Mel Hurtig’s recent bestseller, The Truth About Canada (2008), is reminiscent of a number of different books, for example Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine (2007) and William Marsden’s Stupid to the Last Drop (2007). All these books are written with a critical and breath-taking edge reminding us of “some truly appalling things” as Hurtig’s subtitle properly puts it. But to my mind the work that resonates most with Hurtig is Paul Tillich’s classic The Courage to Be. While The Truth About Canada is no exquisite theological treatise, and Hurtig’s use of statistics from the OECD (which he never defines) can be a bit mind numbing, Hurtig’s book is in itself the product of a profound act of courage. He rallies against Canada’s ‘think tanks’ (especially the far-right Fraser Institute, as well as the ‘non-partisan’ C.D. Howe Institute and Institute for Research on Public Policy) and almost single-handedly he unites the charge against Prime Ministers (previous and existing), Governments, Health Care, Businesses, Banks, Media, the Military, NAFTA, Globalization, Higher Education, you name it. Most of all, I savour the fact that Hurtig is an Edmontonian by origin.
Yes, Canada has changed mightily since the presumed ‘good old days’ (prior to Mulroney), and the great number of these changes are not promising, particularly if you share concerns over heightened continentalism. Pointing to the absolute decline in the number of doctors as Canada’s population increased between the years from 1993to 2003, he reminds us that American society and its health system is far from ideal. Life expectancy in Harlem is lower than it is in Bangladesh, and Malaysia and the U.S. have similar infant mortality rates. Moreover, the child poverty rate in the U.S. is just ahead of Mexico. Not to be smug, he reveals that the child poverty rate in British Columbia, the highest in Canada, is 23.5%. Borrowing from Lars Osberg, an Economist at Dalhousie University, he explains the number of “monster homes” now increases with the number of homeless, and (again) the rich-poor income gap is highest in B.C.
Turning to other economic indicators, we see that productivity is in decline in Canada. In 1970 we were 5th (out of 24 nations); by 2007 we were 47th (out of 50 nations). More significantly, our manufacturing industries are increasingly under foreign control, up to just over 50% in 2004, higher than any other OECD nation (and increasing). Meanwhile we continue to cut (‘foreign’) corporate taxes. Quoting Globe and Mail business columnist Eric Reguly, he explains that “the relative tax burden on the individual has doubled” between the years 1961 and 2006. We are, as Hurtig’s apt phrase goes, a “hollowed-out country ... sleepwalking back to colonial status” (assuming we had ever left it), and Reguly blames nothing but “feckless CEO’s,” good ‘managers’ only, who bring shame to Canadians in the light of, say, Vimy.
Hurtig goes further and accuses the Harper government and former Industry Minister Jim Prentice of “intentionally misleading Canadians.” From 1996 to June 2007 the number of Canadian companies taken by foreign companies over was 6,355 – not 1540 as claimed by Prentice’s office. Meanwhile the number of foreign companies acquired by Canadian ones was 3,898. Only Canadians would give up the likes of the Hudson’s Bay Company and its 350 year relationship with the nation’s history. Only Canadians, because of NAFTA, would give up something over 50% of our production of natural gas to the United States. More importantly, “we now have less than nine years of natural gas left” (and the scenario for our oil reserves is almost as bad); in other words, Alberta’s economy (and Canada's future) is built on a house of cards, a situation one anonymous Calgary expert Hurtig quotes as “pretty scary.” (See also the aforementioned Stupid to the Last Drop).
Hurtig’s solution is to “abrogate NAFTA and impose export taxes on all oil and gas exports” – not a bad idea, if you are first a Canadian with no ties to Americans. Our excessive media concentration (which one definitely finds in Vancouver) also prevents the proper dissemination and contest of ideas so essential to a democracy. And in this light our universities are failing us because of chronic underfunding, among other things. According to the most recent United Nations Development Report, Canada is 90th in terms of “public expenditure on education as a percentage of all government spending.” Hurtig’s solution to our many ills is proportional representation and resulting better voter turnout (a consequence, according to studies): we will actually have increased representation, less vote distortion and alienation, and a more meaningful democracy; why, it might even help inculcate a better sense of nationhood among us all, likely one of Hurtig’s aims.
Where do I disagree with Hurtig? First, he far too hastily dismisses the Senate in less than one paragraph without due consideration to the virtues of a bicameral legislature. Secondly, his criticism of our military lacks a little focus. Yes, unfortunately (according to Steve Staples of the Rideau Institute on International Affairs) we have transformed ourselves as a nation from a “peace-keeper to a war-fighter,” and we have done so without public debate, which is cause for concern. Yes, sadly, we are now the “sixth highest military spender among the 26 NATO countries,” outspending the bottom 12 NATO countries combined. Yes, our involvement in Afghanistan is highly questionable and, I believe, doomed to failure. Yes, if we are to accept Michael Byers, Harper and other governments have bungled the matter of the Northwest Passage, which is quickly de-icing. But that is precisely where perhaps some of our military spending should go, if we are to prevent strange underwater bumping from going unchecked. In the interest of territorial sovereignty we should be doing something more about Canada’s North rather than preach democracy (from the barrel of a gun) in Afghanistan.
The Truth About Canada is far more than a statistical rant, and I can see Mel Hurtig speaking to many groups across Canada, as a former publisher, politician and a present-day moralist. It takes real courage to be Hurtig and to take on so many institutions with entrenched interests. He must have armed himself with the First Epistle of St. Peter: “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?” This verse ought to be coupled (in our minds) with the following: “But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.”
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