2017 is the year that Canada celebrates 150 years of existence.
The specific day of their ‘birthday’ was the
1st of July, so, well, belated happy birthday Canada…
And well, dear viewer, 150 years of existence is not the only matter that we should be congratulating
Canada on...
The country reached its 150th anniversary in great shape.
Because, well, if there’s something we can say about Canada right now it’s that the
country is certainly ‘in vogue’.
And yes, Canada is also the homeland of many celebrities that we all know well.
But recently there’s been one celebrity who has been put in the international political
spotlight.
We are talking of course of Justin…
No, no, NO, not that Justin...
We meant, this one: Trudeau.
Justin Trudeau!
Canada has reached its 150th anniversary as one of the richest countries in the world,
with a top-notch quality of life, as well as being one of the most admired countries
on Earth.
Not bad, right?
So now you might be wondering…
What is the cause of all of this?
What are the main achievements that Canada is celebrating after 150 years?
And importantly, Is there any dark side to Canada?
Well, we are going to answer all of these questions in this video, but first let’s
get some perspective...
[THE GREAT TRANSFORMATION]
You might not have heard much about Canada recently, but we can certainly say they are
no ordinary country...
In fact, Canada is the second biggest country in the world with it’s territory covering
six different time zones!
And… guess which country has the most coastline in the world?
Well, no prizes if you guessed Canada!
Of course, as all regular VisualPolitik viewers already know, neither the size of a country’s
surface nor its coastline determines its wealth or how many opportunities its citizens have.
So then…
What’s really behind the success of Canada?
Well, one key factor here is the disastrous years that Canada had at the late 80s and
early 90s.
( In this period of time Canada suffered economic stagnations and several crises to the point
that in 1995 the Wall Street Journal dubbed Canada as “an honorary member of the Third
World” due to their inability to control their governmental accounts.)
Since then, as you can see, things have changed enormously…
Canada really knew how to play to their strengths and get rid of what was hurting them.
And especially, above all, Canadians have understood the importance of the meaning of
these two words: COMPETITIVENESS and INTEGRATION.
After those disastrous years of the 80s and 90s, Canadians realised that before thinking
about spending it is essential to think about creating.
And they realised that in order to do that they needed investment, businesses, and trade...
a great deal of trade.
Well… as it was said, so it was done.
Today Canada is the 7th freest economy in the world.
But if we’re talking about freedom then we can’t just talk about the economic side
of things.
The Fraser Institute publishes every year the “Human Freedom Index”, which measures
both the economic and civil freedoms that people enjoy.
Quite simple, it measures what we can do, and what we can’t.
Well, so according to their research Canada is the 6th freest country on Earth.
To give you a better idea of how this compares to some other countries: the US ranks 23rd,
Italy 28th, and Japan ranks 32nd.
Maybe the answer to this is in the strong decentralization the country has.
Canada is divided into 10 provinces and 3 territories that have so many unique regulations
that in 2017 they had to sign a free trade agreement among them...
“New interprovincial trade deal expected to add billions to economy - The Globe and
Mail” The decentralization is enormous and it has
traditionally resulted in higher costs for those companies that don’t operate in a
single region but in several different regions, with each region having different regulations.
“In Ontario petrol must be at least 5% ethanol; Manitoba insists on an 8.5% blend”.
The Economist.
The positive side of this is that this has worked as a counterweight to the federal government,
and has encouraged them to make pro-citizen policies, and that’s something that has
driven good public policies.
Anyway, this new agreement is has been created in order to beat all these surprising obstacles.
Further, as we talked about in a previous video, there’s also the Canadian bet on
multiculturalism.
And hey, let us be rather frank here: nowadays this country is one of the best examples of
integration in the entire world.
THE CANADIAN MOSAIC
But, what’s all this “Canadian multiculturalism” about?
Well, basically it consists on accepting that cultural diversity is not a threat but an
asset and a source of opportunities.
Now, of course, this multiculturalism is always subordinate to a core set of values such as
democracy, rule of law and equality for all people.
This means, in order to be Canadian and be welcomed to their country you don’t have
to replace your culture with any other, you just have to accept and commit to those core
values.
Look, Canada has one of the largest populations of immigrants in the world.
1 out of every 5 Canadians weren’t born in Canada.
And for some cities, like Toronto, this figure goes up to 50%, or even higher...
And it seems that it will be even higher in the future, because every year more than 300,000
new immigrants come to this country - one of the highest immigration rates in the world.
And, do you know what?
It’s no problem at all.
Yes, as we said before, immigration in Canada is not free, there’s a system based on 3
fundamental pillars: points, family reunification, and refugees.
The most important one of these is the point based system that exists to grant people residence
or work permits.
