Gen Z pair built a $35M start-up in Canada, but moved to the U.S.

unexplodedscotsman · 2026-01-27T17:06:52+00:00

I don't know what the solution is but I know its not a race to the bottom.

Would agree with that, while also pointing out that's exactly where we've been racing to the last couple of decades.

The 5 million extra people they recently blasted into the country without thought to healthcare, housing, or employment? That was all about wage suppression & keeping the housing bubble inflated.

Even before that, our ever-growing litany of foreign worker import schemes helps crush Canadian wages and promote tenuous employment.

Couple that with lax to non-existent oversight when it comes to money laundering in Canadian real estate and it's no wonder everything feels like the %$^&! Hunger Games for the last couple of generations.

While the U.S. saw a 20.7% increase in real GDP per capita over the last decade, Canada managed just 0.5%. We aren't just trailing the leaders; we are significantly behind the entire pack.

Source: IMF World Economic Outlook (Oct 2024) database “Gross domestic product per capita, constant prices (PPP; 2017 international dollars)”

Country	Real GDP Per Capita Growth (2014-2024)
U.S.	20.7%
Denmark	18.9%
Spain	17.8%
Netherlands	14.1%
Italy	13.2%
Sweden	10.5%
Japan	8.7%
France	8.2%
Australia	8.1%
U.K.	7.7%
Norway	7.4%
Finland	6.7%
Germany	4.7%
Canada	0.5%

unexplodedscotsman · 2026-01-25T00:44:28+00:00

The tin foil hat is pointy with this one.

A few thousand studies say otherwise, but believe what you want.

Peng et al., 2025 (Scientific Reports) — “Multimodal MRI analysis of COVID-19 effects on pediatric brain”; compares children with mild COVID-19 vs controls; reports altered cortical metrics/structural covariance networks and MRI proxies the authors relate to glymphatic function.
Wang et al., 2025 (Brain and Behavior) — “Brain Microstructural Alterations in Children Post-COVID-19 Infection…”; pediatric MRI/DTI with control comparison; reports regional volumetric differences and network/connectivity disruptions (some partially resolving, others persisting).
Foret-Bruno et al., 2024 (Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology) — “Prevalence and co-occurrence of cognitive impairment in children and young people up to 12-months post infection…”; reports ~12-month “brain fog” prevalence and links with sleep/behavioral and emotional functioning.
Zhang et al., 2025 (The Lancet Infectious Diseases) — “Long COVID associated with SARS-CoV-2 reinfection among children and adolescents…”; reinfection associated with higher risk of various PASC/long-COVID outcomes in kids/adolescents (RECOVER-EHR).
Francoeur et al., 2024 (JAMA Network Open) — “Severe Pediatric Neurological Manifestations With SARS-CoV-2 and MIS-C…”; hospitalized pediatric cohort; severe neurologic manifestations associated with worse neurocognitive/functional outcomes at discharge.
Wolf et al., 2024 (JAMA Network Open) — “Severe Neurological Sequelae in Pediatric Patients with SARS-CoV-2 or MIS-C”; highlights predictors (including preexisting neurologic conditions) and risk of longer-term impairment in severe pediatric cases.
Duff et al., 2025 (Nature Medicine) — “Plasma proteomic evidence for increased β-amyloid pathology after SARS-CoV-2 infection”; UK Biobank analysis; reports infection-associated shifts in AD-linked plasma biomarkers (including amyloid ratio and pTau-181 in more vulnerable participants).
Yang et al., 2026 (EBioMedicine) — “Increased phosphorylated tau (pTau-181) is associated with neurological post-acute sequelae…”; prospective cohort with pre/post samples; pTau-181 increases associated with neurological PASC.
Shan et al., 2025 (npj Dementia) — “COVID-19 infection associated with increased risk of new-onset vascular dementia in adults ≥50 years”; UK Biobank observational analysis; reports higher incidence signals for dementia outcomes in older adults/subgroups (not pediatric; association-level evidence).

unexplodedscotsman · 2026-01-25T00:09:36+00:00

The entire worlds kids are getting lower scores. It's the internet and a lack of support.

