It is uniquely fortunate in many ways—but Canada still
holds lessons for other Western countries
WHO will uphold the torch of openness in
the West? Not America’s next president. Donald Trump, the grievance-mongering
Republican nominee, would build a wall on Mexico’s border and rip up trade
agreements. Hillary Clinton, the probable winner on November 8th, would be much
better on immigration, but she has renounced her former support for ambitious
trade deals. Britain, worried about immigrants and globalisation, has voted to
march out of the European Union. Angela Merkel flung open Germany’s doors to
refugees, then suffered a series of political setbacks. Marine Le Pen, a
right-wing populist, is the favourite to win the first round of France’s
presidential election next year.
In this depressing company of
wall-builders, door-slammers and drawbridge-raisers, Canada stands out as a
heartening exception. It happily admits more than 300,000 immigrants a year,
nearly 1% of its population—a higher proportion than any other big, rich
country—and has done so for two decades. Its charismatic prime minister, Justin
Trudeau, who has been in office a year, has welcomed some 33,000 Syrian
refugees, far more than America has.
Bucking the protectionist mood, Canada
remains an eager free-trader. It was dismayed by the EU’s struggle to overcome
a veto by Walloons on signing a “comprehensive” trade agreement that took seven
years to negotiate (see Charlemagne). Under Mr Trudeau, Canada is trying to
make amends for its shameful treatment of indigenous peoples, and is likely to
become the first Western country to legalise recreational cannabis on a
national level.
Go, Canada!
Irredeemably dull by reputation, less
brash and bellicose than America, Canada has long seemed to outsiders to be a
citadel of decency, tolerance and good sense. Charles Dickens, bewildered by a
visit to America in 1842, found relief in Canada, where he saw “public feeling
and private enterprise in a sound and wholesome state; nothing of flush or
fever in its system.” Modern Canada’s social safety net is stronger than
America’s; its gun-control laws saner. Today, in its lonely defence of liberal
values, Canada seems downright heroic. In an age of seductive extremes, it
remains reassuringly level-headed.
Many of Canada’s virtues spring from its
history and geography and are not readily exportable (see Briefing). It is easier to be relaxed about
immigration when your only land border is protected by a wall the size of the
United States. Appreciation for the benefits of trade comes more easily to
countries next door to big markets. British Brexiteers might justifiably claim
that they voted for exactly what Canada already has: control of immigration and
the freedom to negotiate trade deals with any country willing to reciprocate.
Despite such luck, Canada suffers from
some of the stresses that feed populism in other rich countries. It has
experienced a decline of manufacturing jobs, stagnant incomes for most of its
citizens and rising inequality. It, too, frets about a shrinking middle class.
Canadians worry about Islamist terrorism, though the country has so far been
spared a big attack. Some right-of-centre politicians, playing on fears that
one will happen, indulge in Trumpian rhetoric. Yet Canada does not seem tempted
to shut itself off from the world. What can other
Western countries learn from its example?
First, Canada not only welcomes
newcomers but works hard to integrate them. Its charter of rights and freedoms
proclaims the country’s “multicultural heritage”. Not every country will fuse diversity
and national identity in the same way that Canada does. Indeed, French-speaking
Quebec has its own way of interpreting multiculturalism, which gives priority
to the province’s distinct culture. But other countries can learn from the
spirit of experimentation that Canada brings to helping immigrants find
employment and housing. Its system of private sponsorship, in which groups of
citizens take responsibility for supporting refugees during their first year,
not only helps them adapt but encourages society at large to make them welcome.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has called on other countries to copy it.
Follow the moose
The second lesson is the value of
knowing when fiscal austerity does more harm than good. Canada has been
managing its public finances conservatively for the past 20 years or so. Now in
charge of a sluggish economy, Mr Trudeau can afford to give growth a modest
lift by spending extra money on infrastructure. His government has given a tax
cut to the middle class and raised rates for the highest earners to help pay
for it. These economic policies deserve to “go viral”, the head of the IMF has
said. Canada has a further economic lesson to impart in how it protects people
hurt by globalisation.
Compared with America, its publicly financed health
system lessens the terror of losing a job; it also provides more financial
support and training to people who do. And its policy of “equalisation” gives
provincial and local governments the means to maintain public services at a
uniform level across the country.
Perhaps most important, this mixture of
policies—liberal on trade and immigration, activist in shoring up growth and
protecting globalisation’s losers—is a reminder that the centrist formula still
works, if politicians are willing to champion it. Instead of folding in the
face of opposition to liberal policies, Mr Trudeau and his ministers have
instead made the case for them. Although free trade is not the hot-button issue
in Canada that it is in America, they have been tireless in listening to
critics and trying to take their concerns into account.
Canada is far from perfect. It remains a
poorer, less productive and less innovative economy than America’s. While
championing freer international trade, Canada has yet to eliminate obstacles to
trade among its provinces. For many liberals, Canada’s emphasis on “peace,
order and good government”, enshrined in its constitution, is inadequate
without an infusion of American individualism. But for now the world owes
Canada gratitude for reminding it of what many people are in danger of
forgetting: that tolerance and openness are wellsprings of security and
prosperity, not threats to them.
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