has revealed zero policy initiatives designed to actually carry out this supposed “threat”.
So, President Trump has guided the course of Canadian politics for 18 months because of our national inferiority complex, and because the worst Prime Minister in the history of our Country claimed that the taunts were an “existential threat”.
Yah, they really think he "attempted" to annex Canada and was somehow beaten back by our Elbows Up spirit or something.
Not the fact that it would be the most expensive and logistically impossible task the US had ever engaged in, which would still be true even if every Canadian was fully on board and we had a pro-merger government.
The fact that, as you say, no policies were put in place by the Trump Administration whatsoever to even take the slightest first step toward Canadian annexation tells you all you need to know.
The annexation talk is obviously pure insane fantasy, but boomers and lefties find it so compelling that they refuse to let it go. It's like an article of religious faith that casts them as both morally perfect hero and aggrieved wronged victim. Doesn't matter that it's not real.
Not true. And I can say that with authority because I WAS offered radically better money. And I was offered it when I was young, unmarried and both economically and socially mobile, long before I had children.
Why stay? Lots of reasons but in no small past because Canada is a better country. It’s straight up BETTER. The US is richer. But it’s worse overall. Being rich means none of the bad things matter? Oh yeah? Tell that to Ennis Cosby.
Not everyone will come to the same conclusion.
At the same time, the idea that anyone who could move, would move, is just self flagellating fantasy.
Oh I'm middle aged. I've got kids. This is in my past and YES, times have changed. Times always change.
I know other people who have the same option today who aren't taking it. Some will. Some won't. Some people move to the Australia.
The point is that your claim that anyone who says they wouldn't is lying just isn't true. Different people make different choices. Money is one factor in decisions and far from the only factor. (Or does one choose a spouse just by looking at their bank balance?) Crucially, as the US slides further into internal problems that Americans themselves recoil at and ask "WFH is wrong with us?", the other factors become more significant not less. Of course the opposite is also true. If Canada makes its economic problems worse rather than better, money becomes more significant, not less.
Considering that a lot of higher earners have personal and/or industry factors keeping them here (I have both) I think the following is especially concerning and also generally confirms what I said above:
"Bank of Canada research published in late 2024 makes the economic stakes explicit. The study found that roughly 40% of Canadians who would rank in the top 1% of earners have emigrated south to the United States, along with 30-50% of the next nine income percentiles."
I don't want this to be the case, I actually desperately want this place to improve and become more attractive and viable to people with any degree of ambition or skill rather than punishing them at every turn. But we keep going down this road and people respond to their incentives.
> The study found that roughly 40% of Canadians who would rank in the top 1% of earners have emigrated south to the United States, along with 30-50% of the next nine income percentiles."
> I don't want this to be the case, I actually desperately want this place to improve and become more attractive and viable to people with any degree of ambition or skill rather than punishing them at every turn.
I'd say one thing to reassure you and that's simply that it's a mistake to conflate "high earner" with "improving productivity". If you keep Canadian productivity the same, but radically increased income disparity, you'd have more "high earners" in Canada without any corresponding increase in productivity.
It's a question of what kind of society you want to live in. From what I'm seeing, the US is increasing their total wealth, but almost none of it is going to most Americans. Their wealth and income disparity are increasing rapidly. To put it another way, the so-called "American dream" is increasingly becoming a bad joke from a bygone era than a reality.
That's no way to create an attractive society. Quite the opposite.
I'm not saying Canada doesn't have problems. And since Canada is my country, I prefer to focus on what we can improve about ourselves rather than pissing on another country. But since this article was very much about comparing the US and Canada... it's worth pointing out that the US has great wealth, much of it greatly concentrated...and in a lot of ways is a deeply terrible place to live. It's got more racism, more violent crime, radically more police violence against the population and a less functional government which is depressing given where we set the bar. They've even got more suicide than we do.
I don't say all that to negate the wealth. Producing prosperity is a good thing. It's not the only thing and it's not a good thing in and of itself. It's only good for a purpose.
I'd accept there might not be a 1:1 correlation between high earnings and productivity, but there certainly is a strong one. Most of these people didn't just trip over a pot of gold through dumb luck, as much as socialists like to think that. These are your most dynamic, hard-working, self-sacrificing, forward-thinking, educated, skilled, creative, responsible, intelligent citizens.
Arguing that chasing 40% (!) of these people away through policy decisions is actually a GOOD thing because it reduces income/wealth inequality, is madness.
I'm in no way saying America is perfect. It's a harsher society overall and a shit place to be poor. Some places have a lot more violence (though a lot don't). It has considerable government dysfunction, though Canadians have different dysfunction and most don't realize it.
