Earlier this year, as President Donald Trump was beginning to reshape the American government, Michael, an emergency room doctor who was born, raised, and trained in the United States, packed up his family and got out.
Michael now works in a small-town hospital in Canada. KFF Health News and NPR granted him anonymity because of fears he might face reprisal from the Trump administration if he returns to the U.S. He said he feels some guilt that he did not stay to resist the Trump agenda but is assured in his decision to leave. Too much of America has simply grown too comfortable with violence and cruelty, he said.
If I could drive in the snow, and deal with the snow, and the rest of the winter wonderland I’m not at all accustomed to, I would have been in Canada a long time ago.
It’s not so bad here, sometimes summer even falls on a weekend every few years.