Confederation was formulated in the wake of the U.S. Civil War, which saw that nation almost tear itself to pieces in part due to the power of the individual states relative to the federal government. The original BNA Act of 1867 gave the Canadian federal government powers to override provincial legislation, but they became powers only on paper as provinces acquired more constitutional powers through the courts. Now, provinces have veto over projects of national concern, usurping the constitutional power that the federal government has on these matters. Perhaps it is a happy accident that we continue to enjoy a first-world standard of living as the politicians, who are elected by the people of the nation, destroy our wealth-making potential through incessant interprovincial squabbles.
The pandemic has exposed all kinds of inadequacies in Canadian strategic planning and Canadian society at large. At some point, some where, Canadians lost the ability to address and even properly discuss state competence. I think it could even be a larger Western phenomenon in which we can drone on and on to others on the world stage about democracy, rule of law and values without ever truly addressing our own competence and whether we actually have the desire to demand and find solutions to our own national problems.
This was an excellent piece. So much of what was presented rings true, most notably our natural complacency in Canada and how that has inhibited true advancements in our approach to public policy and general political engagement by Canadians.
A mature country also do not tear down and tries to rewrite its history. It recognizes and learns from it. It also is willing to have serious and sometimes hard discussions without seeing everything through a kens of political correctness. It doesn't shy away from talking about real solutions even if it involves race issues. We have people that are obsessed with issues like decolonizing universities!
I do agree with what is said in this piece. But to be honest we should leave out a whole bunch of other things that are holding us back as a country.
I fail to see what value confederation has for Alberta. I'm for opting out. If nothing else we'd keep a lot of money in Alberta that now goes to buy votes in Central and Atlantic Canada.
We have a Federal Government who has managed to take away the Constitutional rights of the Provinces to which even the Senate ruled against, for that very reason. Trudeau ignored the Senate and went forward with the legislation anyway. Trudeau removed the regulatory system for all natural resources from a separate entity so it could be politicized and controlled by his Government which therefore removed the resource rights that Provinces fought so hard for with in our Constitution. Not many Canadians spoke out as it did not affect them personally. We have a Federal Government that came out with Islamophobia and then added forced speech laws on top of that which Trudeau did in the name of equity. When anyone spoke out about the measures against the Constitution and that this set a bad president, they were demonized and demeaned. Canadians did not blink an eye. When the Federal Government meddled within our Justice System, the worst possible infraction in any democracy, to save 9000 jobs from a company that was complicit in bribing Libyan Dictators and renting call girls for their pleasure in order to get contracts, not a peep from Canadians. When Trudeau did what ever he could to destroy Admiral Mark Norman for trying to save money and get the ships the navy needed desperately built, Trudeau assonated his character, forced charges against him and left hid bereft with no help in fighting his paid for bureaucracy on farce charges. Had not a fund ,paid for by the Admiral's friends and mostly Conservative Canadian's donations been available, Trudeau and his paid for and supposedly non partial public servants would have jailed the man. The charges against the Admiral were unfounded and dismissed and false. Through financial negotiation and many tax payers dollars the Federal Liberal Government made aa settlement as they were said to have been vacuously contrived for political reasons. Canadians still voted these unliberal, totalitarians back into office regardless he was also caught wearing black face, not once or twice but three times as an adult yet had the audacity to call fellow Canadians racist if they disagree with his policies. Never has any Government been as authoritarian in the history of this country nor so corrupt. Ethics appear to not matter in any way to many Canadians nor does freedom and the democracy that our men and women fought and died for so we could enjoy what they gave their lives for. I have never been so disappointed in a people and a country, as I have been in this new progressive, activist, social justice, and now authoritarian, (don't you dare come out of your homes or you will be jailed) built regime.
The fact is that Alberta and many other regions of Canada would be better off economically and even socially in the US than being part of Canada. Why? Our elites in Toronto and Ottawa, which the rest of Canada serves let us down. We just lack the leadership talent in this country to keep it together.
