Commentary
Troubling numbers of Canadians and Americans have started to regard one another with hostility and misunderstanding.
For decades, the image of the United States as a nation defined by rugged individualism, free markets, and limited government has been deliberately contrasted with the stereotype of Canada as a land of irredeemable collectivism.
These perceptions oversimplify reality. The sweeping contention that Canada is “far-left” while America is “far-right” simply does not stand up to close examination. On both sides of the border, high taxes, excessive regulation, unsustainable levels of immigration, declining social cohesion, and costly government programs have been a source of frustration for hard-working taxpayers. Such policies are shaped by naive ideas about compassion, social justice, and state intervention that could ultimately undermine the foundations of free and prosperous societies….