[Mark Steyn] Is Canada’s Economy a Model for America?

Imprimis ^ | January 2008 | Mark Steyn

[DuncanWaring]

...and Canadian troops got the toughest beach on D-Day.

Ohhhhh, I dunno about that one.

[iopscusa]

Another great Steyn speech given to Hillsdale College. Chock full of Canada vs USA comps on economics, culture and politics....

[rhema]

In a news item from last year, an Ottawa panhandler said that he may have to abandon his prime panhandling real estate on a downtown street corner because he is being shaken down by officials from the panhandlers union. Think about that. There’s a panhandlers union which exists to protect workers’ rights or—in this case—non-workers’ rights. If the union-negotiated non-work contracts aren’t honored, the unionized panhandlers will presumably walk off the job and stand around on the sidewalk. No, wait...they’ll walk off the sidewalk! Anyway, that’s Canada: Without a Thatcher or a Reagan, it remains over-unionized and with a bloated public sector.

[RockinRight]

On the other hand, Andrew Roberts, the author of A History of the English-Speaking Peoples since 1900, points out that the two most corrupt jurisdictions in North America are Louisiana and Quebec—both French-derived.

LOL...

[A. Morgan]

I was in Canada a few years ago, while there I went shopping in a Canadian department store, I remember seeing ladies hand bags... three different styles that was it, and all of them were black! It reminded me of stories in commie countries!

[investigateworld]

There you have Canadian health care in a nutshell. After all, you can’t expect a G-7 economy of only 30 million people to be able to offer the same level of neonatal intensive care coverage as a town of 50,000 in remote, rural Montana. And let’s face it, there’s nothing an expectant mom likes more on the day of delivery than 300 miles in a bumpy twin prop over the Rockies. Everyone knows that socialized health care means you wait and wait and wait—six months for an MRI, a year for a hip replacement, and so on. But here is the absolute logical reductio of a government monopoly in health care: the ten month waiting list for the maternity ward.

LOL!!!

Brilliant

[JOAT]

ping

[Maneesh]

This is the funniest and most accurate article I have read in a long time. Mark Steyn is an absolute treasure and we must grant him US citizenship and keep him here. This is classic stuff.

[Damocles]

Steyn is simply amazing. I have yet to find something subpar from him. An absolute gem, and hard hitting at that.

[Billthedrill]

Of course, John O’Sullivan isn’t saying that Canadian men are literally cross-dressers—certainly no more than 35-40 percent of us...

I wouldn't put it that high. 33%, tops.

Certainly Canada's economy is the object of admiration for certain American politicians, mostly Democrats, for whom the purpose of government is not to preserve human freedom, but to govern. Everything. Hillary in particular seems to regard economic "justice" as a mission from God, that justice consisting of robbing Peter to bribe Paul. But dirigisme is an eternal temptation to politicians. It is an expression of pure, overweening ego to insist that political office means that one knows farming better than farmers, manufacturing better than manufacturers, military matters better than the military. It is a pity that that sort of ego is currently in greater abundance than wisdom, and an election year only makes it worse.

[Eagle of Liberty]

Everyone knows that socialized health care means you wait and wait and wait—six months for an MRI, a year for a hip replacement, and so on. But here is the absolute logical reductio of a government monopoly in health care: the ten month waiting list for the maternity ward.

ROFL! Brilliant!

[Eagle of Liberty]

Great minds.....

[gridlock]

BFL

[rhema]

I wouldn't put it that high. 33%, tops.

It may be time to get a definitive answer from a world-recognized authority.

[NonValueAdded]

gotta love it

[Billthedrill]

I love that piece... ;-)

[Vigilanteman]

So when people talk about the Canadian model as something that should be emulated, they forget that it only works because it’s next to the American model.

This entire article is fascinating, but this gem is the best!

[gridlock]

When my wife and I were considering having a child, I went to the day-care center across the street from my office and asked if they had any slots available in their infant room. They told me that if I signed up that day, they would have a slot for me in ten months. I signed up. Good thing, too.

[T-Bird45]

Thanks for a great late-afternoon Steyn read!! As for the poster noting we need to make him an American, I second that since that would stop the Canadian Human Rights Commission action right in its tracks.