I just watched Jon Stewart’s comments on the US “Meltdown”. I laughed, I could not help it, not because the situation there is funny, especially for the average middle class citizen, but because I could laugh, feeling like “I certainly do not live in a rose garden” , but I live in Canada…

I am a lucky Canadian. I do not have any risky investments. I only stand to lose on the value of my house and as for my credit? Maybe I am feeling glad that it may become harder for me to live above my income… And no, since I have never worked for a large company which offered any pension plan, I am not any more worried about how and what I will retire with than I did before the great “Meltdown” on Wall Street.

Do I worry about my retirement? Yes! I have only my Canadian Government pension and please let whoever the government becomes next, not blow that away with imprudence based on a risk factor in the markets…

I am also a lucky Canadian because in spite of the fact that I am not rich, I have healthcare which I do not have to pay a minimun of $400 per month to have. I also do not take this for granted, every time I vote… I only hope other Canadians will not vote to have an ultra capitalist, privatized economy where your healthcare insurance company dictates what your healthcare will be according to your specific coverage and what they will allow.

I worked really hard to get my education as an adult student with no subsidies, but in my opinion education should be free for all students who are serious. This would make up for what we, in North America , are not doing by leading the way in technological innovation in world green development.

We are still in a good position in Canada to make Canada stay more like Canada and we should do this. We are not an ultra-capitalist society or economy. Karl Marx wrote before the corruption of socialism by communism, that eventually capitalism would reach an advanced state and ultimately would sow the seeds of its own destruction.

I think we are beginning to see this prophesy come true. It would be nice to see a more balanced planet, in general, one in which we all prosper and survive. Perhaps we are seeing signposts that this might just happen afterall.

Every Canadian is familiar with this bon mot: When America has the sniffles, Canada comes down with the flu. It does not take a stretch of the imagination to figure out what will happen to the Canadian economy now that America has suffered a massive stroke, which will see the patient in intensive care, in an induced coma, for a long time to come.

Compared to the mess that once used to be the United States of America, Canada is still doing relatively fine. But it is just a matter of time before the American consumers’ inability to shop will seriously eat into Canadian companies’ profits and viability. Most of Canada’s exports are destined for the U.S., yet when Americans no longer have the spending power to buy those products, the Canadian economy could take a major hit.

One of the worst problem areas in Canada is Ontario. Its manufacturing sector has been eroded, with thousands of jobs having been lost in the automotive sector in particular. The provincial government and labour unions have been calling on the federal government to provide the necessary funds to prop up the ailing sector, but any financial injection would be a short-term solution only. Ontario’s problems are more of a structural, than a cyclical, nature: an excessive tax burden, out-of-control government spending and programs that are way too generous by anyone’s standards – not to mention the fact that the automotive sector is not what it used to be, nor will it ever return to its old grandeur.
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Just out in time for this election and available FREE online, The Harper Record, edited by my trusted friend Teresa Healy.

Here’s the summary from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives:

This book is one in a series of CCPA publications that have examined the records of Canadian federal governments during the duration of their tenure. As with earlier CCPA reports on the activities of previous governments while in office, this book gives a detailed account of the laws, policies, regulations, and initiatives of the Conservative minority government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper during its 32-month term from January 2006 to September 2008.

The 47 writers, researchers and analysts who have co-written this book probe into every aspect of the Harper minority government’s administration. From the economy to the environment, from social programs to foreign policy, from health care to tax cuts, from the Afghanistan mission to the tar sands, from free trade to deep integration, and to many other areas of this government’s record, the authors have dug out the facts and analyzed them.

The Harper Record was necessarily researched and written long before an election was called, but its publication does coincide with an election campaign and thus may help citizens to make informed choices about the future of their country. Regardless of the election outcome, its contents will continue to be relevant between elections. In detailing what a minority Conservative government really did, or failed to do, it may serve as a guide and model for future elections.