all I know is that I spend every other weekend and a crisis shelter for kids under 6 who are in immediate danger of abuse or neglect. 97% of which live below the povertly line. Passing a bill to benefit business is not going to make their stomachs full or their houses warm tonight. We need to find ways to balance increasing the economy (long term solutions) withouth igonoring the underclass it creates (short term realities). We have a responsibility to do that!
I went to school in Ontario, I loved it when I was there. I remember walking to school in the morning I would see families sitting on their front porch just hanging out, and when I came back from the school, they were still sitting there. They were obviously not physically impaired to be able to work. That's what I am talking about people living on welfare for generations. Back on topic, you must admit that Canada does enjoy the security safety net provided by US with having to maintain a large military itself.
I think the problem is in looking at just one European nation as opposed to the EU. The EU has combined its economic power, and still keeps its focus on social service as opposed to military power. As a result they have larger population, more wealth, more votes on any of the international bodies, and they are happy to not have to worry about military power as much. Someone could take a trip in America and have it completely owned by the EU. They could get in a European car, get gas at EU owned gas stations, and stay at holiday inns which are also controlled by EU members. They have found ways to keep the Euro strong, do well in business and still provide the social services to help their population. I agree that they couldn't do it if they didn't have the U.S. military to rely on, but in their way of looking at it, its just a bonus to them not to have to do that. They aren't upset by it. There is an interesting book on this called the United States of Europe.
Ontario is a large province with some very wealthy areas and some poorer areas. There are mining towns there that go through good times and bad times, for example, so without knowing what part of Ontario you lived in it’s hard for me to comment on what you saw. On the military, I don’t completely disagree with you but I’m not sure how that’s relevant to what’s being discussed here. The principle of giving underprivileged people a certain minimum standard of living that will give them a chance to grow up healthy, safe, and get a good education and therefore have a reasonable chance to maximise their potential and become good contributors to society, is still the same.
