Why can’t the government do stuff?

I’m not being facetious here. I think most Canadians — in fact, most people who live in western democracies — have a feeling that their governments are incapable of actually delivering on projects or providing services.

But it wasn’t always this way. There was an era, not so far back in the future, when the Canadian governments turned petrochemicals into plastics, dug uranium out of the ground, operated airlines and railroads and so much more.

But today, governments seem to be focused exclusively on two things: handing out money to big businesses and overseeing an increasingly fraying social safety net.

So how exactly did we get here?

Nora Loreto has part of the answer. Earlier this year, she released the second book in her Canada in Decline series called Corporate Control.

In it, she details the policy decisions that hollowed out the Canadian government and makes it next-to-impossible to actually get anything done.

In our conversation, we cover a lot of ground, from free trade to the Chrétien/Martin austerity budgets, the rise and fall of Crown corporations and why governments don’t care about Canadian culture.

I think it’s really one of the most interesting discussions we’ve had on this show so far, so I’m excited for you all to give it a listen.

Featured in this episode: Nora Loreto

To Learn More

Corporate Control by Nora Loreto

"What Canadian nationalism?" by Nora Loreto on Substack

The Social Safety Net by Nora Loreto

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Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

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