Today, the Liberal Party of Canada is nothing more than a center-left catch-all party made of up of progressives and their ilk. But this is a significant departure from its beginnings as a party of radicals committed to a classically liberal ideal.
The Rebellion of 1837 in Upper Canada (modern-day Ontario) was comprised of Canadian reformers who were fed up with the aristocratic elite which had come to rule the colony known as the Family Compact. The rebels were led by the radical republican William Lyon Mackenzie, the first mayor of Toronto. After their eventual loss in the final months of 1837, Mackenzie fled to the Niagara River where he established the short-lived Republic of Canada on Navy Island.
Our Mixed Economy Is a Mixed Blessing
Socialism promises much, penalizes many
Commentary
A century ago, by stealth and circumstance, socialism crept into Canadian society. It has since become entrenched, part of our ethos, for we’re proud of our mixed economy, our medicare, our bailouts, our social safety net, and our Crown corporations.
Yet they come at a cost. Big government, the nanny state, the welfare state call it what you will isn’t free, and federal and provincial tax rates attest to this, forcing many of us to hand over half the income we make so that others, less productive and able perhaps, can enjoy the services and benefits of modern Canada. Our national debt has ballooned to over a trillion dollars, forcing much of Ottawa’s budget toward paying interest costs to foreign lenders rather than improving our roads and military security.
If Peter Lougheed had been confronted with COVID-19, he would have likely responded in a very different way than what we are currently seeing, according to political scientist Duane Bratt.