But I'm willing to accept letting more people fail in order to let the successful succeed. You can't just bubble wrap society, prop everyone up with government money, incentivize laziness, condemn your best citizens to mediocrity, and expect everything to turn out great. Other than boomers of course, they get the best of everything no matter where they live.
This is like a belief that you've got a great strategy for picking winning lottery numbers or beating a roulette wheel. (Or believing that if a six hasn't been rolled in a while, it's more likely to be rolled next time). It's a belief that refuses to be affected by evidence.
The US second amendment OBJECTIVELY makes Americans less safe and more likely to die from violence. This is true both as a group and individually. Widespread gun ownership increases collective risk, but even if you're the only one not getting a gun, getting one makes you and your family MORE likely to die. (It's not a collective action problem.)
The idea that owning a gun makes you and your family **feels** right. But the only thing that matters, (evidence), proves it false.
That's a lot of assumptions you're making there, none of which have anything to do with why the American firearms regulatory environment would be a selling feature (for me) when compared to Canada.
I ask because while everyone makes some basic assumptions, I'm not assuming anything how owning a gun affects your safety. It makes your safety objectively worse.
You can get a gun in Canada. I've gone through the process. It's not hard. Our regulatory environment is designed to prevent much of the unnecessary death that the US has simple because they made a poorly thought out amendment to their constitution.
I also think the second amendment leads to excesses, but unfortunately the alternative is civilian disarmament.
Canada used to be a shining example of getting the balance (mostly) right on gun control, but it turns out that without an absolute right to property and self-defence, pearl-clutchers will just eventually vote for confiscation.
A 4x greater likelihood of dying is indeed an excess. I'd phrase it more harshly and with greater moral judgement than that, but it's up to you how you phrase it.
But I'll note you're not arguing against what we have in Canada and saying that 4x greater likelihood of dying is a worthwhile trade for saving hunting & target shooting. (Self-defence is hampered by gun ownership not enhanced, so the US system would harm that, not help preserve it.)
You're actually arguing against what you THINK we will have in the future and saying that 4x greater likelihood of dying is worthwhile. Okay, but that's just as valid as someone saying that Canada has a better government because the maga crowd will just eventually turn the USA into a pseudo-theocratic dictatorship. You're arguing against a future no one can ever prove won't happen because can't disprove a prediction with nearly infinite variables.
"This is like a belief that you've got a great strategy for picking winning lottery numbers or beating a roulette wheel. (Or believing that if a six hasn't been rolled in a while, it's more likely to be rolled next time). It's a belief that refuses to be affected by evidence."
"The idea that owning a gun makes you and your family **feels** right. But the only thing that matters, (evidence), proves it false."
You're assuming that I believe having greater access to firearms makes me feel safer (or at least doesn't put me at an increased risk of gun violence). I don't.
I think your premise is sound but it really leads us as well to "Why do most Canadian tram GMs seem to do so poorly in putting together a winning product?"
The egregious example is Stan Bowman who takes a team that made it to two consecutive cup finals, screwing around with successful goaltending, offering Knoblauch a three year extension, and then when the teams performance dropped with lesser goalies fired the coach (with a big severance) and brings in buddy Babcock whose reputation is inconsistent and marginal?
The problem isn't with the players, it's the lack of talent in the front offices.
I don’t know much about European soccer, but it certainly seems the NHL has a habit of rotating the same names into different situations, and hoping for the best.
Very different from, say, NFL football, for example.
Canadians are thinned skinned and the treatment of US players after the Olympics was abhorrent, but what else to expect from the Elbows Up crowd. US players are taxed for their games in Canada and also states where they play the game, but yes, even the pile on taxes you see in Houston for example (about 5 last time I sayed in a hotel there), there is an advantage if all you care about is money. In Calgary, I see players out, whether watching their kids in minor hockey or at times, on the ODR. Les Canadians are suffering horrific tax, but players still want to play there. But here is a wake up call for Canadians. Our cities are not the end-all, be-all compared to the big US cities. Every city has an underbelly, but if you watch the Europeans (who no longer get their news from Le Monde et Le Guardian), are having a hell of a good time with Americans in the States, whether in pubs, on sidewalks or stadia. The USA is not all bad, and Canada is not all good either. but the taxes in Canada and the fact that 25 percent of the workforce is tied to the Government, and learning Carnie wants to bail out developers so the State can own our residences, should cause Canadians to ponder.
I don't think anyone can be surprised that someone who's so fully aligned themselves with the Trump administration wants out of Ottawa. The fact that he remained captain of the team in our nation's capital after actively supporting a leader who's called for our annexation is disgraceful on the part of the Senators as an organization.