Confederation was formulated in the wake of the U.S. Civil War, which saw that nation almost tear itself to pieces in part due to the power of the individual states relative to the federal government. The original BNA Act of 1867 gave the Canadian federal government powers to override provincial legislation, but they became powers only on paper as provinces acquired more constitutional powers through the courts. Now, provinces have veto over projects of national concern, usurping the constitutional power that the federal government has on these matters. Perhaps it is a happy accident that we continue to enjoy a first-world standard of living as the politicians, who are elected by the people of the nation, destroy our wealth-making potential through incessant interprovincial squabbles.
The pandemic has exposed all kinds of inadequacies in Canadian strategic planning and Canadian society at large. At some point, some where, Canadians lost the ability to address and even properly discuss state competence. I think it could even be a larger Western phenomenon in which we can drone on and on to others on the world stage about democracy, rule of law and values without ever truly addressing our own competence and whether we actually have the desire to demand and find solutions to our own national problems.
We’re a country that hired a drama teacher to run it because his name sounded familiar.
This was an excellent piece. So much of what was presented rings true, most notably our natural complacency in Canada and how that has inhibited true advancements in our approach to public policy and general political engagement by Canadians.
This subscription has proven to be worth every penny.
A mature country also do not tear down and tries to rewrite its history. It recognizes and learns from it. It also is willing to have serious and sometimes hard discussions without seeing everything through a kens of political correctness. It doesn't shy away from talking about real solutions even if it involves race issues. We have people that are obsessed with issues like decolonizing universities!
I do agree with what is said in this piece. But to be honest we should leave out a whole bunch of other things that are holding us back as a country.
I fail to see what value confederation has for Alberta. I'm for opting out. If nothing else we'd keep a lot of money in Alberta that now goes to buy votes in Central and Atlantic Canada.
We have a Federal Government who has managed to take away the Constitutional rights of the Provinces to which even the Senate ruled against, for that very reason. Trudeau ignored the Senate and went forward with the legislation anyway. Trudeau removed the regulatory system for all natural resources from a separate entity so it could be politicized and controlled by his Government which therefore removed the resource rights that Provinces fought so hard for with in our Constitution. Not many Canadians spoke out as it did not affect them personally. We have a Federal Government that came out with Islamophobia and then added forced speech laws on top of that which Trudeau did in the name of equity. When anyone spoke out about the measures against the Constitution and that this set a bad president, they were demonized and demeaned. Canadians did not blink an eye. When the Federal Government meddled within our Justice System, the worst possible infraction in any democracy, to save 9000 jobs from a company that was complicit in bribing Libyan Dictators and renting call girls for their pleasure in order to get contracts, not a peep from Canadians. When Trudeau did what ever he could to destroy Admiral Mark Norman for trying to save money and get the ships the navy needed desperately built, Trudeau assonated his character, forced charges against him and left hid bereft with no help in fighting his paid for bureaucracy on farce charges. Had not a fund ,paid for by the Admiral's friends and mostly Conservative Canadian's donations been available, Trudeau and his paid for and supposedly non partial public servants would have jailed the man. The charges against the Admiral were unfounded and dismissed and false. Through financial negotiation and many tax payers dollars the Federal Liberal Government made aa settlement as they were said to have been vacuously contrived for political reasons. Canadians still voted these unliberal, totalitarians back into office regardless he was also caught wearing black face, not once or twice but three times as an adult yet had the audacity to call fellow Canadians racist if they disagree with his policies. Never has any Government been as authoritarian in the history of this country nor so corrupt. Ethics appear to not matter in any way to many Canadians nor does freedom and the democracy that our men and women fought and died for so we could enjoy what they gave their lives for. I have never been so disappointed in a people and a country, as I have been in this new progressive, activist, social justice, and now authoritarian, (don't you dare come out of your homes or you will be jailed) built regime.
The fact is that Alberta and many other regions of Canada would be better off economically and even socially in the US than being part of Canada. Why? Our elites in Toronto and Ottawa, which the rest of Canada serves let us down. We just lack the leadership talent in this country to keep it together.