The Weakening of Canada and a Bold Resolution for Prosperity

[Zeitgeist]

The dominant narrative in Canadian politics and media over the past decade is that Canada is a settler colonial state of oppression and the current population of taxpayers owe money and resources to identity groups that are held up as victims either because they can trace their ancestry to people who at certain times in history occupied areas of Canada in mostly impermanent settlements or because they happen to have a different skin colour, despite that fact that slavery was banned in Canada from its inception and was practiced in pre-colonial times by Indigenous.

This narrative picked up steam after the public outrage over the death of George Floyd in the U.S. and an unproven theory that there are mass graves of mistreated students at former residential schools, which were the only forms of free education available, provided by teachers with European cultural values.

As a result of this narrative and U.S. economic aggression, Canada has become locked into a victimhood mentality wherein the role of the state is to pussyfoot around a soft, guilt-ridden public that has been warned by the pandemic Emergencies Act not to question government policies or propaganda.

It means that Canada is likely to remain a socialist nanny state for the foreseeable future, with a weakened, unproductive economy ruled by the most left wing government in Canadian history.

The Conservative Party of Canada will continue to be vilified.

The answer provided by the current federal government to US economic threats is welfare rather than economic development through deregulation of the energy sector, the building of infrastructure, and strengthening of our military (meeting our NATO commitment).

Canada should be building east-west pipelines, refineries, LNG ports, high speed rail, and arctic military bases.  We should be signing trade deals.  Instead we are hearing about more money for nothing government spending from a government that serves itself and maligns Canada’s history and culture.

Rather than fear-mongering about threats from the U.S. against Canadian sovereignty, Canada needs to drop all DEI funding and end the politicization of its universities and K-12 education. As we seek new markets for our goods and ways to keep our industries and labour productive as tariffs damage our exports to the U.S., we need to hammer out a much broader trade deal with the U.S. that stops pretending we can justify paying for the duplication of so many departments and layers of government.

A tariff free Can-Am Union must be formed that allows for the free movement of goods, people, and services between both countries, with the aim of harmonizing as many of our regulations as possible not only between provinces but with the U.S.   It means that both countries can adopt the best policies from each country over time, while restricting federal voting rights to the citizens of each country for as long as the citizens of both countries want to remain distinct countries.

It means that each country could retain the federal policies supported by the citizens of each country. Access to public services such as healthcare for non-citizens would require some kind of private transitional insurance until Americans in Canada and Canadians in the U.S. meet a minimum residency requirement (such as the two years required in the EU to be able to pay domestic tuition instead of international student fees).

We have to get to a bigger agreement with the U.S. that gives the citizens of each country as many opportunities as possible within both countries without compromising the sovereignty and national will of the citizens of each country.

Anything less will keep Canada in a holding pattern of endless renegotiations and economic threats.

We need a long-term plan that over time could eliminate much duplication.  At first we will see products comply with two sets of regulations which may eventually be reduced to two different standards displayed on different products, so that consumers can decide which policy-compliant products they want to buy.  Hopefully over time we get to one standard, saving billions in duplication costs. Over time it is likely that only a few distinct policies will separate the two countries, probably around healthcare and firearms.

Canadians should embrace the opportunity to reduce taxes and government bureaucracy while having the ability to live and work anywhere in the U.S.  Keep our dollar (if you really want it), but my guess is that eventually the opportunities will speak for themselves and the government of Canada will no longer be able to justify its excessive size and barriers to new generations that are hungry for the American/Canadian Dream. How much has our government stood up for Canadian culture in recent years?  Do we really need more tales of genocide and Post-National State?

Edited March 27 by Zeitgeist