The Vanishing Country

More about the book

Is it all over for Canada? There are a number of thoughtful people who think so. Mel Hurtig, however, believes there is still a chance to reassert Canadian independence. But first, Canadians need to understand how much has been lost. Our politicians are not telling us. Our business leaders certainly are not telling us. And our media definitely are not telling us. The border dividing Canada and the United States has never been more fragile. Canada is vanishing. The evidence is available to those who know where to look for it. It can be found in reports published by Statistics Canada, the OECD, the World Bank, the United Nations and its affiliated organizations, and by a variety of research organizations including the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. In characteristically pungent prose, Mel Hurtig reveals the truth about health care, the banks, taxation, newspaper conglomerates, political funding, social spending, decentralization, privatization, globalization, sovereignty, competitiveness, Americanization, the war on drugs, corporate concentration, and the quality of life in Canada. He concludes with chapters on the concentration of ownership in the Canadian media, the need for electoral and parliamentary reform, the necessity of asserting Canadian sovereignty, and a final, positive chapter entitled “The Good Country.”