IN PRAISE OF CANADA

In the 1960's the author had the pleasure of living and working in Canada. During that time and subsequently, he also lived and worked in the United States, so was able to some degree contrast the two countries.

Canadian culture seemed to be more reflective, less bullish, even quieter. He felt that Canada had a more Northern European culture - it seemed that community and communal well-being ranked higher than 'winning' and making it big. This kind of culture of course came in for a degree of ridicule and lampooning from its brasher, bigger and seemingly more entrepreneurial southern neighbour. It was noticeable that this rankled with many Canadians, who seemed quite determined to retain the values that distinguished their country. Of course Canada has many problems, many of which derive from stresses between the French and British-derived provinces - and the issue of Quebec has not been satisfactorily resolved.

Nevertheless, Canadians have maintained a respectable distance from the US, and now that stance seems to have been completely vindicated.

Here is an extract from an article in Newsweek by Fareed Zakaria which explains why.....

"The New Republic magazine once held a contest to think up the world's most boring headline. The winner was 'Worthwhile Canadian Initiative'. Look who's laughing now, says Fareed Zakaria. America's northern neighbour is not only surviving the current financial crisis, it is 'positively thriving in it'.

Canada, alone amongst the industrialised nations, has not faced a single bank failure, or had to make any state intervention into the finance or mortgage sectors. Last year the World Economic Forum ranked the country's banking system the healthiest in the world; America's came 40th, Britain's 44th. The secret of Canada's success? "Common sense". Over the past 15 years, as the US and Europe loosened regulations on their financial sectors, the Canadians insisted on keeping the old-fashioned rules. Thanks to the same prudence, the country has enjoyed 12 years of budget surpluses. Its pension system is sound, and its healthcare system is both cheaper and better than America's. Indeed, US car companies have moved so many jobs into Canada to take advantage of the lower healthcare costs that Ontario has, since 2004, produced more cars than Michigan. Canada is pushing for other countries to emulate its sensible approach by adopting similar banking rules. "This strikes me as, well, a worthwhile Canadian initiative".

So it appears that whilst top British and US politicians were trumpeting the virtues of their 'free and creative' financial markets, fostering 'innovation'; the quiet, sensible Canadians just did sensible things quietly and effectively.

If this was a story of the Tortoise and the Hare, the tortoise has won hands down.

Three cheers for Canada!