Reflecting on Canada’s strengths amid ongoing challenges, highlighting national resilience and urging increased citizen engagement in shaping a brighter future. Photo credit: Pexels
Given that it is the holiday season, I wanted to put together a positive column about all the things we Canadians have to be grateful for instead of just criticizing this or that aspect of our economy and our politics. But I am an economist, after all, and they don’t call economics the dismal science for nothing. Hence the tendency to be critical of all of the things we are doing wrong. We do live in a very challenging world at present and it’s easy to focus on the problems we face here and around the world, which can easily eclipse the fact that we still have lots going for us.
For starters, we continue to live in one of the safest, most peaceful countries in the world. Our geography means that we are not subject to many of the serious natural disasters that regularly plague other nations. The reality that we are physically well separated from global trouble spots by large bodies of water means we don’t import a great deal of these issues into Canada. We have the great good fortune of living next door to the largest and most vital economy in the world, which benefits us in many ways despite the fact that some Canadians like to diss Americans on a regular basis. We could certainly do much worse for a neighbour. We are, for instance, able to spend much less on our military than we should because we know the US will support us in a pinch. That’s not an excuse for our poor military policies, but it is reality.
We have on balance a highly educated and talented population. We are also more entrepreneurial as a culture than many people, even many Canadians themselves, give us credit for. Improvements can and should always be made, but we remain a dynamic, largely market-based economy that creates good jobs and wealth for all those who want to pursue it.
Canada is blessed with so many natural resources that we could be a powerhouse and a positive force in our turbulent world by sensibly exploiting those resources. It is true that the current Liberal government is not interested in doing that for a variety of reasons, not all of them related to overblown and erroneous “climate” concerns. But the good news is that it wouldn’t take too long to turn this around and benefit both the Canadian economy and other democratic countries with the right policies. From all indications, however, it will require a change in government to accomplish that.
Despite all the flaws in our political process, we still have a democratic system unlike so many other countries which have no means of getting rid of destructive governments, such as Russia, China, North Korea and Gaza, among others. As Winston Churchill famously said decades ago, democracy is the worst system of government – except for all the others.
Our social services still remain acceptable as compared to many other parts of the world, although there has been deterioration in recent years. Problems with our public health care services of late have justifiably raised concern among Canadians as they suffer from the lack of needed reform and a record influx of immigrants overloading the already stretched system. The silver lining in this dark cloud is that more Canadians have become receptive to the major restructuring of health care that should have been done years ago. We have been dishonestly told by politicians and others for years that we have one of the best health care systems in the world, which has not been true for a long time. Now that the flaws are becoming glaringly obvious, we are finally starting to demand the change that is needed.
But the really good news is we are able to do something about all the challenges that face Canada. We individual Canadians have to take more responsibility for our country and participate more actively in our political processes, among other things. It is always very disappointing to see a minority of Canadians vote in elections, for instance. We need to clean up our act on that front, and make the effort to become better informed on the issues of the day, the stances of various political candidates and parties, and engage more intelligently in the electoral process. Instead of just pointing fingers at various governments, we have responsibility too.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from my family to yours. I hope you have a chance to relax and rest up over the holidays. Looking ahead to 2024, it seems we’re going to need all the energy we can get.
She has published numerous articles in journals, magazines & other media on issues such as free trade, finance, entrepreneurship & women business owners. Ms. Swift is a past President of the Empire Club of Canada, a former Director of the CD Howe Institute, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, past President of the International Small Business Congress and current Director of the Fraser Institute. She was cited in 2003 & 2012 as one of the most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network & is a recipient of the Queen’s Silver & Gold Jubilee medals.
