But the rot started in the mid 70's when PET decided to start funding our social responsibilities with private bank created money, in an attempt to reign in inflation that was blamed on the continuance of new deal era policies. Its been all down hill from there.
Nafta, WTO, and all of the subsequent trade/investor protection deals have further cemented the priority of balancing budgets foremost, without the ability to inject any meaningful Keynesian stimulus unless it involves handing gobs of money over to private interests. To do so otherwise would be the State interfering with the private market, and we all know that international tribunals always smack down the State.
Essentially, to boil it down, we have a society that enjoys Socialist benefits, but we are led by politicians who despise socialist-level taxation, or regulation of big business that would pay for our benefits. And, over the last 40 years we have dismantled the country's ability to enact (theoretically) democratically-willed marketplace reforms.
Unfortunately, most Canadians think we can still grow and manage our way out of this problem (ie tar sands, real estate bubbles, and austerity), with the tools we think we still have, but our sovereignty is effectively gone, and our democracy has become a well managed sham.
= new reply since forum marked as read