The poor welcome that American gold medallists got in Canada had almost everything to do with the extent they yolked themselves to the Trump admin following their win while Trump was very much in the 51st state and annexation talk. It's frustrating for us to see how few in the media acknowledge that. Brady was an 8M dollar employee of an organization in Canada's capital and deserved some form of censure from us. Booing an anthem is not the way though
Graham, I think that you have missed the much more important aspect of things.
You miss that Canadians in general have a massive and well deserved inferiority complex about America and Americans. I am not saying that the US and Americans are better than we Canadians but rather that, as a rule, we are terrifically worried that we don't measure up to them. We keep saying things like "But medicare ..." as though it was clear that our medical system is soooooooooo much better - it's different than the US and in some ways the US is better just as in some ways Canada's system is better.
Canadians have confused Americans' pride in America with DJT which we have, in turn, erroneously decided that DJT is not simply some idiot making rude comments to put us off our game (which it is) but we have taken it personally and, again, have confused all things American with DJT.
This column uses hockey to touch upon something much broader. There is likely not a single line of work in which the opportunities and rewards are not greater in the USA than in Canada. Hockey player, nurse, doctor, entrepreneur, take your pick, if you can get out of Canada, you do. It’s a sad state of affairs but highlights just how far a once-admired country has fallen. And to return to hockey, if anyone thinks that Auston Matthews is staying in Toronto despite any trades and this year’s top draft pick, they are probably tripping on LSD.
The Tkachuk brothers always wanted to play together, now they are and it will make the Panthers hard to beat. It was clear from March forward that Brady wanted out of Ottawa, and I dont think Friedman was wrong about the political motivation in this case! Ottawa is a liberal cesspool, they booed him because he went to the Whitehouse, after the win!
Let’s boil this scenario down to first principles before we get all bent out of shape. Brady Tkachuk wanted to move to Florida to play with his brother and (try to) win Stanley cups. Oh, and yes, pay no state income tax.
As an Oilers fan I am painfully aware that Florida has a great cup contending team.
By communicating this to his team early, he allowed them to get a far greater return than they otherwise could get. It’s was actually a respectful move if you look at it in that light. Matthew Tkachuk provided Calgary the same courtesy and despite it not working out (haha), they got what was perceived to be a great return at the time.
We have seen Canadian players make the same decision to return home. John Tavares famously left Long Island for Toronto (what a horrible mistake). Nazeem Kadri left Colorado for Calgary on a 7 year deal.
That said, America is awesome. Anyone who says differently either doesn’t go or hasn’t been there. Despite their current politics they still have us beat in most regards… especially if you’re in the income bracket these hockey players all are. Thats the hard truth of it. And, for American players, it’s home.
I watch the PWHL with my wife. The NHL has become something I don't recognize any longer. For me, our days of winning Stanley Cups in Canada ended with the last cup win by Montreal in 1993. There is anger in the land now that CBC is out of HNIC business. CBC lost HNIC in 2013. Canada's NHL teams will always fill seats in this country but its been three decades since that Montreal win. For me, I doubt the Stanley Cup will be ever be won again by a Canadian team. Money calls the shots. Canada is expensive to live in and nobody works for free.
Elliot is fairly astute. I’ve noticed when a player gets married,I know it’s not long before he’s moving to the Sun and beaches. We all cried when Gretzky left,and wanted to hunt down Pocklington. McDavid,sadly will make the move eventually. I blame Stan Bowman for last season,bad trades for the Oilers. Austin Mathew’s is playing for a thankless city. Serve them right when he goes
"Show me the money". These are professional athletes and hockey is a business. They will be attracted by income, taxes and lifestyle. Everything else is marketing.
Don't much care about this one way or the other but it could be that star players don't want to play for a perennial loser and that's pretty much how Canadian hockey looks these days and has for some time.
There are issues. The biggest one, IMHO, is that the salary cap doesn't factor in local taxation rates, so the playing field isn't actually level. So if the playing field was levelled, that might have an impact. Canadian fans are passionate...to the point of being insane. Marner left Toronto because of the fans and the media....the media putting the Leafs playoff failures entirely on him. Sure, the responsibility to produce comes with the big cheque, but playoff hockey and regular-season hockey are almost 2 different sports. There is also little to no patience and understanding in Canadian markets that success is cyclical. You can't win all the time. Current Leafs management doesn't understand that s they put Band-Aids on a broken leg. Sometimes, you have to go to the bottom and rebuild. That takes patience and determination to stick to the plan. John Tavares, a fabulous player, broke the Leafs' financial plan, but they took their shots. Now they need to start over and get young and develop.
I think there is a problem for Canadian teams. It's the unbalanced cap, the toxic media, and the true toxicity that is social media. I wouldn't blame anyone for not wanting to play here when you're "deserving" of harassment and abuse if you don't win it all every year. Or maybe as a Leafs fan, I'm just used to losing.