It considers things like having a job offer (the most important thing) or also having
a degree, or being able to speak English.
And do you want to know the results?
Well, almost 80% of Canadians think that immigration is good for the economy, something that is
not so strange when you consider that all the statistics show that immigrants, the “brand-new
Canadians”, are more educated, work more hours, create more businesses, and draw less
dollars from social programmes.
Does Canada have rules about immigration?
Certainly.
But this sort of welcoming culture focused on integration is rare to find...
In fact, since 1977 every Canadian citizen can hold any other nationality without restriction.
So when someone emigrates to Canada, and after some years obtain their Canadian passport,
they don’t have to renounce their previous nationality.
BUT, if something might perfectly show Canada’s spirit, it’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, A POLITICAL STAR
Justin Trudeau took office in 2015, almost by surprise and at just 44 years of age.
Today he is one of the most popular politicians in the world, and that’s true in Canada
as well.
This is something that polls clearly show…
A recent survey made by Abacus Data on the leadership of the Prime Minister shows that
70% of Canadians are confident that Trudeau will manage in a good way relations with allies.
63% trust his decision making responsibility, and 62% believe that his decisions will be
good.
I mean, how many politicians around the world would like approval ratings like that?!
However, Trudeau is not a typical politician, not at all.
The Prime Minister of Canada has put on the table a programme, and a form of government,
that’s quite different from what’s typically being used.
A look at his cabinet is a realistic sample of Canada’s reality:
15 of the 30 ministers are women.
We can find a Bosnia and Afghanistan veteran, a former volunteer in Niger, ex-business executives
or even some ministers who are sikhs, - a religion native to Punjab, an Indian state.
The latest addition, by the way, has been Ahmed Hussen, a Somali who arrived to Canada
as a refugee at 16 years old and that now is the Minister of Immigration.
Pretty amazing, right?
Trudeau’s political priorities are international as his cabinet...
One of Canada’s government key challenges is to boost trade among nations.
Pay attention to their Foreign Affairs Minister:
“Rising trade barriers hurt the people they are intended to help.
They curb growth, stifle innovation and kill employment.
This is a lesson we should learn from history”.
Chrystia Freeland, Global Affairs Minister of Canada.
That is why Trudeau wants to sign a free trade agreement even with China.
Secondly, unlike other governments, Trudeau doesn’t just reject protectionism but he
wants to stimulate a productive change with artificial intelligence and automation.
Why hinder technology?
If there’s something we’ve seen as history has progressed it is that technology improves
people’s lives and creates more jobs.
It might seems like something that isn’t too complicated to do, but the reality is
that there are not many world leaders who defend this pro-technology position.
Talking about jobs going away is not exactly a popular line…
The other great challenge, and maybe the key value of Trudeau’s government is their bet
on boosting civil rights and turning Canada into an international example of how this
should be done.
Take a look on the power of this picture, Trudeau has become the first Primer Minister
to lead a LGBTQ pride parade.
There’s also their most recently released programme: Canada’s Feminist International
Assistance Policy.
Yep, you heard right.
Trudeau’s government didn’t hesitate to declare itself as feminist, and among other
things, they have decided to focus most of their international cooperation budget on
pushing women’s rights where they are most needed.
Now, this is just a symbol, but sometimes symbols are important...
Other symbols and gestures are his position towards Syrian refugees.
Pay close attention to this speech: Until now, 40,000 syrian refugees
have arrived Canada, almost half of them thanks to the sponsorship of Canadian citizens that
have committed to be responsible for the wellness of these people.
A great example of solidarity.
But hey, because it’s one thing is being generous and kind, and quite another to be
naive.
Consider this: the Canadian government has announced its intention to increase military
spending more than 70% from now until 2024, in order to create a more agile and modern
Armed Forces.
Trade, doors opened to technology, integration, civil rights, security…
All these things don’t sound bad at all, right?
Especially, if you consider that this government understands that before starting to discuss
spending, you have to talk about wealth creation.
Well, that’s how Canada has reached its 150 anniversary…
Everything bloody marvellous, right?
WELL, WAIT A SECOND…
Not exactly...
There are some shadows…
But we’re going to leave the “dark side of Canada” for another video video.
Don’t think that we are going to just talk about how wonderful and rosy things are…
Oh no, not at all.
Well, so, don’t forget to subscribe to our channel so you don’t miss that video and
hear the other side of the story.
And now we want to ask you, what’s your opinion on Trudeau?
You can leave us your comments below and also by clicking on the survey on the screen now.
Also, don’t forget to check out our friends at the Reconsider Media Podcast - they provided
the vocals in this episode that were not mine!
And as always, thanks for watching!