Planet Canada: How Our Expats Are Shaping the Future

by John Stackhouse, Jonathan Watton (Narrator)

One of the leading thinkers on Canada's place in the world contends that our country's greatest latent resource is the three million Canadians who don't live here.

Educators, entrepreneurs, humanitarians: an entire province's worth of Canadian citizens live outside Canada. Some will return, others won't. But what they all have is the ability, and often the desire, to export Canadian values to a world sorely in need of them. And to act as ambassadors for Canada in industries and societies where diplomatic efforts find little traction. Surely a country with as diverse human resources as Canada ought to plug itself into every corner of the globe. We're not, and sometimes not even when citizens of a country that increasingly finds itself everywhere in the world are asking how they can help.
Failing to put this desire to work, contends bestselling author and longtime foreign correspondent John Stackhouse, is a grave error for a small country whose voice is getting lost behind developing nations of rapidly increasing influence. The soft power we once boasted is getting softer, but we have an unparalleled resource, if we choose to use it. To ensure Canada's place in the world, argues in 'PLANET CANADA', we need to use the world within Canada.



RUNNING TIME ⇒ 10hrs. and 25mins.

©2020 John Stackhouse (P)2020 Random House Canada

Genres: Nonfiction

Audible Audio

First published October 6, 2020

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Planet Canada: How Our Expats Are Shaping the Future, by John Stackhouse, is an interesting book on Canadian expats and there apparent prevalence in international organizations. Numerous examples exist of Canadians in primary or secondary roles in ventures in the United States most frequently, but also globally. The book looks at Canadian entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, who have played leading or top roles in organizations such as Facebook, Uber and so forth. We also see a number of prevalent Canadians in Hollywood, either directing, such as James Cameron, or more frequently, acting and providing critical film services such as editing, sound and animation. Canada shares important north-south linkages with the United States, and for many years if one wanted to "make it" they would go to our much larger neighbour to seek jobs. This is true of doctors and nurses, directors and actors, and business entrepreneurs of many stripes. We see numerous Canadians in the music industry, not only Drake and Justin Bieber and Celine Dion, but also many Canadians in Nashville's song factory.

Stackhouse also looks at global expatriates. Canada has a high immigration rate, and many Canadians (myself included) can trace their recent pasts back to Europe, Asia, Africa or the Americas, and may still contain strong cultural and familial ties with the countries they herald from. Many Canadian immigrants often feel the sting of displacement, and return to their countries of origin after receiving education, living in, or growing up in Canada. Far from being a drain, this often opens many opportunities for Canadian commerce and diplomacy. With an estimated 3 million+ Canadians living abroad, this group is much larger than the population of most Canadian provinces. We see engineers in India and China, scientists running Australian coral reef laboratories, mining experts in Africa and the Middle East, Youtube stars in Japan, and numerous entrepreneurs, politicians and NGO staff across the globe. Look no further than Mark Carney, former head of the United Kingdoms central bank, for a prevalent example.

Stackhouse has written this book with a clear policy agenda. He is asking the Canadian government to reach out to these expatriates and interact with them more. Canada is very much a nation that ascribes to personal freedoms, sometimes more so than the nations that these ideals originated in. This includes ideals like fiscal responsibility, good government, personal freedom (religious, speech, press) and so forth. Stackhouse also argues that Canada is a nation that is often very inward looking. A tongue-in-cheek colloquialism in Canada is that our identity is often based on our differences from Americans, and with a massive, hegemonic neighbour to the south that speaks the same language as you, these differences can mean life or death for a nation-state. Canada, as a consequence, has fully embraced globalism as a concept. Being in more multilateral organizations, with deeper connections to Europe and Asia, or the Caribbean, and bring in more talent and skill through more open immigration policies has been key to Canada's success in a recently globalized world. Far from the old adage of brain drain, having prevalent Canadians across the globe can be a point of pride for a demographically smaller nation. However, Stackhouse argues that the Canadian government does not do enough to engage this community (there is even a lack of statistics on expatriates). Tapping in to this community can allow for more coordinated global policy direction, which brings key connections, successful business ventures, and therefore, increased recognition, status and tax dollars, amongst other important avenues. The key discourse is between the very Canadian concept of responsible government, which often means small, efficient and unobtrusive, and the increased need to understand, census and quiz Canadians at home and abroad - all of which is expensive and requires staffing increases, policy planning and so forth.

An interesting book, I did however find it to be a tad underwhelming. Stackhouse sticks to the basics, and looks at individual success stories (famous directors, business owners, script and music writers, and so forth) but struggles to capture the feeling of the vast majority of overseas Canadians, who may be miners, low level staff, or may just hold dual citizenship and live elsewhere. This is clearly a complex issue; some leave temporarily, some permanently. Some maintain close ties to Canada, and some have no interest in doing so. And there are many, many shades of grey. The nuance is not captured well in this book, which focuses more on individual spirit and initiative over more detailed and holistic discussions of privilege, accessibility and so forth. Not a terrible book or a worthless ask at all, instead, this issue should be more deeply explored from the perspective of policy, taxation, implementation and the complexities of group identity.

[Judi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was getting tired of the "Canadians are great! Canadians know how to run the world! Sis! Boom! Baa!" and I figured there are better ways to spend my time.

[Brock Lumbard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great but not very gripping until it starts to tie together near the end. Lots of fun anecdotes but not a cohesive story the whole way through - instead provides a who’s who of interesting expat Canadians in Silicon Valley, foreign academia, etc. And a better strategy for expat engagement.

[Brian Hull · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for all Canadian expats and for those that think that expats aren't fully Canadian, escaping their Canadian obligations or simply disloyal. He explains well the benefits and importance of expats and how we need to do a much better job utilizing their knowledge. The one thing missing, almost no mention of the 1000s if not tens of thousands of Canadian expat teachers... could've done a whole chapter on that one and skipped one of the business-focussed chapters.

[Steven Beningo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book discussing a topic that is seldom talked about, except in the cases of individual Canadians like Alex Trebec and Lorne Michaels, Canadians who have left Canada to work in other countries.

[Alexander Von kaldenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with the the Author’s characterization of how Canada engages its expats: Disappointing. The Canadian government has for decades abdicated its leadership role and expats are on their own. As an expat living in China for the past decade, this was my experience as well. There are truly remarkable Canadians doing amazing things all over the world, but our government is still milking a brand book that harkens back to an era of blue helmets and moral leadership that no longer applies. We are encouraged to go out and represent Canada but are given very little, if any support. We expats are on our own.

[Don Morgan · Rating 1 out of 5]

A new version for an older Canadian Network

It's a fact that , any Canadians work abroad with positive influence. This loose network loses latent power and influence because it lacks intentionality. A Networking Diaspora must have a well defined and widely understood purpose. The purpose or goal, defines the mission.
Canadian Expats are giving Canada a good reputation. Missing are the ingredients to give Canada a ‘Great’ reputation.