I couldn't disagree more. Canadian teams will be doomed because their American talent doesn't want to play here? 🥱 Who cares? Don't let the door hit them on the bum on the way past!
All our teams have to do is draft accordingly. I would take Canadian talent over American any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
This isn't a big deal. Compare world junior championships won. We have something like 25. The Americans? 🤣 Not even close!
Trouble is Rob, if you have been paying attention, is the Michigander's are very good and there are more and more of them every year. We are not keeping up and as hockey becomes more popular as it is (Gold Medal's help) will further drive this trend. Its a problem. Winning helps (see Montreal) but this is happening.
I still disagree. Any dedicated Canadian GM will have no problem drafting Canadians. There are only 7 teams.
I'm heavily involved in minor hockey in my hometown. Registrations are up year over year. There won't be a shortage of Canadian talent to go around. Trust me.
As for gold medals and world junior championships? That is not indicative of talent.
That is all on Hockey Canada. They have no ability to select a proper well balanced team. Politics and sponsorship seem dictate their decisions.
While it's been fun to watch the hockey talk below, I just want to say that perhaps it's time for Canadians to begin to have confidence in ourselves again. To do that we need to clean house here at home: to demand accountability from our leaders to do their jobs, to enable Canadian companies to shoot for scaling up at home so they can be economic forces here and there without being bought up by somebody bigger. So many things need to be fixed.
But for a start, I think we need to get back to having confidence in ourselves, so that this country stops being hollowed out - hockey players and heart surgions alike - and we build back better. Here. In Calgary and St. John's, Vancouver and Winnipeg. Toronto and Montreal, North Bay and Churchill, Regina and Saskatoon, and all places around us, coast-to-coast-to-coast. Build business and opportunity so our kids choose to stay here, after visiting places elsewhere, and truly believe there is no place like home.
And, as an Ottawa Sens follower, I'm glad to be rid of the Tkachuk guy... he may be brawny and tough, but I prefer more finess, and less MAGA, in my hockey. The NHL is too American for my liking. I was wondering just the other day if an all-Canadian league might be possible again, as things get more and more turbulent in the US. Who knows, maybe we'll get something like that eventually, functionally, and it might work out after all. We hold our own at the Olympic level after all. Will Stanley return? Who knows.... but maybe we've outgrown it...?
And, one last point.... Canadians live longer. 3-5 years on average. We might do it in boots rather than flip flops, but that fact speaks for itself. (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2873793/)
Anyone who thinks they wouldn't go south of the border if the offer was better money, way more purchasing power, lower cost of living, unlimited top quality medical care, better weather all year round, and a culture that idolizes their success, is lying to themselves.
Oh what about the Orange Man? What about wealth inequality? Abortion? Scary guns? Give me a break. None of that matters when you are making a few million a year.
At our Monday editorial meeting, when Scott told us the basic outline of the idea that would become this column, I quipped that I was also requesting a trade to Florida.
As always, KRM, a thoughtful post.
This does not only apply to professional athletes. A neighbour of mine worked at Magna in St. Thomas. His marriage failed, so he asked for a transfer. He went to Tennessee or somewhere similar, got an instant raise in nominal dollars because the job paid more in the States, pays lower taxes, enjoys a superior cost-of-living, more home for the buck, less crime (no crime?), far better access to healthcare, functioning public services, higher community standards, and an all around better life.
Needless to say, he no coming back.
Canadians would be shocked to the point of disbelief at how high our prices are and how low and dysfunctional our standard of living is compared to many other places.
It's only stubbornness borne of inferiority and provincialism that results in this "rah-rah-Canada we're the best" head in the sand mentality. Canadians travel weirdly less, and less meaningfully, than they think, and are constantly exposed to a media drum that tells us to accept our lot in life because the alternative is horrifyingly scary.
Yet if you are even somewhat successful here, and not even close to sports star level, your equivalent in the US is living a life you could only dream of.
I was jousting with someone yesterday on this very subject.
I have known approximately 30 folks who left Canada for the USA at various stages of their lives, for a variety of reasons.
Some were athletes, some were doctors and nurses, some were entrepreneurs and some were developers. Some were folks who had topped out of career advancement in Canada and left for work opportunities.
The common factor? Not a single one of them returned.
Not one.
And yet the Elbowzoes still maintain the fiction that it's better up here.
The crux of the current pro-Liberal moral panic madness is that it is ok to be poor and dysfunctional as long as we are less like the US. This is going to set our prosperity back another 10 years.
I maintain that Donald Trump, just by existing, has made Canadians hurt themselves far more than he ever could if he directly tried to harm them.
