Reuven Brenner
WSJ, Apr. 24, 2025
“A back of the envelope calculation puts the wealth transfer from the exodus of so many smart young Canadians at tens of billions of dollars a year, if not hundreds of billions.”
Then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to President Trump’s suggestion that the threat of tariffs might prompt Canada to spend more on defense and border protection with a dire prediction, according to Marco Rubio. “Canada cannot then survive as a nation state,” the secretary of state quoted Mr. Trudeau as saying. Mr. Trump then quipped that Canada might be better off as the 51st state. It was Mr. Trudeau’s flippant, pathetic comment that made a mockery out of Canada, not Mr. Trump’s response to it.
Canada is the second-largest country in the world by land mass, endowed with vast natural wealth. With a smaller population of 40 million compared with its southern neighbor’s roughly 340 million people, Canada contributed handily to the Allies’ victory in World War II. And Mr. Trudeau thought a tariff renegotiation could be the end of his country?
Missing in debates about free trade and tariffs is discussion about the movement of people between the U.S. and Canada. The Census Bureau says 126,340 Canadians moved to the U.S. in 2022, up from 75,752 in 2012. Among those headed south are Canada’s top technical talents—attracted by high salaries, wider varieties of work and greater career options. More than 70% of the University of Waterloo’s software engineering class of 2022 accepted job offers in the U.S.…Source