I believe the Association of Canadian Universities (or whatever the proper
title is) did a study recently which indicated that the notion of a brain
drain is greatly overblown, and is in fact largely a ploy by business to
support calls for tax cuts. While I'm not to sure of my ground here because
all I know of the study is from an interview on the radio, I do recall that
one of the main findings is that, in most fields, there is an approximate
balance between professionals migrating from Canada to the US and
professionals migrating to Canada from elsewhere. I don't know if the
studys draws any conclusion on whether those who are coming in are as good
as the ones who are leaving. The fact that "The Swiss report, [is] based on
a survey of 4,160
>leading business executives" makes me just a little suspicious of the
possibility of self-serving motives.
Ed Weick
>Subject: Cdn brain drain confirmed - in National Article - Jul 21
>
>Skilled talent leaving Canada,
> Swiss study finds
> High taxes blamed: Canada ranks 36th for ability to
> retain well-educated people
>
> Robert Fife Ottawa Bureau Chief
> National Post
>
> OTTAWA - A severe brain drain caused by high income
>taxes is affecting Canada's
> ability to compete with rival economies, says the
>latest entrant to the debate about
> whether the country's most talented people are
>flooding south to the United States.
>
> The World Competitiveness Yearbook, compiled by
>Swiss business school IMD,
> says that Canada is ranked 10th in the world for
>competitiveness but is facing an
> exodus of talent.
>
> Among rich countries, Canada and Sweden, which have
>high income taxes, are
> facing the biggest problem with skilled
>professionals leaving, says the widely
> respected competitiveness report.
>
> Of 47 countries featured in the 1999 yearbook,
>Canada ranks 36th and Sweden 43rd
> in their ability to retain well-educated people.
>
> The report calls into question the rhetoric of Jean
>Chretien, the Prime Minister, and
> claims by the Canadian Association of University
>Teachers that the brain drain is a
> myth perpetuated by business interests. Even some
>Liberal cabinet ministers are
> conceding that Canada is h*morrhaging talent south
>of the border.
>
> In Toronto yesterday, Allan Rock, the Health
>Minister, unveiled a $147-million
> program to discourage top Canadian medical
>researchers from moving to the U.S.,
> where American researchers receive an average of
>$260,000 for their projects
> compared to $70,000 in Canada.
>
> The Swiss report, based on a survey of 4,160
>leading business executives, tries to
> rank countries competitiveness according to 288
>criteria, including taxes, education,
> gross domestic product, science and technology and
>overall productivity.
>
> The United States is the leader in world
>competitiveness, which the report attributes
> to American breakthroughs in new technologies,
>deregulation policies and low
> corporate and personal income taxes.
>
> The report supports a recent study by Standard &
>Poor DRI, which warned that
> rising income levels in the U.S. could tempt more
>Canadians south of the border.
>
> The income gap between the U.S. and Canada is now
>an average of $7,000 and
> growing.
>
> Nonetheless, Jean Chretien, the prime minister, has
>insisted that reports of skilled
> professionals emigrating to the U.S. are
>exaggerated by right-wingers lobbying for
> tax cuts.
>
> However, the IMD report gives Canada a poor score
>for high personal income taxes
> that it suggests discourages individual work
>initiative. Out of 47 countries, Canada is
> 35th for low tax rates, while the U.S. is ranked at
>seven. Hong Kong is the star
> performer in keeping taxes low.
>
> Scott Brison, the Conservative Party finance
>critic, said the Swiss report should
> serve as a wake-up call for the prime minister to
>take seriously demands from
> groups, such as the Canadian Chamber of Commerce,
>to slash personal and
> corporate income taxes. Last week, the chamber
>urged the government to cut taxes
> by $9-billion over two years or $1,700 per family
>annually.
>
> "Jean Chretien says there is no brain drain but he
>is ignoring the high quality people
> that we are losing to the United States. We are
>losing our best and brightest after
> spending enormous amounts of money to educate
>them," Mr. Brison said. "We are
> going to keep losing these people unless the
>Liberal government makes significant
> tax reductions."
>
> Walter Robinson, executive director of the Canadian
>Taxpayers Federation, said Mr.
> Chretien is making a huge mistake by ignoring the
>various reports that warn of the
> perils of the brain drain. Unless taxes are
>lowered, the exodus of talent will
> continue, he predicted, pointing to a study by the
>C.D. Howe Institute that found for
> every one U.S. manager that comes to Canada, six
>Canadians professionals move
> south. "The IMD yearbook is yet another
>demonstrable statistical indicator that we
> can't keep our talent here," Mr. Robinson said.
>
> Despite Canada's poor score card on keeping
>well-educated people, the IMD
> yearbook gives Canada a high ranking for
>competitiveness. When overall
> competitiveness is factored, Canada ranks 10th,
>behind Germany, Denmark, Hong
> Kong, Switzerland, Netherlands, Luxembourg,
>Finland, Singapore and the U.S.
>
> The IMD report said the strengths contributing to
>Canada's competitiveness were
> buoyant exports, strong direct investment inflows,
>the absence of inflation, solid
> agricultural productivity, new information
>technology, long life expectancy, good
> quality of life and higher education enrollment.
>
> When it comes to quality of life, the yearbook
>placed Canada at three behind
> Switzerland and Austria, while the U.S. was ranked
>at 16. The United Nations
> recently ranked Canada as the best place in the
>world to live for the sixth straight
> year.
>
> The income gap between the U.S. and Canada is now
>an average of $7,000 and
> growing.
>
> Nonetheless, Mr. Chretien has insisted that reports
>of skilled professionals
> emigrating to the U.S. are exaggerated by
>right-wingers lobbying for tax cuts.
>
> However, the IMD report gives Canada a poor score
>for high personal income taxes
> it suggests discourages individual work initiative.
>Canada ranked 35th for low tax
> rates, while the U.S. ranked 7th. Hong Kong was the
>star performer in keeping
> taxes low.
>
> Scott Brison, the Conservative finance critic, said
>the Swiss report should serve as a
> wake-up call for the prime minister to take
>seriously demands from groups, such as
> the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, to slash personal
>and corporate income taxes.
> Last week, the chamber urged the government to cut
>taxes by $9-billion over two
> years or $1,700 per family annually.
>
> "Jean Chretien says there is no brain drain but he
>is ignoring the high quality people
> that we are losing to the United States. We are
>losing our best and brightest after
> spending enormous amounts of money to educate
>them," Mr. Brison said. "We are
> going to keep losing these people unless the
>Liberal government makes significant
> tax reductions."
>
> Walter Robinson, executive director of the Canadian
>Taxpayers Federation, said the
> IMD yearbook "is yet another demonstrable
>statistical indicator that we can't keep
> our talent here."
>
>