Interesting point.
Two posts on this page thread speak explicitly of “Donald Trump’s attempts to annex Canada”.
In my opinion, President Trump has taunted and trolled Canada, but has revealed zero policy initiatives designed to actually carry out this supposed “threat”.
So, President Trump has guided the course of Canadian politics for 18 months because of our national inferiority complex, and because the worst Prime Minister in the history of our Country claimed that the taunts were an “existential threat”.
Yah, they really think he "attempted" to annex Canada and was somehow beaten back by our Elbows Up spirit or something.
Not the fact that it would be the most expensive and logistically impossible task the US had ever engaged in, which would still be true even if every Canadian was fully on board and we had a pro-merger government.
The fact that, as you say, no policies were put in place by the Trump Administration whatsoever to even take the slightest first step toward Canadian annexation tells you all you need to know.
The annexation talk is obviously pure insane fantasy, but boomers and lefties find it so compelling that they refuse to let it go. It's like an article of religious faith that casts them as both morally perfect hero and aggrieved wronged victim. Doesn't matter that it's not real.
Great post.
One other thought: why would a Republican President, House , and/or Senate want another solidly Blue State with which to attend?
Good going.
Maybe the difference in the hockey thing is that the American players see the shockingly substandard lifestyle, and say “not gonna stand for it.”
Canadians, on the other hand, just continue to stumble along, muddle through, continue to vote Liberal, all the while hoping for the best.
Not true. And I can say that with authority because I WAS offered radically better money. And I was offered it when I was young, unmarried and both economically and socially mobile, long before I had children.
Why stay? Lots of reasons but in no small past because Canada is a better country. It’s straight up BETTER. The US is richer. But it’s worse overall. Being rich means none of the bad things matter? Oh yeah? Tell that to Ennis Cosby.
Not everyone will come to the same conclusion.
At the same time, the idea that anyone who could move, would move, is just self flagellating fantasy.
When was this? Because 10-15 years ago you could still kind of make that case. Now, though...
I don't know how old you are, but I think especially older Canadians fail to realize how much has changed.
Oh I'm middle aged. I've got kids. This is in my past and YES, times have changed. Times always change.
I know other people who have the same option today who aren't taking it. Some will. Some won't. Some people move to the Australia.
The point is that your claim that anyone who says they wouldn't is lying just isn't true. Different people make different choices. Money is one factor in decisions and far from the only factor. (Or does one choose a spouse just by looking at their bank balance?) Crucially, as the US slides further into internal problems that Americans themselves recoil at and ask "WFH is wrong with us?", the other factors become more significant not less. Of course the opposite is also true. If Canada makes its economic problems worse rather than better, money becomes more significant, not less.
Considering that a lot of higher earners have personal and/or industry factors keeping them here (I have both) I think the following is especially concerning and also generally confirms what I said above:
"Bank of Canada research published in late 2024 makes the economic stakes explicit. The study found that roughly 40% of Canadians who would rank in the top 1% of earners have emigrated south to the United States, along with 30-50% of the next nine income percentiles."
https://www.hcamag.com/ca/news/general/canadas-talent-exodus-what-senior-hr-leaders-cant-afford-to-ignore/570810
I don't want this to be the case, I actually desperately want this place to improve and become more attractive and viable to people with any degree of ambition or skill rather than punishing them at every turn. But we keep going down this road and people respond to their incentives.
> The study found that roughly 40% of Canadians who would rank in the top 1% of earners have emigrated south to the United States, along with 30-50% of the next nine income percentiles."
> I don't want this to be the case, I actually desperately want this place to improve and become more attractive and viable to people with any degree of ambition or skill rather than punishing them at every turn.
I'd say one thing to reassure you and that's simply that it's a mistake to conflate "high earner" with "improving productivity". If you keep Canadian productivity the same, but radically increased income disparity, you'd have more "high earners" in Canada without any corresponding increase in productivity.
It's a question of what kind of society you want to live in. From what I'm seeing, the US is increasing their total wealth, but almost none of it is going to most Americans. Their wealth and income disparity are increasing rapidly. To put it another way, the so-called "American dream" is increasingly becoming a bad joke from a bygone era than a reality.
That's no way to create an attractive society. Quite the opposite.
I'm not saying Canada doesn't have problems. And since Canada is my country, I prefer to focus on what we can improve about ourselves rather than pissing on another country. But since this article was very much about comparing the US and Canada... it's worth pointing out that the US has great wealth, much of it greatly concentrated...and in a lot of ways is a deeply terrible place to live. It's got more racism, more violent crime, radically more police violence against the population and a less functional government which is depressing given where we set the bar. They've even got more suicide than we do.
