Canada spends $500 MILLION to import researchers fleeing 'top' US universities over Trump's anti-woke 'crackdown'

Canadian universities are hiring 48 professors and researchers from American universities who are fleeing the United States after the Trump administration's anti-woke crackdown. Professors interviewed by CTV said that they feared they would not be able to pursue their studies in transgender philosophy or climate and equity risk analysis since Trump eliminated funding at many schools.

The Trump administration pulled funding from several top universities such as Harvard and Columbia over civil rights violations when it came to discrimination against Jewish students, allowing men to compete in women's sports, and discrimination in admissions. 

The New York Times said that what they called a "brain drain" is the result of "a crackdown on American academia by the Trump administration." These researchers will be spread out across 21 universities.

University of Michigan researcher Seth Guikema said "Every country sets its priorities in terms of what is going to get funded, and I think Canada has done a very good job of supporting research in areas that really matter to society." He's heading to Western University in London, Ontario.

"On the US side," he told CTV, "it's gotten a lot harder to fund, or at least gotten more unstable to try to fund work at the intersection of climate adaptation, severe storms, and equity."

"I used to live in the country that I thought was the most enthusiastic about the prospects for science improving the human condition, of any country in the world. And I woke up one day and that wasn’t true anymore," said RNA researcher Phillip Zamore on leaving UMass.

Talia Bettcher is heading to the University of Waterloo from California State University after claiming that it's just not safe to be trans in LA anymore. Bettcher, author of "Beyond Personhood: An Essay in Trans Philosophy," told CTV "As a trans woman, as an outspoken academic as well, it was becoming increasingly... it felt unsafe for me even in Los Angeles given the increase in anti-trans sentiment."

"While certain countries are cutting research and turning their back on academic freedom, we’re doubling down on science," said industry minister Melanie Joly. 

The Liberal government is spending more than $500 million Canadian, some $364 million USD, to bring in all these professors and researchers and fund their research over 8 years. More professors are being brought in from around the world, as well, but the bulk are coming from the US.