(Newser) – How can we save Detroit? Maybe with the mother of all yard sales, suggests John H. Fund in the American Spectator. The Detroit Institute of Arts' collection is worth some $2.5 billion, Belle Isle could be sold to investors as a "mini-Hong Kong" for $1 billion, and even a breeding giraffe at the Detroit Zoo could fetch up to $80,000. Who's buying? How about Canada, suggests Fund, which "lies just across the river," and "has a 21st-century government, with lower unemployment, smaller debt, and even more economic freedom than the United States."

A tongue-in-cheek poll by Canadian news agency Global News on whether our northern neighbor should buy the bankrupt city had 36% voting "yes"—closely followed by "Only if we're able to get rid of the guns" at 29%. But in all seriousness, the Canadian city of Windsor has already expressed interest in buying Detroit's half of a tunnel connecting the two—that could be another $100 million right there. "At this point, selling assets to Canada or even private investors is politically untenable," writes Fund. "But wait a few months, until the crushing burden of Detroit’s debt makes it clear that radical solutions are in order." Click for his full column. (Read more Detroit stories.)

