Yay Canada!

Rex Burr

My Son and Daughter in Law live in Vancouver.
They follow UK news on the Internet and wonder that all the fuss is about.

N

Does that mean Canada is going to be the "new" United States in North America now?

Fern Trejo

Why don't we let the Canadian Banks start operating & lending money in the US!

imp

The banksters have been keeping Canada solvent because they need a country to evacuate to after they've gutted the US economy.

Sherman

I wonder if one of the reasons is that Canada doesn't have the South. Seriously, think of the bad choices our country has made in the past thirty years, from wars to foolish tax cuts to terrible social policy and then look who pushed them. Far more often than not, it's Southerners.

Bruce

Actually Canadian banks do have some activities in the US. One of them is TD Ameritrade. The TD stands for Toronto Dominion Bank.

Jedd Young

It is meaningless to compare the US and Canada. The US has 305 million people and a 14.5 trillion dollar economy. Canada has 33m people and 1.3 trillion dollar economy. They are in two different classes and should be compared to countries of similar size / GDP. By the way, per capita GDP is roughly the same at $47,000. Both countries should be proud of this achievement. Particularly the US - which has achieved this despite millions of recent immigrants from impoverished countries.

johnnyk

TD Bank owns and operates TD Waterhouse in the USA.
Bank of Montreal owns Harrisbank of Chicago.

Jasper

I agree with Zakaria's thoughts here, except for his incorrect comment about America's "insolvent" Social Security system. The finances of Medicare (healthcare for old people) are pretty dire, indeed. But Social Security is in fairly robust shape, and will likely require only modest tinkering if any at all as the years go by.

ndm

Jedd Young really needs to watch the film A Day Without a Mexican if he thinks "recent immigrants from impoverished countries" are a net loss to the American economy.

NWoolridge

Jedd, just so you know: Canada accepts a far larger number of immigrants on a per capita basis than does the US. That is alluded to in the linked article.

AlisonS

Canada also has stricter regulation on our banks. They must retain a certain level of capitalization (not sure of the exact amount). Thank you Paul Martin for not allowing the craziness to take hold in our banking system. If our current bozo-in-chief had been in charge, we would be in the same boat as everyone else.

John T

Jed Young says - 'the US - which has achieved this despite millions of recent immigrants from impoverished countries.' Canada has lots of imigrants from the same counties but they are generally seen as an asset

Robert

@ Jedd Young
FYI, recent immigration rates in Canada are around 240,000 per year. Immigration to the US is around 1,000,000 per year. With 1/10 the population, proportionately, Canada receives far more immmigrants from impoverished countries than the US.

Brad

Robert, not going to get into it with you, but your figures are wrong by multiples. Figure in illegal immigration. Also, A day without a Mexican? Really? That's like directing someone who believes in evolution to www.doctordino.com . Regardless, the US should be taking note of some positive policies coming out of Canada.

Gracie

Please keep in mind that Canada is not engaged in two major wars that drain the economy of billions

Bill Johnson

Canada - I salute you. Good, common sense, unassuming, hard working, Canada. A good friend, a good neighbor. Let's remember when Canada shielded our folks in Iran from the revolutionary wackos and helped them get out of there. Even with your Quebec issues and your leaders' occasional foray into clownishness, you guys have your act together. Draft-dogders didn't go there for nothing....

Leafs

Yes, please, world, just keep ignoring us. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Snowsurvivor

Gracie - Assuming one of the wars you are thinking of is in Afghanistan, Canada is very engaged there.

rofl

The Immigrants to Canada on average are more skilled and can contribute more to the workforce then people who swim across the Rio Grande and take up jobs raking leaves.

Robert

@Brad, I'm perplexed.
If you state that you're not going to get into it with me, then why do you? Estimates put the number of illegal immigrants coming into the USA at half a million per year. That's not a difference of multiples. That's a difference of 50%. And it's still substantially lower than the amount that Canada lets in as a proportion of the total population. Also, I'm of the opinion that immigration is a good thing to the country, in the long term, whether illegal or not. One gets to acquire adults ready to work without having to invest the time and money required to raise them. One also gets to ameliorate the demographic trap (that plagues developed countries where families are raising less children, thus resulting in an aging population that requires more support from fewer young people in the workforce.)

The Surly Beaver

@ Gracie

Actually, Canada has had troops in Afghanistan from about 2002 I think. And yes they've been helping with the heavy lifting. The Canadian government has spent a great deal of money upgrading equipment, particularly armoured vehicles.