Guelph Mercury - Wednesday, October 12, 2005 - Page A8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scotland calling its ex-pats back SANDRO CONTENTA LONDON (Oct 12, 2005) Scotland wants its sons and daughters living in Canada to pack up their tartans and return to their homeland. Canadians of Scottish ancestry, particularly those in Toronto, are being targeted in a campaign to stop Scotland's dramatic population decline with appeals to return to the old country. But forget the romantic images of castles, glens and, for some, haggis: the nation's leaders want to lure back Canadian Scots with talk of vibrant financial services sectors and cutting- edge universities. "The traditional image is very important to us, but it is an image that is in the past," said Jack McConnell, first minister of the devolved Scottish parliament. "The image of Scotland today that we want to make sure people are aware of is of a country with increasingly dynamic and attractive cities," he added in an interview yesterday. McConnell, leader of Scotland's Labour party, will deliver his sales pitch to an estimated 4.5 million Canadians with Scottish backgrounds during a trip to Ottawa and Toronto in two weeks. He'll also ask expatriates from the business community to invest in Scotland and spread the good word about the country. His quest to lure back Scottish expatriates also takes him to the United States, Australia and South Africa. Emigration and declining birthrates have seen Scotland's population steadily decline over the past 12 years to 5.1 million. It's expected to drop below the 5 million mark by the end of the next decade. Estimates place the Scottish diaspora as high as 90 million, based on those claiming at least one Scottish great-grandparent. Scots who migrated south to England have been so successful there's talk that Britain is being run by a "Tartan Raj." Powerful Scots include Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was born in Edinburgh but raised in England. McConnell tried to change some far less romantic images of Scotland before setting out on his charm offensive. Scotland is, quite literally, the "sick man of Europe." Heavy smoking and a taste for coating foods in batter have taken their toll. A 2003 study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that from 1991 to 1995, the mortality rate in Scotland was the worst in Western Europe among people of working age. Scotland led in deaths by heart disease and came in second among 17 countries for stroke and lung cancer deaths. In 2000, women had the lowest life expectancy in Europe and men the second lowest. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------