Is Canada the New Silicon Valley?

With plunging educational standards, rising costs plus increasingly exclusionary healthcare practices and an immigration policy slanted against even the most obviously qualified (educated and experienced) candidates in some of the most complex STEM fields, the United States seems to be in “human capital” freefall just as other countries ramp up their drive to become technology leaders with a modernized workforce. Even in the increasingly rare instance where a foreign scientist, techie, engineer or mathematician (STEM) can secure an H-1B visa to live and work in the United States, his or her ability to bring spouse and children (or other relatives living with him or her) is at best problematic. We just cannot fill all those STEM jobs openings with the best candidates anymore.

Meanwhile, China is offering ethnic Chinese STEM experts wads of cash, impressive new research facilities and astounding pay to come to the People’s Republic as part of China’s efforts to surpass the United States as the global leader in technology. As the number of hard patents in the United States drops, patent creation in China is soaring.

“[As] one top tech executive pointed out to [NY Times Columnist, Thomas Friedman]: ‘China is not a ‘near peer’ [to the U.S.] anymore. It is a peer.’…  As Mary Meeker’s latest internet trends study noted, five years ago China had only two of the world’s largest publicly traded tech companies, while the U.S. had nine. Today, China has nine of the top 20 — Alibaba, Tencent, Ant Financial, Baidu, Xiaomi, Didi, JD.com, Meituan and Toutiao — and the U.S. has 11. Twenty years ago, China had none.” New York Times, September 25^th.

 India is also watching legions of ethnic Indians return to the Subcontinent to pursue business and research opportunities as funds for research in the United States dry up. From Finland to Germany (where college is virtually free), Europe is rejoicing at our departure from academic excellence. Trump’s neurotic focus on excluding immigrants is certainly causing American dominance in STEM education and industry to wane… rapidly it seems.

Government-sponsored scientific research in the United States has become a sacrificial lamb in a Republican administration that seems to demonize science and deny scientific proof that man-induced climate change is absolutely real. Almost any GOP policy has priority over what used to be job-creating scientific research. Budgets at every federal agency that supported this research are being reduced to make way for tax cuts and the building of a completely unnecessary border wall.

Money already allocated for scientific research is also being diverted into Trump’s misguided policies. Medical research money is being used instead to build new detention facilities for the children of incarcerated undocumented aliens. As theHill.com (September 20^th) points out: “President Donald Trump’s administration has shifted $260 million from cancer research and HIV/AIDS prevention programs. The administration’s rising costs of housing children in detention centers are to solely blame for the shift in funds. Other programs were also affected by the mounting costs.”

Other countries have taken notice of our rather hostile view against immigrants, even much-needed STEM experts. Canada, in particular, has ramped up its recruitment efforts overseas, promising STEM professionals that if they come to Canada, they not only will be well-paid and supported, but they can bring their entire family with them if they so choose. While many Canadian cities have benefitted from this governmental largesse, Toronto has been among the most desirable cities for such immigrants (it is the most ethnically diverse city in the world). American technology companies are being forced to build and expand technology research facilities outside the United States in order to access the relevant expertise. Canada is often the obvious choice.

“Earlier this month [September], Microsoft Canada announced it is relocating its headquarters to downtown Toronto. Soon after, computer chip giant Intel said it would be opening a graphic-chip engineering lab here. Then Uber revealed plans to build a $200 million software-engineering lab in the city and to expand a research center for self-driving cars that it opened last year… Samsung, LG, General Motors and Google’s parent company Alphabet have each revealed big projects in Toronto, and the city made the shortlist for Amazon.com’s second headquarters.

“Toronto added more tech jobs in the past five years than anywhere else in North America, according to a report from the CBRE group, a corporate real estate and investment firm. Asked why Microsoft Canada is making the move from a nearby suburb, President Kevin Peesker pointed to the city’s status as a ‘hotbed of innovation.’…

“Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned on a promise to leverage the country’s position as the home of major pioneering advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning to build up its tech sector, which is still haunted by the ghosts of foundering Canadian firms such as Nortel and BlackBerry.

“In 2017, his government earmarked $125 million for a Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy. That same year, it set aside nearly $1 billion for the creation of five innovation ‘superclusters’ — areas of concentrated research and development designed after Silicon Valley — though more than one year later, the funding still hasn’t been issued, according to a report from the Logic. It also introduced a two-week, fast-track visa that prioritizes highly skilled workers and entrepreneurs.

“The visa has been ‘a great help,’ said Graeme Moffat, the vice president of regulatory affairs and chief scientist at Interaxon, a Toronto-based company that specializes in high-tech wearables, and a senior fellow in public policy at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. His first hire using the visa system begins next month and is a ‘world-class’ researcher he might not have been able to bring aboard otherwise.

“All of this was part of a pitch Trudeau made on a visit to Silicon Valley earlier this year, as part of an effort both to court tech firms and to woo Canada’s best and brightest — who have for decades decamped for the lucrative salaries, flowing venture capital and T-shirt weather of Silicon Valley — back home.” Washington Post, September 25^th.

While some Canadians fret that the results of much of this research will just benefit big U.S. tech companies, others realize that these new concentrations of expertise within Canada will ultimately expand the Canadian economy much faster. They are so grateful for Mr. Trump’s inane obsessions and priorities.

I’m Peter Dekom, and Donald Trump is taking “Make America Great Again” into a different reality program: “The Biggest Loser.”