What Toronto Life readers loved and loathed in our May issue

Geniuses Rush In

Readers reacted to our May cover story on the influx of Americans escaping Trump 2.0 with a mix of huzzahs and harrumphs. A few even accused Toronto Life of suffering from “Trump derangement syndrome.”

“I find myself both hopeful and sickened every time I read an article about Canada rescuing American academics. I’m hopeful because it means my homeland is supporting academic freedom. But it turns my stomach to think that, for many of us who earned PhDs in Canada, our homeland is turning its back on us again. Years of faculty hiring freezes and the current reluctance to hire anyone with tenure coupled with a long-standing preference for foreign hires left me and many I know with little choice but to leave Canada.” —Marc A. Ouellette

“I welcome them all. They’ll make Ontario an even more interesting place. Too bad we can’t send the maple MAGAs to the US at the same time.” —edgar-von-splet, Reddit

Related: A Torontonian on Trump’s attack on international students

“Cool, now send us bricklayers, concrete setters, electricians, general labourers, nurses and orderlies. Some music producer or professor of media studies who’s probably moving back to the States when Newsom wins in 2028 isn’t building houses in a housing crisis. Pick up a shovel.” —starving_carnivore, Reddit

“We want doctors only. Medical doctors. Not PhDs or juris doctors, and no holistic doctors.” —ktownthrowaway9001, Reddit

“Your May issue reveals a clear case of Trump derangement syndrome. Instead of obsessing over the political leader of another country, perhaps it’s time Canadians take a hard look at the decline we’ve experienced in our own country over the past decade.” —Alex Haditaghi

“Most of the Americans you feature are high-level hires who are getting in because they have sky-high CRS scores as well as support from huge institutions. It’s easy to make the leap if you’re Jason Stanley, but I have grad student friends at non-Ivy R1 universities who are having a tougher time finding a position and funding that will enable them to leave the US.” —babypointblank, Reddit

Related: What Toronto Life readers loved and loathed in our April issue

“What an awesome article! It was a joy to leaf through over multiple sittings. At a time when everyone is complaining about the city, it’s great to have our huge advantages and freedoms laid out on the page. Happy to learn about the wonderful people who decided to call Toronto home. It gives me hope in what we can all build together here. I wanted to share my gratitude for all the hard work, incredible journalism and fun passion you bring to Toronto Life. I’m not old (I don’t think?), but nothing beats holding a magazine in your hand.” —Basma El Manialawi

“I just saw that ICE wants to deport a Harvard cancer scientist to Russia. A dozen of the top research laboratories in the world would take talent like that. That’s the real impact—people aren’t going to go to the US. U of T has a hard time competing with Harvard, but this helps them a lot.” —Subtotal9_guy, Reddit

“One of the reasons the US globally dominated after the Second World War was the abundance of intellectual talent fleeing European fascism from the ’30s on. Would we have even landed on the moon had it not been for physicists leaving Germany during Hitler’s reign?” —@shawnwestfall, X

“That’s great, and I hope it continues. However, Toronto Life has an irritating habit of publishing ­articles about supposed trends that, like this one, are based almost entirely on anecdotal accounts from a handful of people.” —Stikeman, Reddit

That Other JD

Courtney Shea’s Q&A with Fox News anchor John Roberts, a.k.a. J. D. Roberts, formerly of MuchMusic fame, raised a lot of dander and included not one but two references to his Kool-Aid intake.

“I was about to commend you on your excellent story on the American brain drain, but then I read your interview with John Roberts. He reduced Trump’s outrageous behaviour to him simply ‘punking’ Canada. Then he proceeded to remind us that Trump has a great sense of humour. He is obviously in Trump’s back pocket. I also ­question why you thought he deserved to ply his nonsense in your magazine. You clearly had your elbows down on this one.” —Tom Scanlan

“Appreciate the fact-checking on the article. He’s obviously been drinking the Trump Kool-Aid!” —Mary Raichinis

“Not only did J. D. drink the Kool-Aid, but he’s gleefully wallowing in it. Reading this Q&A was as difficult as trying to get through an interview with the loathsome dictator Roberts slavishly serves. It was impossible to do without picturing him wearing a MAGA hat and driving an obscenely large pickup truck on his way to the Talladega Superspeedway. Now that you’ve clearly made your choice, please don’t even think of coming back to Canada!” —Alex Blake

“Fair play to J. D. Roberts for trading on his good looks and deep voice, but I could never take him seriously as a journalist. Is he really not aware of how much of a Trump apologist he’s become?” —Don Link

“John Roberts needs a boot in the ass, his big balloon pricked and his Canadian passport cancelled! What a piece of shit! And btw, before reading this fluff piece, I had no idea that he even existed.” —David Smith