I don't say all that to negate the wealth. Producing prosperity is a good thing. It's not the only thing and it's not a good thing in and of itself. It's only good for a purpose.
I'd accept there might not be a 1:1 correlation between high earnings and productivity, but there certainly is a strong one. Most of these people didn't just trip over a pot of gold through dumb luck, as much as socialists like to think that. These are your most dynamic, hard-working, self-sacrificing, forward-thinking, educated, skilled, creative, responsible, intelligent citizens.
Arguing that chasing 40% (!) of these people away through policy decisions is actually a GOOD thing because it reduces income/wealth inequality, is madness.
I'm in no way saying America is perfect. It's a harsher society overall and a shit place to be poor. Some places have a lot more violence (though a lot don't). It has considerable government dysfunction, though Canadians have different dysfunction and most don't realize it.
But I'm willing to accept letting more people fail in order to let the successful succeed. You can't just bubble wrap society, prop everyone up with government money, incentivize laziness, condemn your best citizens to mediocrity, and expect everything to turn out great. Other than boomers of course, they get the best of everything no matter where they live.
Zero likes...
The scary guns are a selling feature.
And the security of knowing that nobody can take them away thanks to property and self defence rights that Canadians will never know.
This is like a belief that you've got a great strategy for picking winning lottery numbers or beating a roulette wheel. (Or believing that if a six hasn't been rolled in a while, it's more likely to be rolled next time). It's a belief that refuses to be affected by evidence.
The US second amendment OBJECTIVELY makes Americans less safe and more likely to die from violence. This is true both as a group and individually. Widespread gun ownership increases collective risk, but even if you're the only one not getting a gun, getting one makes you and your family MORE likely to die. (It's not a collective action problem.)
The idea that owning a gun makes you and your family **feels** right. But the only thing that matters, (evidence), proves it false.
That's a lot of assumptions you're making there, none of which have anything to do with why the American firearms regulatory environment would be a selling feature (for me) when compared to Canada.
Which assumptions do you think I'm making?
I ask because while everyone makes some basic assumptions, I'm not assuming anything how owning a gun affects your safety. It makes your safety objectively worse.
You can get a gun in Canada. I've gone through the process. It's not hard. Our regulatory environment is designed to prevent much of the unnecessary death that the US has simple because they made a poorly thought out amendment to their constitution.
I also think the second amendment leads to excesses, but unfortunately the alternative is civilian disarmament.
Canada used to be a shining example of getting the balance (mostly) right on gun control, but it turns out that without an absolute right to property and self-defence, pearl-clutchers will just eventually vote for confiscation.
A 4x greater likelihood of dying is indeed an excess. I'd phrase it more harshly and with greater moral judgement than that, but it's up to you how you phrase it.
But I'll note you're not arguing against what we have in Canada and saying that 4x greater likelihood of dying is a worthwhile trade for saving hunting & target shooting. (Self-defence is hampered by gun ownership not enhanced, so the US system would harm that, not help preserve it.)
You're actually arguing against what you THINK we will have in the future and saying that 4x greater likelihood of dying is worthwhile. Okay, but that's just as valid as someone saying that Canada has a better government because the maga crowd will just eventually turn the USA into a pseudo-theocratic dictatorship. You're arguing against a future no one can ever prove won't happen because can't disprove a prediction with nearly infinite variables.
Bingo.
"This is like a belief that you've got a great strategy for picking winning lottery numbers or beating a roulette wheel. (Or believing that if a six hasn't been rolled in a while, it's more likely to be rolled next time). It's a belief that refuses to be affected by evidence."
"The idea that owning a gun makes you and your family **feels** right. But the only thing that matters, (evidence), proves it false."
You're assuming that I believe having greater access to firearms makes me feel safer (or at least doesn't put me at an increased risk of gun violence). I don't.
I'm curious then... what's your purpose to owning a gun? People don't spend money on anything for no purpose, so what's yours?
If not protection then what?
I think your premise is sound but it really leads us as well to "Why do most Canadian tram GMs seem to do so poorly in putting together a winning product?"
The egregious example is Stan Bowman who takes a team that made it to two consecutive cup finals, screwing around with successful goaltending, offering Knoblauch a three year extension, and then when the teams performance dropped with lesser goalies fired the coach (with a big severance) and brings in buddy Babcock whose reputation is inconsistent and marginal?
The problem isn't with the players, it's the lack of talent in the front offices.
The NHL is turning into the English Premier League for coach and manager longevity.
I don’t know much about European soccer, but it certainly seems the NHL has a habit of rotating the same names into different situations, and hoping for the best.
Very different from, say, NFL football, for example.
