On February 14 I received an e-mail from Alexa Difransco, a producer at the Government-financed Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
She partially wrote:
I contact us because my team is working on a call-in show in Canada between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. et (2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday, February 23. It will be performed on NPR, CBC and CBC news network (radio and television). It is co -organized by Ian Hanomansing and Jeremy Hobson.
I contact us to see if you would be available for a virtual interview of 5-7 minutes with us somewhere during this show. This episode focuses on the question “What does Canada mean if the 51st stands for you?”
We are looking for an American voice that does not agree with Trump’s 51st state idea/comments, and we read your piece about why a Canada/US Union is a bad idea.
I answered:
Thank you, Alexa. I am inside.
However, I should warn you that I am a double burger. I grew up in Manitoba. I think of myself as 98% American, the other 2% is when the US plays Canada in hockey (not ice hockey) as will happen on Sunday.
If that works for you, we are good.
Best,
David
Alexa replied:
Hello David,
Thank you very much – Great news! Could you jump on a quick call later this afternoon or Sunday morning if that works better to discuss interview details/perspective?
This call would be to take notes and prepare a script for our hosts Ian and Jeremy.
This interview is not yet 100% – one last step is that my senior producer should also listen to our call to ensure that your perspective fits on what we are looking for.
Let me know if that all sounds good – thanks again and I hope you have a great day!
Alexa
(PS – Only one of us looks at Canada/US Hockey, but it’s great to know that you support Canada).
I like it when correspondence becomes fun, so I answered:
Dear Alexa,
That makes sense. Yes, let’s talk to the phone today. What time? I am in the time zone of the Pacific.
Best,
David
PS My wife was born in New Jersey. We met in 1981 and married in 1983. When we watched the last Olympic hockey game between Canada and the US in the 2002 Olympic Games, I started screaming and running around the living room when Canada scored the draw. My wife wondered who she was married to. 🙂
Alexa answered with a proposed time and then added:
(That’s such a healthy story and it made my day! Thank you very much for sharing. 🙂)
We had the interview and she recorded it for her senior producer. I go here with the memory. I didn’t get to the show and I don’t know if it’s because I said something that the senior producer didn’t like. Who knows?
But here are the questions I remember that she asked and my answer.
Alexa: What is your main reason for moving Canada that becomes a 51star stands?
DRH: I think the competition between countries is good. A way in which they compete is taxes, especially corporation tax. When Janet Yellen was the American Minister of Finance, she tried to help organize a tax cartel between most leading countries in the world, so that countries would find it more difficult to compete by lowering corporation tax rates. I want the opposite side. For example, I want Ireland to keep their corporation tax low, so that the governments of other countries will feel pressure to keep their rates low. [I was going by memory here, but I was right: Ireland’s rate is 12.5%.] Canada as an independent country helps with that competition. [I later checked and, sure enough, even though Canada’s statutory corporate income tax rate is a whopping 38%, they lop off 10 points for some reason and 13 points for some other reason to get it to 15%.]
Alexa: What would you say to people who don’t care much about tax competition?
DRH: I would say that there are other ways in which countries and governments compete and it is important to have options. I remember that George W. Bush signed a really bad account in 2001, the USA Patriot Act. The next summer I went to my house in Canada and attended a fireworks on Canada Day. [That’s on July 1.] At one point they played the national anthem. I was hated in high school because we had to sing it every day. But I got up with a lot of emotion and ended it because I was in a country that was not completely under the thumb of George Bush.
Alexa: What would you say to Americans who might lean for having Canada as a 51star stands?
DRH: My perception is that people with that lean tend to be disproportionately republican. I would ask them: “Do you really want a lifelong guarantee of 2 more democratic senators?”