Miles From Our Home ORBAT thread

Well, even if the average American citizen at the time would be somewhat repulsed by what they see of Canada, I doubt there would be many issues.  However, to simply ignore the threat of agitators would be just foolish, especially since Canadians just came from a time when the whole issue of the Second Amendment to the U.S. constitution had caused a considerable level of furor (i.e. Columbine, Las Vegas, Orlando, Parkland, etc); also remember that up-time Canadians came from a period when the fear of terrorism was quite large (the Parliament Hill attack where Cpl Nathan Cirillo was killed).  While in this particular time period, the National Rifle Association in the States is actually quite benign, Canadians would most likely still see them as the far-right gun nuts they later evolved into.  With news coming across the border of KKK expansion, added onto what the migrants from the south would tell about lynchings and the like (which were quite common in this time period), the fear many Canadians would have about down-time Americans trying something to "put the uppity fag-lovers" and the like "in their place" would be profound.

Atop that, while redrobin65 will be the one who decides how many would come north in the long term and how Canadian-American relations would run in the future, the changes such a migration would cause in places like the old Confederacy would be noticed sooner or later.  Especially with the loss of factory and farm workers who would go north to seek better opportunities for themselves and their families.  How would local agriculture be affected if sharecroppers all disappear and don't run the big farms down south, especially since America is still trying to shake off the affects of the Great Depression?  How would vital industries such as shipbuilding, aircraft manufacture, steel making and the like be affected?  While those who still smart thanks to the "lost cause" nonsense that's been prevalent in Dixie for years might be happy deep down that the "uppity niggers" (and please excuse my using that word, everyone!) were gone, they'd be scrambling to make sure local industry and agriculture wouldn't be affected by the voluntary job losses, especially with what just happened in Europe and what could potentially happen in the Pacific and with the Soviets as well.

And yes, you are right concerning the difference of education and the like.  That's why I mentioned that certain units of the Naval Reserve would dedicate themselves to run basic training courses for migrants coming into the country during the war; the other elements of the Canadian Forces Reserve would have done the same thing.  And there would be civilian agencies dedicated to helping migrants get up to speed concerning how things run in the Dominion; this would be ultimately no different in the end than what happens to migrants or refugees from other nations who come to Canada seeking a better life.  Besides, given how bad it could be in places in America, the vast majority of migrants would WANT to learn about things; such is a guarantee that they would eventually have better lives for themselves.  There'll be the troublemakers and the lazy ones, of course; there always is when it comes to something like this.  But those types would be marked out right away and shunted aside, just getting the bare minimum of support from the federal and provincial governments if not encouraged to return home.

I've known all along that Coughlin was a native of Hamilton, which isn't too far from my home town of Welland or my current place of residence in Port Colborne.  I've seen bios about the man over the Internet in recent years, plus read other TLs where he was a player in the storyline.  And given the man was not just an anti-Semite but also pro-fascist, he wouldn't have much of a welcome in Canada after the Shift occurs.  And while he would have been effectively silenced because of the start of World War Two, the Shift and how that changed his own home country would definitely have him speaking up again, joining in concert with the other nay-sayers about how "decadent" the Dominion had suddenly become.  Sure, there would be moves to shut down his use of radio as well as his newspaper Social Justice, but with agitators on the far right in Canada who had access to the Internet, he would have a potential new platform to spout his views before the CRTC and the RCMP got involved and shut that off for him.  That, I think, would make the Roman Catholic Church finally step in and force him to stay quiet or lose his privileges as a priest, but the damage might be done still.