Website urges Americans to move to Canada if Trump wins presidency
It's a familiar refrain every four years: if their preferred candidate loses, Americans threaten they'll move to Canada.
But with the rise of Donald Trump, a local radio host on Cape Breton Island, a small island in Nova Scotia, wants to make that frequent offhand comment a reality -- by creating a website that literally welcomes Americans to move there should Trump win the presidency.
"Hi Americans! Donald Trump may become the President of your country!" the front page of the site reads. "If that happens, and you decide to get the hell out of there, might I suggest moving to Cape Breton Island!"
Rob Calabrese, a radio host on Cape Breton Island, originally created the site because he thought it would be "a hoot for people around here." But given the attention surrounding Trump's candidacy, it quickly took off.
"We hear that common lament or that common threat ... that's what it was all based on, that comment that, 'If so-and-so gets elected, I'm moving to Canada.'"
The site is full of reasons why Americans should think about Cape Breton Island for their post-election relocation needs, ranging from the island's affordable housing ("How much would it cost for a three bedroom lakeside home in your state? ... You would need to BE Donald Trump to afford a place like that") to Canada's culture and social welfare programs ("health care is free, you know your neighbours and they look out for you, and nobody has a hand gun!"). Cape Breton Island has also seen its population decline in recent years, so there's a legitimate reason Calabrese and others are hoping for new residents.
Though Calabrese didn't initially reach out to the local tourism center when he created the site, he heard from them on Tuesday when the website for the Cape Breton Discovery Center began getting higher-than-usual traffic. Calabrese met with Mary Tulle, CEO of the tourism center, and staffers there began fielding inquiries from people who'd seen the site and wanted to seriously discuss visiting or immigrating to the island.
"Over the course of the day I was seeing really significant traffic coming to our website," Tulle said. "We're absolutely delighted at how Rob told our story...obviously we'd love to have people a) visit and, b) come and stay."