Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Missing from the Test

Between vacation, test burnout, and heaps of other work to do, not much blogging lately or ahead.  So, I was inspired this morning to ask my readers a question: what is missing from the Citizenship Guide/Test?  You don't have to read the guide--just guess and I will tell if your entry was in the guide or should have been.

Here are two exemplars of things that should have been in the guide, as they shape popular discourse about possible public policies:
  1. Canada loves cartels.  Restraint of trade?  Meh.  Let the maple farmers horde the maple syrup so that the prices go up.  Why not pay more for dairy and poultry due to supply managementBuy a car on a weekend in Montreal?  Get a life.
  2. Means-testing is unCanadian.  I am always surprised when folks here resist the notion of creating policies that only go to the relatively poor.  When I say that we should not subsidize the rich (today's topic--publicly funded day care), I am told that equality is the highest priority, that having limited access undermines the legitimacy of the public service.  Maybe, but subsidizing the well off is bad for budgets.

Anyhow, any other examples of beliefs/attitudes/policies that new citizens should know before they take the test and then swear allegiance to the Queen of Canada?  And, Phil, the crown stuff is already covered in the guide.

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