Canadians are thinned skinned and the treatment of US players after the Olympics was abhorrent, but what else to expect from the Elbows Up crowd. US players are taxed for their games in Canada and also states where they play the game, but yes, even the pile on taxes you see in Houston for example (about 5 last time I sayed in a hotel there), there is an advantage if all you care about is money. In Calgary, I see players out, whether watching their kids in minor hockey or at times, on the ODR. Les Canadians are suffering horrific tax, but players still want to play there. But here is a wake up call for Canadians. Our cities are not the end-all, be-all compared to the big US cities. Every city has an underbelly, but if you watch the Europeans (who no longer get their news from Le Monde et Le Guardian), are having a hell of a good time with Americans in the States, whether in pubs, on sidewalks or stadia. The USA is not all bad, and Canada is not all good either. but the taxes in Canada and the fact that 25 percent of the workforce is tied to the Government, and learning Carnie wants to bail out developers so the State can own our residences, should cause Canadians to ponder.
I don't think anyone can be surprised that someone who's so fully aligned themselves with the Trump administration wants out of Ottawa. The fact that he remained captain of the team in our nation's capital after actively supporting a leader who's called for our annexation is disgraceful on the part of the Senators as an organization.
The poor welcome that American gold medallists got in Canada had almost everything to do with the extent they yolked themselves to the Trump admin following their win while Trump was very much in the 51st state and annexation talk. It's frustrating for us to see how few in the media acknowledge that. Brady was an 8M dollar employee of an organization in Canada's capital and deserved some form of censure from us. Booing an anthem is not the way though
Graham, I think that you have missed the much more important aspect of things.
You miss that Canadians in general have a massive and well deserved inferiority complex about America and Americans. I am not saying that the US and Americans are better than we Canadians but rather that, as a rule, we are terrifically worried that we don't measure up to them. We keep saying things like "But medicare ..." as though it was clear that our medical system is soooooooooo much better - it's different than the US and in some ways the US is better just as in some ways Canada's system is better.
Canadians have confused Americans' pride in America with DJT which we have, in turn, erroneously decided that DJT is not simply some idiot making rude comments to put us off our game (which it is) but we have taken it personally and, again, have confused all things American with DJT.
Silly Canadians.
This column uses hockey to touch upon something much broader. There is likely not a single line of work in which the opportunities and rewards are not greater in the USA than in Canada. Hockey player, nurse, doctor, entrepreneur, take your pick, if you can get out of Canada, you do. It’s a sad state of affairs but highlights just how far a once-admired country has fallen. And to return to hockey, if anyone thinks that Auston Matthews is staying in Toronto despite any trades and this year’s top draft pick, they are probably tripping on LSD.
Canada is a better country to be a public servant or a union tradesman in.
Or any government official or government focused consultant.
Government focused consultant, no. Canada is known for being a hard client to deal with at times. Much harder than the US government.
The Tkachuk brothers always wanted to play together, now they are and it will make the Panthers hard to beat. It was clear from March forward that Brady wanted out of Ottawa, and I dont think Friedman was wrong about the political motivation in this case! Ottawa is a liberal cesspool, they booed him because he went to the Whitehouse, after the win!
Let’s boil this scenario down to first principles before we get all bent out of shape. Brady Tkachuk wanted to move to Florida to play with his brother and (try to) win Stanley cups. Oh, and yes, pay no state income tax.
As an Oilers fan I am painfully aware that Florida has a great cup contending team.
By communicating this to his team early, he allowed them to get a far greater return than they otherwise could get. It’s was actually a respectful move if you look at it in that light. Matthew Tkachuk provided Calgary the same courtesy and despite it not working out (haha), they got what was perceived to be a great return at the time.
We have seen Canadian players make the same decision to return home. John Tavares famously left Long Island for Toronto (what a horrible mistake). Nazeem Kadri left Colorado for Calgary on a 7 year deal.
That said, America is awesome. Anyone who says differently either doesn’t go or hasn’t been there. Despite their current politics they still have us beat in most regards… especially if you’re in the income bracket these hockey players all are. Thats the hard truth of it. And, for American players, it’s home.
I watch the PWHL with my wife. The NHL has become something I don't recognize any longer. For me, our days of winning Stanley Cups in Canada ended with the last cup win by Montreal in 1993. There is anger in the land now that CBC is out of HNIC business. CBC lost HNIC in 2013. Canada's NHL teams will always fill seats in this country but its been three decades since that Montreal win. For me, I doubt the Stanley Cup will be ever be won again by a Canadian team. Money calls the shots. Canada is expensive to live in and nobody works for free.
Ye of little faith! Need I remind you the Oilers just went to back to back cup finals. They lost in game 7 by one goal.
Prediction. The Oilers win the cup in 2026/27. Mcdavid hoists the cup and the Babcock redemption story is completed.
