I agree with a lot of stuff you say. Maybe with a federal government change, things can actually improve (hint hint)...The taxes in Canada are terrible. At least they aren't as bad as Sweden (some Swedish pay 75\% income tax I think).
So you think it's fair that since we have a publically funded healthcare system, where every hospital bill is essentially payed for by the people, that you should be able to injure yourself and make us pay? And while on the topic, I think that smokers and thrill seekers who injure themselves should pay their own costs too.
A lot of Canadians are just as ignorant as they think the rest of the world is. Instead of being good people, they just assume it's a god given right of citizenship.
Immigration is another issue we face- but lets face it. Canada is so young that most of us are still relatively fresh immagrants (2-3 generations).
I live in Calgary, and there are lots of black people here. Sure, nowhere near the levels of the US, but what does number of people have to do with addressing them properly? If there was a single minority living in a region, does that mean they are do be treated like dirt because there is only one of them?
Alcohol taxes are bad, but gas taxes are even worse. If the federal government put most of that gas tax money back into improving transportation infrastructure (roads, highways, etc.) then I wouldn't even mind it as much.
Unions are a mixed bag. In principle, they are a good idea. In practice, often they are far from perfect. I think that union leaders are largely to blame for that (their egos get in the way of what they are actually supposed to be doing- making their members happy).
Well, we subsadize most things in Canada (not neccesarily a good thing)- I'll bet that almost all of the money that Alberta supplies to the federal government through equalization payments ends up in the hands of unemployed east coast fishermen... So why not support the people that grow our food?
The only person to blame for not knowing your national anthem is you. What, do you expect the government to pay people to travel around the country teaching it to people? That's JUST what canada needs...
Military buffers are irrelevant in today's high-tech warefare world. With ICBM's and other long ranged weaponry with pinpoint accuracy, who needs a land buffer?
But even so, I agree with a lot that you say. Canada is definately a mixed bag- it seems to be a great place to live if you feel mistreated by the world, but seems to be a bad place to be if you are just an average Joe (no pun intended) who has done reasonably well for themself.
Then again, Canada has been ranked #1 in the United Nations Human Development Index (best place to live) for what, 4 straight years? I guess we're doing SOMETHING right...
-FFox
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"A christian, an anarchist-slash-prostitute, figures out the true meaning of freedom. Not freedom like America, freedom like a shopping cart."
-NOFX