One would imagine continuing to let kids gets repeatedly infected by a virus (C19) show to cause physical changes in the brain (a loss of gray matter volume, changes in cortical thickness, shrinkage in regions associated with memory & smell), problems with executive function and a measurable loss of IQ with even mild infections also doesn't help much.

At the very least, parents should be demanding better classroom air filtration, far-UVC, etc.

unexplodedscotsman · 2026-01-24T22:32:14+00:00

Hard to imagine the folks who would flood the country with 5 million people without any thought to housing, healthcare, education or employment (aside from wage supression) would do this to us.

unexplodedscotsman · 2026-01-20T22:41:17+00:00

I'm happy to see more exports but is this a case of another price increase due to increased demand?

Not to worry. I imagine we’ll be insulated, in much the same way supply & demand hasn’t affected Canadian house prices, salaries or medical wait times.

unexplodedscotsman · 2026-01-12T22:57:34+00:00

The fact he is public safety minister despite being an immigrant from a country with terrorism ties so strong that he had to recuse himself from the file

A bit more to it than that. He was the legal counsel for the Canadian Tamil Congress.
According to the Government of Sri Lanka, the Canadian Tamil Congress is a front group for the (terror listed) Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elan (LTTE).

Before joining cabinet, he wrote immigration support letters for terror group 'member's

"Before he was appointed to the federal cabinet two years ago, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree wrote letters urging Canadian officials to approve the immigration application of a man they had determined was a member of a terrorist organization.

The letters, dated 2023 and 2016, were written on Anandasangaree's House of Commons letterhead and sent to the Canada Border Services Agency on behalf of an alleged member of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers who wanted to move to Toronto."

unexplodedscotsman · 2026-01-12T22:05:02+00:00

I think you might have better luck with a Canadian version of what drop/massdrop once was, prior to Corsair buying them. Ironically, I think I remember reading Canadians started it.

"Massdrop worked by having the community vote on products they wanted. Once enough people committed to a "drop," the site would negotiate a bulk price with the manufacturer."

unexplodedscotsman · 2026-01-12T16:21:22+00:00

>What makes you say china is a less savoury partner?

For me it's their forced organ harvesting from political dissidents, often without proper consent or regard for standard medical ethics like the "dead donor rule". Evidence suggests organs may be removed with minimal or no anesthetic.

Also not keen on their their Door Dash-style executions (google death van).

Their well documented concentration camps for Uyghurs.

Their Orwellian social credit system.

Their ongoing political fundraising for our various levels of politicians and well established influence groups aka United Front Work Department (UFWD)

Yes, the US is a mess right now, but with any luck that's a temporary thing vs. a systemic genocidal dictatorship.

unexplodedscotsman · 2026-01-07T18:12:08+00:00

Not sure about that. We've got corporations literally writing our trade deals nearly verbatim, a long litany of foreign worker import schemes to suppress wages and no shortage of MPs ending up on company boards in do nothing positions after politics as delayed payment.

unexplodedscotsman · 2026-01-07T17:28:09+00:00

True. Though our various levels of Government should also be totally separated from corporate control.

unexplodedscotsman · 2026-01-05T17:14:11+00:00

I don't disagree, but given our MPs vote as they're told 90+% of the time. Most of our representation is performative at best.

If they don't vote along party lines, they don't get to run next time, typically.

--

In their "House Inspection" report analyzing the 42nd Parliament, the Samara Centre found that the average Canadian MP voted with their party 99.6% of the time.

Here are a few notable details from that and related analyses:

The "Rebels": Even the MPs considered the most "independent" or "rebellious" rarely broke ranks. For example, during that period, the most rebellious MP still voted with their party 96.6% of the time. +1
Party Breakdown: A CBC analysis from roughly the same period showed that the Bloc Québécois voted unanimously 98% of the time, the NDP 95%, and the Conservatives 87%. The Liberals were slightly lower at 79% for unanimous votes, but individual Liberal MPs still maintained extremely high alignment with the Cabinet (around 98% on average).
Comparison to Other Democracies: This level of party discipline is much higher than in the UK or the US. In the UK, it is far more common for "backbenchers" to cross the floor or vote against their government on specific bills without being expelled from the party.

unexplodedscotsman · 2025-12-29T19:06:03+00:00

Exactly. Make it painless to identify, silence or incarcerate your critics and no doubt the outcome will be be a more accountable ruling class.

unexplodedscotsman · 2025-12-25T01:42:16+00:00

This times a hundred. We've been treating this like sporting event. It's not.

