It wasn't so long ago that Atlantic provinces were bemoaning the "Calgaria" phenomenon - east coasters who migrated to Alberta to work in the lucrative oil industry. Now, with oil prices having plummeted more than 50% in just a few months, the result is less jobs, and east coasters are heading home.

Conventional wisdom would say that Alberta's loss would be the east coast's gain, but it's clear that it's not a zero-sum game. Expatriated "astronauts" may have worked in Calgary and Fort McMurray but maintained family and filed income taxes back east.

The connections we Canadians have with one another are very much real and this is just one striking example. It's why East Coast Connected promotes brain circulation. It's no longer about "my" province vs. "your" province; our prosperity is a national issue.