

What Happened to Canada? - fraqed
http://nplusonemag.com/what-happened-to-canada

======
cperciva
I don't know who Marianne LeNabat is, but she's either very confused or trying
very hard to create a story out of thin air.

 _The country is helmed by a prime minister, Stephen Harper, known for his
brazenly right-wing views and executive unilateralism._

Brazenly right-wing? Ok, he's part of the Conservative party; but he's one of
its most moderate members. Executive unilateralism? That's mostly about
keeping the right-wing nuts in his own party in line -- Harper refuses to
allow members of his own party to put forward any legislation which would
place any restrictions on abortion or gay marriage, for example.

 _the undermining of the country’s universal health care system_

Federal funding has increased at a rate of 6% per year for the past decade.
Starting next year, it will increase at at a rate equal to nominal GDP growth.
When did "increasing funding every year" turn into "undermining"?

 _In reality, Canada Post has netted a profit for sixteen of the last
seventeen years_

Only if you subscribe to the notion that future pension obligations will be
paid for by the magic public pension fairy.

 _Services are “delisted,” i.e. taken out of universal medicare coverage, but
private supplemental insurance becomes available to cover them._

I have no clue where this is coming from. Seriously, I can't think of even one
service which has been delisted in the past 30 years. (And in any case,
Canada's constitution says that health care is a matter of provincial
jurisdiction, so if such a delisting had happened it wouldn't be the federal
government's fault.)

I could go on, but I think I've made my point.

~~~
flycaliguy
I wouldn't call Harper a moderate conservative, not even close. We are talking
Canadian Alliance side of the split. As for his stance of abortion and gay
marriage, that's just not a good measurement in Canada, a place where it would
appear as if John Baird is being groomed to be our first gay prime minister.

~~~
PeterWhittaker
Agreed. Harper is that most frightening conservative (for liberals), an arch-
conservative who recognizes how far his values are from the centre AND can
create and execute a strategy for implementing his vision bit-by-bit, piece-
by-piece, so that most folks don't appreciate how radical is the gradual
change.

Thems of us with memories and a willingness to look forward and back see a
very scary voyage to the right.

------
fraserharris
The author represents a socialist view of Canada that idealizes a period from
'75 to '95 when federal parties spent lavishly on the social system funded via
national debt. This resulted in Canada's own debt crisis (peaking at 70% of
GDP), which we were able to resolve by devaluing our currency and running
surplus for most of the next decade (now hovering below 40% of GDP). This is
epitomized by her statement:

"Since the 1990s, the centrist Liberal Party has embraced a hysteria about
balanced budgets and debt repayment to justify cuts to social welfare programs
and taxation"

The widespread "right-wing conspiracy" amongst the media & political class is
rooted in the reality that any Canadian politician that actually increased
taxes to fund social programs was quickly & loudly removed from office.

The current Conservative government has been removing environmental
restrictions, silencing the federal scientists tasked with regulating them,
and slowly reducing federal environmental research. These actions appear to be
designed to spur more resource development & resulting government extraction
fees. Its important to note that this Conservative leadership came from the
province of Alberta, which has benefitted from a two decade resource boom.
Alberta has had the strongest economic growth and lowest tax rates in Canada.
A template for success in some eyes.

------
Pxtl
First-past-the-post voting and a united right facing down a split left. Also,
our biggest trading partner tanked their economy in tandem with our oil
industry taking off.

Finally, over a decade of previous easy success left the liberal party flabby
and complacent.

~~~
cperciva
_a split left_

No such thing. The Liberal party is centrist, not left-wing.

------
steveplace
nothackernews

------
hemantv
any welfare state cannot go on indefinitely

~~~
chad_oliver
Why not? You've made a bold statement, but provided no reasons.