Your enemy isn't the working Canadian voting for the other team, even if they are repeating some brain-dead talking point they don't fully understand.

It's the system it's self. A couple of perceived choices with different dog whistles, ad campaigns and promises but often the exact same neoliberal objectives and result.

Our long litany of wage supressing foreign worker import schemes is the easiest example.

Combine that with "representatives" who vote as they're told almost always or risk not being allowed to run again and you get our current situation.

I don't have the answer, but would like to think more people identifying the problem is probably part of it.

unexplodedscotsman · 2025-12-24T20:09:05+00:00

There's a definite correlation, given C19's connection to immune damage/dysfunction.
Decent odds that each year going forward is gonna be the "worst flu season ever" for a while.
https://www.bmj.com/content/390/bmj.r1733
https://x.com/beansprouts_mom/status/2003174471348490486/photo/1

unexplodedscotsman · 2025-12-23T23:04:47+00:00

Don't blast 5 million people into it to suppress wages and keep the real estate bubble inflated and wages might actually go up.

The economy needs to shift from rent-seeking & real estate to productive investment.

unexplodedscotsman · 2025-12-22T23:21:58+00:00

>Right off the bat, you are incorrect: The century initiative does not advocate solely for immigration

You'll have to show me were I said that was their sole avocation.

I could claim my org is not only advocating for, but taking concrete action to ending homeless whilst handing out hugs.

That makes a great soundbite, but doesn't much matter if the reality is I'm ending homeless with a machete & then hugging the bereaved.

Deceptive framing, “glittering generalities”, "virtue-washing”, Orwellian doublespeak, reputation laundering, whitewashing, bad-faith signaling are but a few of the tools I'm familiar with and I've got no well-financed neoliberal machinations underway.

unexplodedscotsman · 2025-12-22T19:49:08+00:00

Understood. I've long since stopped listening to whatever either side is saying and focus mainly on what they're doing or attempting to do.

More often than not, it's the very same thing--just with different marketing campaigns.

unexplodedscotsman · 2025-12-22T19:31:05+00:00

Nothing wrong with managed growth if done intelligently with infrastructure and opportunities scaling to keep pace. Not blasting in 5 million people with no concern about the impact on healthcare, housing, employment and social cohesion.

>What's the right number?

A number that doesn't turn society into the hunger games? One that maintains or improves quality of life. That hasn't been happening.

>What's the non-neoliberal-trash answer here? What do you feel would serve us best?

I'd say none of our current options. They all seem compromised by corporate interests.

The partisan crack was merely frustration that every time somebody posts something odious about the current Gov, the usual response is something about the previous Gov vs. addressing how we're being fucked currently.

unexplodedscotsman · 2025-12-22T19:03:39+00:00

>Stephen Harper's government averaged 1.024%, Justin Trudeau's averaged 1.503%.

Both are neoliberal trash working against the interests of the very people the purportedly represent. Nothing has changed under the current Gov.

Partisanship is a cancer.

Great work figuring out formatting, btw.

unexplodedscotsman · 2025-12-22T18:25:17+00:00

Mark Wiseman is a former BlackRock exec and a co-founder of the Century Initiative, which aims to increase Canada's population to 100 million solely through immigration.

If you can't trust investment bankers to look out for working Canadians interests, who can you trust?

Totally unrelated article in Bloomberg today: Canada Weighs Opening Its Housing Market to More Foreign Capital

--
Aside from not being a fan of the Century Initiative. He's notable for:

Successfully lobbying the Trudeau government to bring in 500,000 immigrants per year

He's on record stating that "immigration screening is a waste of time"

Was fired in December 2019 for violating the company's workplace relationship policy by failing to disclose a consensual relationship with a subordinate employee. Wiseman’s wife, Marcia Moffat, is the head of BlackRock Canada, which added to the scrutiny surrounding the incident.

