Tuesday 3 October 2000 LOCAL BUSINESS
Trudeau's economic legacy dismal
The 'Just Society' came about through aggressive taxation and government
spending that has saddled us with debt today.
Michael Campbell Vancouver Sun
In reading and watching all the commentary discussing the legacy of Pierre Elliott
Trudeau I was amazed at how one of his most lasting and profound influences is regularly
overlooked.
Certainly the repatriation of the Constitution and the creation of the Charter of Rights are
worthy of a great deal of discussion, but no less of a monumental legacy is his economic
policy.
Trudeau is the godfather of Canada's interventionist government policies regarding the
economy. It was Trudeau who spearheaded the drive for the "Just Society" through
aggressive increases in government spending and wealth redistribution that led to Canada
leading the world in the growth of taxation.
It was the Trudeau government that brought Canada's federal deficit from zero in 1968 to
$38 billion by the time he left office in 1984. It was the buildup of debt during the
Trudeau years that laid the foundation for today's $40 billion in interest payments.
While socialists or Marxists may like to take credit for the philosophical underpinnings of
his economic policy, it was Trudeau who put the thoughts into action.
In 1968 the federal government launched what was then called the short-term bailout of
the Cape Breton Coal company that finally this year, after $1.7 billion in subsidies, shut
down.
It was during the Trudeau era that employment insurance subsidies became a way of life
for some in the Maritimes with the results still well in evidence today.
Under Trudeau we got nationalization of companies and industries. Canada curtailed
foreign investment and exploded the government bureaucracy.
But his legacy extends beyond specific economic policies and into a mindset that
dominates the landscape today.
It was during the Trudeau years that the anti-business, anti-success attitude -- referred to
by Nobel Prize-winner Robert Mundel as the chief obstacle to our economic prosperity --
took hold and flourished.
Marketing all government policies as part of the pursuit of the Just Society has
permanently linked the concepts of government intervention and justice in many people's
mind.
We see the results today where opposition to extending government programs is regularly
regarded as a form of incivility at best and godlessness at worst.
As Prime Minister Jean Chretien has told us regularly, only the selfish and greedy want to
lower taxes. Only the most cold-hearted could oppose a national day-care program or
business subsidies.
What's interesting to note is that before we headed on the path toward the Just Society,
Canada had the second-highest economic output per person in the world.
The latest numbers from the OECD put us at 20th out of 29 in the developed world. Our
economy grew at an average pace of five per cent, excluding inflation, before 1968,
which is 40 per cent higher than the average since.
Our federal debt has grown from 0 to $750 billion, while our currency has gone from
being at par with the U.S. dollar to 66.5 cents today.
Also interesting to note is the fact that our satisfaction with government institutions like
health care and education has also declined in the past 30 years in spite of huge increases
in government spending.
As for the pursuit of the Just Society, poverty advocates tell us nothing has changed,
which always leaves me somewhat startled considering that so many Canadians continue
to call for more of the same policies.
Comments about this article? Send an e-mail to the writer.
Send a copy of this story to a friend. Click here.
