He'll return ... later

Christopher Pful, The Ottawa Citizen / Bernhardt Zeisig, manager of Canadian markets at Venture Investment Management Co. in Boston, is coming back -- now that he's a father.

Christopher Pfuhl, The Ottawa Citizen / Bernhardt Zeisig says there's no question he pays lower taxes in Boston than in Ottawa. But the cost of living, he says, is higher.

Bernhardt Zeisig, 39, moved from Ottawa to Boston last August to become manager of Canadian markets for Venture Investment Management Co., or VIMAC. He loves the challenge of his job and his lifestyle, but Mr. Zeisig thinks that his young family would ultimately be better off, financially and socially, in Canada, where they plan to return in a few years.

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He says some subtle differences in values aren't often considered in the debate.

I did not move down here because of higher financial dreams. The cost of housing is so dramatically more expensive that Chretien is right, in a lot of his arguments.

It (the high cost of living) does negate a lot of benefits. Now, I do think that that applies quite differently, depending on what stage of life one is at.

If you are married with a young family, which wants a house and has to have a more stable lifestyle, it can be more expensive.

We just purchased a three bedroom house for about $330,000 U.S. on the North Shore. That would be about $450,000 in Canadian funds. That is more than twice the cost of an equivalent house in Ottawa, which we could get for about $200,000. Even though the interest on mortgages is tax deductible, housing is still more expensive.

If I were 22, I'd be looking at it differently, having a good time. I loved moving around. They are going to do it, not just for the money, but it is an exciting opportunity to get to know something else and I think that's healthy.

It was a great opportunity (that convinced him to move). I'm working with a venture capital company that has a very different model that doesn't exist in Ottawa, or in Canada. I (like) ... the opportunity of working with a company that I think is doing some very interesting things.

I want to preface all this by saying I really enjoy our lifestyle here and we've been with really wonderful people. But I think there are some issues that haven't been identified well in the brain-drain discussion that does concern me.

Because I have a young family, I am concerned about health care, concerned about the education for my children (including a 2 1Ú2-year-old and a baby, due next month.)

A friend of mine, with a child just a year older than mine, is spending $8,000 a year to send a child to day care. Now, it is a good day care. It is expensive, very expensive.

The higher education, if I want to send my child later on to the Harvards or the MITs, is also going to cost me a fortune, while, if I'm going to send my child to Queen's or to Western, I'm not worried about that. Those costs are pretty inconsequential. I don't have to worry about making room in my investment portfolio so I can afford the tuition for my child in Canada. Well, I do here.

There's no question that I'm paying lower taxes. I don't know if I have more disposable income at the end of the year, though. Housing is a big part of the reason. But everything else is more expensive (as well). Gas, smoking and alcohol is cheaper, but I don't drink much and I don't smoke at all, so for me, it's just gas that is a savings. Groceries, going out, everything is significantly more expensive.

The value set is a bit different here, than in Ottawa. They do reward the individual here. The freedom of making your own road is rewarded. And I'm fortunate that I'm on the lucky side of the track, as well that I can afford good health care and good education for my family. But growing up in a surrounding where you know that not every individual is as fortunate makes people like myself a bit uncomfortable. There are subtle differences. It is slightly more consumer, slightly more materialistically oriented here. You know, the value for a solid basis of universal good education and universal good health care isn't as appreciated here as it is in Canada. It goes into fairly deep emotions and value sets.

That is a concern with respect to my children. I want them to feel responsible, as well, for everyone else's well being. I'm hoping that my children will grow up with a lot of opportunities. But it is going to be important for me to know that they understand and respect those that aren't as fortunate and be willing to help the overall good, and not just their own.

I think people have to be aware of the cost of housing, the cost of education, the subtle but very real value difference, before they do do that. I mean, Ottawa, specifically, offered a phenomenally high quality of life with the access to the greenspace and just the the whole accessibility of city. We don't live far out of the city, but if I'm going to come here in rush hour, it takes me an hour and half. And once I find parking, it is going to cost me $28 a day.

Our intentions are to go back, after a few years. We would like to raise our children in Canada ... more for the social things, (than the financial differences). There's no question you can have phenomenal education here. The cost of it has to be an issue. But that's not swaying our our thoughts so much as I would like them to be raised with Canadian values.