The past few weeks was a very interesting time to be in the United States. Photo Credit: Pexels.
The last couple of weeks was an interesting time to be south of the border in the United States. This author found herself there on a family vacation that had been planned for months – long before Donald Trump once again became U.S. President and well prior to threats of tariffs and other attacks on Canada. Although some have suggested that Canadians should not vacation in the U.S. because of Trump’s belligerence toward us, we certainly weren’t going to forego a trip to which we were already committed, timewise and financially. Despite some bravado on the part of some Canadians, it looked like we were in good company as the airports were packed with Canadians headed to the United States.
As it happens the vacation was on the Hawaiian island of Maui, likely the least typically “American” of all U.S. states. Unfortunately, the vacation was accidently extended by the extreme snowfall in Toronto and the horrific plane accident that took place at Pearson airport shortly thereafter. Sadly for us, we were already back in Vancouver on the first leg of the flight by the time those events closed down Pearson, so we couldn’t even bask in a few more rays for our trouble.
It was a very interesting time to be in the U.S. though. As most of our fellow vacationers were Americans, many interesting discussions were to be had. Lots of bad jokes were made about how Canada was going to become the 51st state soon anyway so why worry about tariffs and U.S. expansionism, delivered in typical American jovial style. It’s always interesting to gauge the perspective of Americans since, although what happens south of the border is always of considerable concern to Canadians, the average American rarely gives Canada a second thought and, if they do, it tends to be one of benign neglect.
The hot political topic of most discussions was the DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) initiative that was hitting the headlines daily, outlining ever new outrages of spending excess by various U.S. government agencies and departments. Reports are mixed on how much wasted spending DOGE has uncovered so far but it is sure to be significant. Large amounts of spending have been found that were allocated to such things as environmental justice causes, various woke policies such as DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion), subsidies to media and even funds to terrorist groups. And this is just the beginning. Deciphering government spending can be a virtually impossible task, but the DOGE crew, overseen by Elon Musk, went right to the source and looked at electronic records of spending by various agencies of government so they did not get bogged down by having to deal with individual government entities at a senior management level.
Naturally the U.S. government bureaucracy fought back hard, with public sector unions attempting to block the administration from firing federal workers and offering to buy out employees who quit voluntarily. Fortunately, a federal judge recently ruled that the Trump administration could continue to shrink the federal workforce while legal proceedings continue. The legal wrangling is not over yet, as the judge’s decision stated that he lacked jurisdiction and that the unions must pursue their challenges via a different legal avenue. This will be a very important legal matter as if the courts decide that the government is restricted in its ability to downsize government despite evidence that government is overly large and wasteful, it’s game over for taxpayers. This would be the final nail in the coffin for any kind of sensible financial oversight and control over taxpayer dollars.
The implications of the DOGE initiative for Canada are huge. Compared to Canada, the U.S. government is much more efficient in terms of bureaucrats per capita and total public spending as a proportion of the economy overall. We know that the Trudeau government has expanded the size and cost of the Canadian federal public sector by more than 40 per cent in 9 years – the largest expansion of government since his father was in power in the 1970s and early 80s. Every single announcement Trudeau has made about a new initiative or policy – including his most recent ridiculous announcement of a high-speed train between Quebec and Ontario – is accompanied by the creation of another costly bureaucracy. Yet despite this immense expansion of government, it would be hard to find any Canadian that believes government services have improved. If anything, the quality of public services has declined further despite all the added spending. The US DOGE experience is likely to provide a very helpful template for Canada to in turn downsize its bloated government. It can’t happen soon enough.
In other aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, we have of course the ongoing hockey tournament as well. The Canada-U.S. rivalry is as fierce as ever – likely more so than usual for Canadians anxious to score some symbolic points against Trump. At the time of writing, the final game had not yet taken place. Fingers crossed for Canada.
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.
