Jeffrey Simpson is, of course, not only a widely read and highly regarded
political columnist for The Globe and Mail, but also the author
of several bestsellers about the Canadian political scene. In his most
recent book, entitled Star-Spangled Canadians, he focuses on
the experiences of that not insignificant group of Canadians who have
left their Canadian homeland in order to pursue "their dream"
in the United States.
Star-Spangled Canadians offers the reader almost 400 pages of
text, endnotes, bibliography and index; unfortunately, there are no
photos or illustrations. However, between a solid introduction and a
thought-provoking conclusion, there are eleven informative chapters
filled with lots of interesting information and much careful analysis.
In Chapters 1 and 2 — respectively entitled "History" and
"Differences" — the author provides his readers with a good
historical background to his topic before turning to specific chapters
dealing with: Race/Ethnicity; Crime; French Canadians; Brain Drain;
Health; Academics; Entrepreneurship/Business; New York; and Entertainment/Journalism.
For anyone who is interested in this particular aspect of the Canadian-American
relationship, Simpson has produced a most readable and solidly researched
book. In fact, he interviewed nearly 250 expatriates as part of his
extensive research. While some of his information is old, much more
is new — and this makes for some very worth-while reading. Simpson offers
what are, perhaps, some rather unexpected conclusions, such as: that
the United States is now more of a multi-cultural society while Canada
has become more of a melting pot (pp. 89-91); that the image of America
as a more violent society than Canada is "only partially correct"
(p. 95); that the exodus of so many Canadians to the United States is
more the result of greater "opportunities" in America than
high taxes in Canada (pp. 156 - 157, 169-170, 246 -247); that the Canadian
and American medical systems "will look somewhat more alike a decade
from now and Canadians and Americans will become even more alike too"
(p. 215); and, that the "brain drain" is not quite the one
way street that many Canadians are led to believe, although there is
little doubt that some of "the best and the brightest" Canadians
have left in the past and are still leaving today (pp. 218, 239, 356).
In Chapter 9, Simpson offers a detailed explanation of why the American
business climate remains such a powerful magnet for many Canadians;
and, in Chapter 11, he provides ample evidence that the "big leagues"
in the worlds of entertainment and journalism still remain south of
the border.
In Star-Spangled Canadians, Jeffrey Simpson has given us an
excellent account of why and how so many Canadians have sought to pursue
their dreams within the borders of the American republic; in fact, he
estimates that at the end of the 20th century there were at least 660,000
former Canadians living in the United States (p. 7). However, the author
also informs his readers that many of these "Star-Spangled Canadians"
have, indeed, returned "home" over the years. Furthermore,
he also tells us that while these expatriates — ABC 's news-anchor Peter
Jennings being one of the best known — have made their homes and pursued
their careers in the United States, many of them have actually remained
Canadian citizens.
In his thoughtful conclusion, Simpson wanders a bit off his main topic
and he spends considerable time speculating about Canada's future relationship
with her powerful continental neighbour. His suggestion that the United
States "will always be the most dominant country for Canada"
(p. 363) is, of course, hardly "news". However, he does offer
a keen insight when he shrewdly observes that "whatever Canadians
may think of their American neighbours, they have never been more like
them. And not because Americans have changed to become more like Canadians,
but the other way around" (p. 343). Near the end of his book, Simpson
(who incidentally was born in New York City and came as a nine-year
old to Montreal with his parents) suggests to his readers that "living
beside the United States is both a challenge and an opportunity — a
challenge to preserve Canadians' margin of distinctiveness, an opportunity
to examine what the Americans are doing and adapt the successful aspects
of American society for Canadian purposes" (p. 362). This seems
to me quite an accurate observation about what the future may be like.
I also hope that Simpson will be proven a real visionary when he suggests
that "there is no reason why Canada cannot succeed." (p. 362).
Star-Spangled Canadians is obviously not a textbook. However,
teachers and students alike can benefit greatly by reading this virtual
gold mine of information about a hitherto much-neglected area of the
Canadian-American relationship. This is the kind of book that deserves
to be widely read and hopefully a copy will find its way into most school
and public libraries — and most certainly onto the shelves of every
history department.