Fresh Old Ideas
Arnold Malone
This is part 1 of a two-part series.
There is a chap that lives south of us in Washington DC. He has a white house. He talks a lot. Recently, he has been talking about Canada becoming the 51st State.
Now, there are citizens in the USA – likely a minority – that think this would be a good idea. Here in Canada, the overwhelming majority of citizens are horrified by the thought.
This article is to offer doubt for those who might think such an arrangement would be a good idea. We Canadians have considerable advantages over the USA. That guy down south, Donald Trump (if you haven’t guessed already), has it all backwards. Americans would be better off if they became Canadian.
Of course, Americans will need to wait their turn. Our respect for the people of Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut would certainly have provincial priority over the USA. Therefore, USA would have to wait their turn to become our 14th province.
Here is a list of reasons why Americans would love to be Canadian:
• Americans would welcome a less awkward system for governing with less divisive procedures that block legislative progress.
• They would find it refreshing to get rid of those darn mid-term elections. With the current system in the USA, they always are campaigning for an election which leaves too little time for thoughtful governing.
• Canadian elections must be offered and completed within 36 to 50 days. USA elections bull horn their insults for a year and a half, then have an election, then govern for a year, then repeat.
• They could finally get rid of that silly thing called an Electoral College. It was established in 1787 when it was held that an uneducated voter might not know how to make a proper choice. So, a few so-called wise people would consider the public’s vote but submit what they thought would be a better selection. If Americans were Canadian then their vote would be counted directly. No wise guys watering down democracy.
• The chap who keeps talking about Canada becoming the 51st state thinks that we would love the idea because our taxes would be lower. His tax comment is true. However, that fellow forgot to consider that if you take what an American pays in taxes and then add on what they must pay for private health insurance then the Canadian and USA costs are close to the same. That, of course, sets aside that 20 million Americans have no health coverage of any sort.
• By being Canadian, USA government workers, across all 50 states, could quit being scared out of their boots while the Senate and the House of Representatives debate over extending government financing for weeks until some midnight deadline is reached, allowing the government to pay workers for the work they have already done.
• If USA residents were to become Canadian, they would enjoy a better education. Canadian schools rank fourth in the world in the disciplines of literacy, math and science; considerably ahead of America. The USA has many wonderful universities. They also have a long list of crap universities. In Canada each province has an accreditation system to establish a standard for being called a college or a university. The USA has no such oversight. In the USA any person or group can start a university. The USA has a long list of universities that offer a degree worth only the same value as the paper it is printed on. You may have heard of Trump University?
My next article (part 2) will continue with the list showing how happy Americans would be if only they had some of the advantages that we Canadians enjoy.
