I have copied and pasted both an article and a link below so that the full story that accompanies my comments is available even if the link breaks at some point in the future. I have spoken to the issues in this article so many times to my friends that I am certain that they tire of hearing about it! The problems within Canada’s political system become very apparent to any intelligent Canadian, if they first have the opportunity to be an expat.
When I left Canada a few years ago, I boarded the plane in blissful ignorance wrapped up in the belief system that I lived in the very best country in the world, but after being away for a while I learned that I like most Canadians had been duped. I had bought into the belief system that most Canadians do, which is the recognition that we average Canadians have a better quality of life than average Americans due to our health care system and relatively lower violence and the more calm acceptance of people who belong to minority groups. The problem, the huge problem is that we Canadians don’t have any other neighbours whose fences that we can look over with ease, so we don’t know how good it is out there in the rest of the world.
As a member of the Canadian Club when I lived abroad we discussed ad nauseum about the mass delusion which Canadians perpetuated and accepted. In the county where I was living McDonalds employees and Medical Professionals, for example had exactly the same benefits package. This includes, paid vacations of six weeks per year, paid time off for medical appointments, healthcare which includes dental, glasses and even time off to get stitches cleaned and or removed. When a child is born the family is granted 3 years of full coverage and guaranteed their job back. This means that if a family decides to have three children every three years they are doing so with not only with full pay but also with the knowledge that in nine years when they wish to go back to work, the job is still being held for them. In addition to this, the income of individuals is pre arranged to go up incrementally when a person has taken a spouse or has a child and geared to income property is readily available. In my entire time there I never noticed a pan handler nor did I notice a homeless person. I also never once witnessed any unfair treatment of employees, which, for anyone who has worked in Canada, you know is certainly NOT the case here. We simply have a long way to go when it comes to these simple human rights.
Note that I have not even touched on the issues of addiction, violence and so forth. Not because I am unaware but because I also never witnessed this anywhere but Canada. I walked at night, around the lake, alone in a very huge city, in the park with no dog, no flashlight, no cell phone and as a woman, I simply cannot imagine doing that in any of the cities here in Canada. Actually, I probably would not even do this in Canada in most towns. The difference in my opinion is that we have lost our communal hope and along with this went our safety.
OK… there is a lot more I could talk about but what would be the point?
Again, below, is the article which brought me to this diatribe. I strongly recommend we Canadians to pull our heads out of the asses of our American neighbours, and see how other people citizens of the developed world live. Believe me there are comforts out there that we cannot even begin to understand and in this case, I will tell you ignorance is not bliss and when you start to see what we are missing, boy will you be mad!!
By Julian Beltrame, The Canadian Press
Happy Canada Day! But you may have less to celebrate than you think
OTTAWA – To many, Canada Day is a time for fireworks displays and contemplating the country’s many blessings, but a new report suggests Canadians may have less to celebrate than they think.
The annual Conference Board of Canada report card measuring quality of life among 17 advanced countries released Monday concludes that Canada is like a student who started out strong, but is coasting toward the bottom of the class.
In a break from past reports, the Conference Board looked back at Canada’s performance to the 1970s and found that although the economy is stronger and per capita income has increased, other countries have passed it by.
Canada’s economy was the envy of the world in the 1970s, ranking third. Now it has fallen to 11th place, behind leader Ireland. And on a per capita basis, individuals in the United States, which ranks seventh, earn $6,400 a year more on average than Canadians.
It is a similar story with the other five domains in the report card – innovation, environment, education and skills, health and society, which includes levels of crime. In most, the country is either treading water or slowly sinking.
“While Canada is still in the gifted class among nations, its report card tells the story of a country moving to the back of the class,” the study says.
“That’s a hard argument to make in a country enjoying low unemployment, a strong dollar, declining debt and a booming resource economy. If everything’s so bad, why does it feel so good?” the report adds.
But the devil is in the details.
Board president Anne Golden says other countries have caught up and surpassed Canada in many areas, something that should not have happened given Canada’s natural advantages.
Canada ranks 15th in environmental performance due to high greenhouse gas emissions and that it produces more garbage per person that any other country in the group. It is ninth in health outcomes, 10th in the society category, and a woeful 13th in innovation with a D grade – not failing, but close.
It does best in educational attainment with a second place behind Finland and a B grade. But its illiteracy rate is worse than a decade ago and while it leads the class in college-level completions, Canada is graduating students in the wrong fields.
Canada underperforms in skills training, produces relatively few PhDs in the sciences, math and engineering, and the scientists it does produce “tend to congregate in research positions that many not be well connected to commercializing activities.”
Canada has been able to do as well as it has over the years mostly due to its abundant natural resource riches and proximity to the world’s richest and largest market, the report says.
“We’ve been lucky more than smart,” said Golden. “We’re doing fine, but we’re coasting and that’s not good enough.”
This year’s report also contains some myth-busting items.
Canada does very poorly in rates of child poverty, with one of seven children considered under the line and most surprisingly in levels of crime.
For instance, Canada has 17 times the rate of assaults, seven times as many burglaries and three times as many homicides as Denmark.
But even more surprising is that the United States, which is last in the society category, still has fewer burglaries, a lower suicide rate and greater gender equity than Canada.
“It was a shock to me too,” said Golden. “We are much more violent than we think.” report notes that Canada is doing well in many areas that contribute to quality of life. Canadians rank high in acceptance of diversity, the ability of individuals to move up the income scale, levels of high school and college graduation, living standards that are rising even if not as fast as many others, and Canadians are healthier than several decades ago.
“The good news is that Canada’s past achievements, such as reducing poverty among its elderly, show that given the political will, Canada could successfully address other social challenges to sustain future quality of life,” the report concludes.
