Canadian Politics

Don't Credit "Socialism" for Canada's Success

On the Bloomberg opinion page yesterday, Canadian writer Stephen Marche credited "hard-headed socialism" for Canada's (relative) success during the global economic crisis.

Today on the Huffington Post, expert Canada-watcher Chris Sands debunks:

Canada's fiscal hardheadedness and pro-growth economic policies, along with its tremendous resource wealth, are the real examples that the United States can and should follow (the United States has great resource wealth too, thankfully). Then perhaps, like Canada, we can better afford some socialist policies that we have now, or that voters may desire in the future.

Socialism, based on economic redistribution, requires growth so that there is money to redistribute, just as philanthropy relies on prosperity.

Canada was hardheaded in promoting growth, not in simply managing redistribution, and this is why it has enjoyed better results than most countries since the 2008 recession began.

Socialism is not the father of Canada's success, but its progeny.

(PS—You could do an interesting chapter in Canadian sociology based on the "full disclosures" that might accompany this link. Example: Stephen Marche is the son-in-law of two of my parents' oldest and dearest friends; the Huffington Post's Canadian blogroll is edited by my wife; and Christopher Sands is a good friend too. When Americans compliment the civility of Canadian politics, it's not because Canadians are so polite, but because the place is so damn small. We're all related to, friends with, married to, or sleeping with the people we mutually write about.)

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David Frum

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