1. One of the biggest reasons Canada can afford its national health plan is that it doesn't provide very much health care at all (in comparison to the U.S.). It's easier to get a CAT scan for your pet than for yourself, for example. If that's fine by them, that's fine by me.
2. There's a remarkable reason why Canada's military expenditures is so low, and this is something that ought to resonate with conservatives here in the U.S.: Canada's federal government has very little power. Amazing at it may seem, Canada actually functions today a lot like the U.S. probably would have ended up if the Confederacy had won the Civil War. Most of the political power is vested in the provincial governments (the provinces run their own health care systems, for example), and for most Canadians, Ottawa is just a nice city on the banks of the Ottawa River with lots of British architecture.
3. The point about the housing bubble is right on. Canada has strict lending standards and a very heavily regulated banking system. Canada also doesn't have the mortgage interest tax deduction, which means homeowners aren't given a major tax incentive to borrow as much money as possible against their homes.
And Canada doesn’t exactly have nearly as many of the “Gibsmedat” crowd as here in the US.
Your point 1 is very well taken. When I want to piss off my Canadian friends I tell them of the time I hurt my knee playing hockey.
1) Made appointment at 5PM for the next morning, 8AM.
2) Got examined by an Orthopedist - the Dr. for the NY Jets no less - and also got an X-Ray and MRI done, THAT DAY.
3) Was back at work by 11AM.
That pretty much sends them over the edge. :)
We don’t really know the derivative exposure of our banks though do we?
As for the military it is still shamelessly underfunded. The CPC has over the last 2 budgets forsaken military funding for stupid social spending and useless attempts to bolster the economy.
I just bough a pretty expensive house in Alberta and had to jump through a ton of hoops. It’s a pain lol.
My income says I can afford a 7 figure house, but just because you can doesn’t mean you should and I think that’s where a lot of people go wrong.