Home | WebMail | Register or Login

      Calgary | Regions | Local Traffic Report | Advertise on Action News | Contact

British ColumbiaOur Vancouver

U.S. election renews promises of Americans moving north

"It is one thing to want to go. It is another to pick up and leave," said American ex-pat David Drucker, who moved to Vancouver with his wife when George W. Bush won a second term in the oval office.

Man who left U.S. because of Bush says Americans won't flood here if Trump wins, despite what they say

Expat American David Drucker

8 years ago
Duration 6:35
Drucker discusses American politics

The divisive U.S. presidential race has led many Americans to announce that they intend to move to Canadaif controversial Republican nominee Donald Trump wins the election.

But one American who moved to Canada after George W. Bush won a second term in office says thateven if Trump does become president there he doesn't actually expect that many disappointed people willrelocate.

"It is one thing to want to go. It is another to pick up and leave," said David Drucker, who moved to Vancouver with his wife Pam in 2005.

Drucker said the preparations of moving to another country and the personal sacrifices weren't easy, and said immigration policies have only become more stringent since he moved.

'How can I move to Canada'

Celebrities likeJon Stewartand Lena Dunham,as well as ordinary Americans, have expressed an interest in moving northif the billionaire wins in November.

Googledata editor Simon Rogers reported on Super Tuesday that searches for "How can I move to Canada" had spiked 350 per cent on the search engine in the four hours when results came in showing strong support for Trump, eventhough Clinton also attracted massive support on the same night.

Searches for "Move to Canada" were even more impressive, rising over 1,000 per cent the following day.

Drucker said he and his wife decided to move to Canadaafter seeing Bush win a second term in the oval office in 2004.

"[Bush's] first term was pretty disastrous,"Druckersaid. "I thought, let's go to a place where they seem to have managed things a little bit better."

After seven years living and working in Canada, theDruckersbecame Canadian citizensin2012.

WhenBarackObamamoved into the White House in 2008,kick-startingeight years of Democratic leadership, Canada's own political landscape had veered right with a Conservative majority government under Stephen Harper.

Nonetheless, theDruckershad made a home here and hadno intention of moving back.

"People asked us, 'Are you going back, because things are swinging the other way here?' We really by that time said, 'No, we're not going back. We really likeit here," Drucker said.

In the video above, Drucker tells Our Vancouver guest host Jason D'Souza what it means to move to another country because of one's political beliefs.