Now if you’re a Leafs fan… that’s another story.
McDavid so looks like he wants out of there.
Elliot is fairly astute. I’ve noticed when a player gets married,I know it’s not long before he’s moving to the Sun and beaches. We all cried when Gretzky left,and wanted to hunt down Pocklington. McDavid,sadly will make the move eventually. I blame Stan Bowman for last season,bad trades for the Oilers. Austin Mathew’s is playing for a thankless city. Serve them right when he goes
Toronto is a special kind of hell for rich hockey players.
"Show me the money". These are professional athletes and hockey is a business. They will be attracted by income, taxes and lifestyle. Everything else is marketing.
Don't much care about this one way or the other but it could be that star players don't want to play for a perennial loser and that's pretty much how Canadian hockey looks these days and has for some time.
There are issues. The biggest one, IMHO, is that the salary cap doesn't factor in local taxation rates, so the playing field isn't actually level. So if the playing field was levelled, that might have an impact. Canadian fans are passionate...to the point of being insane. Marner left Toronto because of the fans and the media....the media putting the Leafs playoff failures entirely on him. Sure, the responsibility to produce comes with the big cheque, but playoff hockey and regular-season hockey are almost 2 different sports. There is also little to no patience and understanding in Canadian markets that success is cyclical. You can't win all the time. Current Leafs management doesn't understand that s they put Band-Aids on a broken leg. Sometimes, you have to go to the bottom and rebuild. That takes patience and determination to stick to the plan. John Tavares, a fabulous player, broke the Leafs' financial plan, but they took their shots. Now they need to start over and get young and develop.
I think there is a problem for Canadian teams. It's the unbalanced cap, the toxic media, and the true toxicity that is social media. I wouldn't blame anyone for not wanting to play here when you're "deserving" of harassment and abuse if you don't win it all every year. Or maybe as a Leafs fan, I'm just used to losing.
Bring back the WHA! (Also, PWHL is fantastic hockey.)
It is, but I don't think there is money or interest to start another men's league.
I do miss the days of hockey dynasties like the Oilers or even the Islanders.
I couldn't disagree more. Canadian teams will be doomed because their American talent doesn't want to play here? 🥱 Who cares? Don't let the door hit them on the bum on the way past!
All our teams have to do is draft accordingly. I would take Canadian talent over American any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
This isn't a big deal. Compare world junior championships won. We have something like 25. The Americans? 🤣 Not even close!
Trouble is Rob, if you have been paying attention, is the Michigander's are very good and there are more and more of them every year. We are not keeping up and as hockey becomes more popular as it is (Gold Medal's help) will further drive this trend. Its a problem. Winning helps (see Montreal) but this is happening.
I still disagree. Any dedicated Canadian GM will have no problem drafting Canadians. There are only 7 teams.
I'm heavily involved in minor hockey in my hometown. Registrations are up year over year. There won't be a shortage of Canadian talent to go around. Trust me.
As for gold medals and world junior championships? That is not indicative of talent.
That is all on Hockey Canada. They have no ability to select a proper well balanced team. Politics and sponsorship seem dictate their decisions.
Amen,
I’ll take a hockey player from Sask over Michigan any day.
I’ll just leave this here.
https://flyoverdon.substack.com/p/lazy?r=g8vpl&utm_medium=ios
While it's been fun to watch the hockey talk below, I just want to say that perhaps it's time for Canadians to begin to have confidence in ourselves again. To do that we need to clean house here at home: to demand accountability from our leaders to do their jobs, to enable Canadian companies to shoot for scaling up at home so they can be economic forces here and there without being bought up by somebody bigger. So many things need to be fixed.
But for a start, I think we need to get back to having confidence in ourselves, so that this country stops being hollowed out - hockey players and heart surgions alike - and we build back better. Here. In Calgary and St. John's, Vancouver and Winnipeg. Toronto and Montreal, North Bay and Churchill, Regina and Saskatoon, and all places around us, coast-to-coast-to-coast. Build business and opportunity so our kids choose to stay here, after visiting places elsewhere, and truly believe there is no place like home.
And, as an Ottawa Sens follower, I'm glad to be rid of the Tkachuk guy... he may be brawny and tough, but I prefer more finess, and less MAGA, in my hockey. The NHL is too American for my liking. I was wondering just the other day if an all-Canadian league might be possible again, as things get more and more turbulent in the US. Who knows, maybe we'll get something like that eventually, functionally, and it might work out after all. We hold our own at the Olympic level after all. Will Stanley return? Who knows.... but maybe we've outgrown it...?
And, one last point.... Canadians live longer. 3-5 years on average. We might do it in boots rather than flip flops, but that fact speaks for itself. (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2873793/)