Going North ... But Not to Alaska

That’s what ABC News is reporting, in O, Canada! More Americans Heading North; the subheading states that the number of Americans moving to Canada hit a 30-year high last year. And—absolutely no offense intended to any Canadians in the audience—I’m wondering why.

Quoting a bit from the article, to get some perspective before I pontificate:

It may seem like a quiet country where not much happens besides ice hockey, curling and beer drinking. But our neighbor to the north is proving to be quite the draw for thousands of disgruntled Americans.

The number of U.S. citizens who moved to Canada last year hit a 30-year high, with a 20 percent increase over the previous year and almost double the number who moved in 2000.

In 2006, 10,942 Americans went to Canada, compared with 9,262 in 2005 and 5,828 in 2000, according to a survey by the Association for Canadian Studies. ....

The current increase appears to be fueled largely by social and political reasons, says Jedwab, based on anecdotal evidence.

"Those who are coming have the highest level of education – these aren't people who can't get a job in the states," he says. "They're coming because many of them don't like the politics, the Iraq War and the security situation in the U.S. By comparison, Canada is a tension-free place. People feel safer."

Well, I can certainly understand not liking the USSA Empire’s politics and international adventures, but aren’t Canadian forces over there too? While the “security situation”—whatever that means—might be different, I’d bet against that. In the USSA, security theater gets a lot of liptime, but most sensible individuals understand that that’s really all it is—propaganda to try to keep the populace cowed and cooperative. My guess is that, generally speaking, the more rural the area one visits whether here or the Great White North, the fewer people one will find hyperventilating over terrorism. Yet Canada’s govgoons have fallen in step with ours in terms of requiring passports to cross that large and no-longer-friendly border ... and I’d bet their airport security has passengers do the Shoeless Shuffle and endure the Liquids Larum. I know, I know – the USSA started a lot of this idiocy, and is strong-arming other nations to go along – but that matters less than the fact that Canada isn’t too different from here.

I do think that there might be a bit of truth in the adjective “tension-free”, if the stereotypes about Canadian reserve and politeness are to be believed. But other things suggest to me that most of those going expat in Canada aren’t likely to be among The Family: the socialized medicine system, mentioned briefly in the article, is one reason; and of course, the firearms nonsense is probably the largest impediment.

All that said, I do understand Canada’s appeal to some degree. It’s close, has a solid economy, is largely English-speaking, and is culturally probably as close to American culture as one can find; all that makes it a fairly ideal destination for the lazy expat. Maybe many of those moving there are simply trying to avoid what appears to be an impending American economic collapse; if so, Canada’s closeness might mean it will feel the waves fairly strongly (with a few sector exemptions, such as mining). I don’t think I’ll be putting it on my list of contender destinations any time soon.