The Great Right North.
It will be amusing if, after all the overwrought talk about leftists fleeing Jesusland after the 2004 election to head off to the progressive paradise north of the border, it instead becomes a haven for the fiscally sane. And I write this from the perspective of someone who may in fact be relocating to Toronto in the near future, though not for that reason.
Too bad he doesn’t discuss provincial taxation differences in more detail. You’d be a lot better off in Calgary than Toronto, although I realize you actually don’t have that choice available.
Of course, they forgot to mention the defense budget. Canada has virtually none, ours is rather huge as there’s this war thing going on.
Their population is pathetically small and it wouldn’t take that much to tip the balance to the right. I’ve long felt that we ought to get a couple million conservatives together, move to Ontario, and just take over the country. Plus they’re loaded with oil. High time to bring true democracy to them. (I don’t think a country can be called a true democracy without a two-party winner-takes-all legislature and a president chosen by an electoral college, do you?)
Canada has nationalized health insurance.
How will you endure the horror of that?
I’ll do what they do, you moron. I’ll come to the US.
I will take comfort in knowing that my tax dollars subsidized your lobotomy.
Watch out for those Human Rights Commissions, though…
Toronto! Cold there in the winter, eh?
Make it tough to see Shuttle launches at the Cape, eh?
Just make sure you live out West (Alberta, for example). Here in Quebec, we still pay through the nose.
Toronto! Cold there in the winter, eh?
No worse than southeast Michigan, where I spent the first half of my life.
“I’ll do what they do, you moron. I’ll come to the US.”
so will you keep paying for american health insurance?
Canada has strict gun control.
How will you deal with that?
Toronto is probably as close to a “progressive paradise” as will be found in Canada. It’s a stronghold for the federal NDP (socialists) and Liberals, and its municipal government has been flirting with fiscal disaster for years. In general, though, Canadians are pretty conservative. They like balanced budgets (after enduring years of deficit mayhem) and the progressive social views are derived as much from a libertarian argument as a “progressive” argument.
so will you keep paying for american health insurance?
If necessary.
Canada has strict gun control.
I’ll take my chances, if it comes down to that.
Regardless of whether you keep your American health insurance, I think it is likely that Ontario’s health insurance would cover you:
http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/public/pub/ohip/temp_foreign_workers.html
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp
I think it would be fascinating if you started blogging on the Canadian political scene. Of course, you could do that without moving there, but Canadian politics might become more interesting to you if you did. Also, while I wouldn’t hope for you to need Canadian services, particulary health services, I bet your interaction with the Canadian system would generate interesting blog posts. Best of luck in figuring out whether you’ll be moving.
Canada has strict gun control.
I’ll take my chances, if it comes down to that.
Canada has strong progressive taxes including capial gains taxes.
How will you endure all that taxation?
Read the link, Jack. With Obama-Reid-Pelosi in the US, and a competent economist as PM in Canada, the tax rates are converging. Given time, Canada’s rates might actually come below the US’s. Canada has more federalism than the US, too — Alberta may end up with less regulation than many US states.
“I don’t think a country can be called a true democracy without a two-party winner-takes-all legislature and a president chosen by an electoral college, do you?”
Oh, I don’t know Mark. I think that the UK does rather well. Of course, our nominal head of state is chosen rather differently (although not quite as differently as Americans would have it thought – see the two Bushes for example) but the head of the actual government is the head of the party that has most MPs.
We are also quite good at holding incompetent and/or dishonest MPs and government ministers to account – eventually. I am quite sure that both houses of Congress are just as corrupt, if not more so, as the House of Commons – but what chance would there be in the USA of the sort of political bloodletting seen in the UK in the last couple of weeks? And is there any sort of mechanism even approaching even the currently emasculated version of Prime Minister’s Questions?
The editor of the Daily Telegraph deserves some sort of medal. Sometimes, the MSM can come up trumps. Not often, admittedly.
Lastly: The UK has had partially, and increasingly, democratic government for much longer than the USA has existed. I don’t think we need any lectures. Especially from a country that, whatever its formal system of government, is a plutocracy.
“Lastly: The UK has had partially, and increasingly, democratic government for much longer than the USA has existed. I don’t think we need any lectures. Especially from a country that, whatever its formal system of government, is a plutocracy.”
Was that before or after we gave King George III the finger?
Especially from a country that, whatever its formal system of government, is a plutocracy.
Is there any country where the form of government is not a plutocracy?
Regarding invading Canada I probably need not remind anyone here the USA already tried that before.
Regarding invading Canada I probably need not remind anyone here the USA already tried that before.
That was then, this is now. Do you really think they’d hold us off as well this time? Particularly given that the desired national characteristic is to be “nice”?
Do you really think they’d hold us off as well this time?
Well, no. For one the British Empire is no more. Then there is the fact that the Canadians have no nuclear weapons. There is the (small) possibility that the UK would use their nuclear weapons (which are basically submarine launched US Trident missiles) given Canada is still part of the Commonwealth, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Actually, I can easily imagine some of the western provinces being interested in annexation and statehood (particularly Alberta and Manitoba, though perhaps BC as well). Though not under the current regime, of course. They’d come in as red states.
Currently, even if BC was somehow interested in statehood, it wouldn’t come in as a red state. Look at these election results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Columbia_general_election,_2009
The liberals and the New Democratic Party completely dominate and have done so for the last three elections. Any conservative and/or right-wing parties are lumped together as “minor parties” along with “the sex party”. The sex party advocates making Valentines Day a statutory holiday, among its various other sexual positions.
Well, Godzilla, the UK isn’t a plutocracy for a start – at least directly. AFAIK, the only likely alternative to the current head of the government isn’t a millionaire either.
Whatever else one might think or say about recent Presidents Clinton and Obama, it’s indisputable that they both came from humble beginnings, and neither were particularly wealthy or well-connected before becoming POTUS.
Perhaps you may wish to look up the meaning of “plutocracy”.
“Actually, I can easily imagine some of the western provinces being interested in annexation and statehood (particularly Alberta and Manitoba, though perhaps BC as well). Though not under the current regime, of course. They’d come in as red states.”
Red states with Gun Control, Statewide health insurance and high taxes,
but other then that.,,,