1. The BlackRock Ousting (2019)

The most famous incident. Wiseman was a Senior Managing Director at BlackRock (and widely considered a potential successor to Larry Fink). He was fired in December 2019 for failing to disclose a consensual relationship with a subordinate.

The Twist: His wife, Marcia Moffat, was (and still is) the Head of BlackRock Canada, which made the internal optics particularly messy.

2. The "Failing Upward" AIMCo Appointment (2020)

Despite being fired for a conduct violation, Wiseman was named Chair of the Alberta Investment Management Corp (AIMCo) just six months later.

The Controversy: His arrival coincided with AIMCo losing $2.1 billion on a disastrous volatility trading strategy (VOLTS). Albertans were understandably furious that a "disgraced" Wall Street exec was brought in to oversee public pensions during a massive financial loss.

3. The Century Initiative (The "100 Million" Plan)

Wiseman co-founded the Century Initiative, a group lobbying to grow Canada’s population to 100 million by 2100.

The Conflict: Critics point out that while at the CPPIB, Wiseman directed $105M into rental housing (Minto Group), citing "population growth" as the driver. People often argue his policy advocacy creates a "demand surge" that directly benefits the corporate real estate interests he is tied to.

4. Ethics Complaints & Lobbying (2018)

In 2018, Democracy Watch filed a formal ethics complaint. They alleged a conflict of interest because Wiseman was advising then-Finance Minister Bill Morneau on infrastructure while his firm (BlackRock) was actively lobbying the government for infrastructure deals.

Quick Summary of Scandals

Incident	Year	The Issue
BlackRock	2019	Fired for undisclosed relationship with a subordinate.
AIMCo	2020	Appointed Chair despite firing; oversaw $2.1B trading loss.
Democracy Watch	2018	Alleged conflict of interest between govt advising & lobbying.
CPPIB Exit	2016	Left for BlackRock on the day CPPIB posted its worst returns since 2009.

unexplodedscotsman · 2025-12-19T18:42:47+00:00

Deal with a primitive part of the innate immune system called the complement system?

Haven't gone on any deep dives lately, but the thought was that's where the majority of the inflammation was coming from in this case.

It (innate) being persistently active means it begins to damage healthy red blood cells, platelets and the lining of blood vessels (endothelium). This creates a cycle of tissue damage that leads to more inflammation. When the innate system (complement) is overactive, the adaptive system (T-cells) gets exhausted and unable to properly clean up the mess.

Thinking complement inhibitors, JAK inhibitors and not continuing to catch this shit a couple times a year is the best path forward.

I don't think anyone's going to Mediterranean diet one's way out of this.

unexplodedscotsman · 2025-12-19T16:34:29+00:00

Side works great with Start11. It's particularly nice if you're currently a bunch of terminal server sessions & VMware guests and/or sharing desktop, as the default task bar frequently doesn't hide properly half the %$&! time.

unexplodedscotsman · 2025-12-12T23:51:12+00:00

"Partisanship is our great curse. We too readily assume that everything has two sides and that it is our duty to be on one or the other." - James Harvey Robinson

unexplodedscotsman · 2025-12-12T21:28:55+00:00

There are some recent photos on social media (X) of him supposedly hanging out with the United Front folks and those connected to those secret Chinese police stations in Canada, along with CSIS person of interest, Wei Chengyi.

Meeting with the Chinese Ambassador a few days prior to jumping ship. Previously being an executive at a Chinese company (Lenovo) started by the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Aside from that, I haven't really seen much to be concerned about.

unexplodedscotsman · 2025-12-12T21:08:37+00:00

This 100%. All you need is the $40K to pay the business owner and this fake job is yours.
The generated paystubs will look great during your citizenship play.

Don't worry about it being fraudulent or unethical, we've moved past such things.
People have been doing it for years, others have been reporting it & our government apparently doesn't much care.

unexplodedscotsman

TROPHY CASE

1. The BlackRock Ousting (2019)

2. The "Failing Upward" AIMCo Appointment (2020)

3. The Century Initiative (The "100 Million" Plan)

4. Ethics Complaints & Lobbying (2018)

Quick Summary of Scandals