The following is a connected series of extracts from a speech I gave to the Investments Industry Association of Canada on June 13.

I think we should start by recognizing that this country, so rich in natural resources and with a skilled and law-abiding workforce and a generally stable social and political environment, is on the verge of losing its status as a prosperous and successful country. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) now predicts that Canada will be the poorest performing advanced economy in the world for the next 35 years if it continues on its present path. Under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada’s per capita average income has increased by three per cent, from $54,154 in 2016, to $55,863 in 2022. In the same time the average per capita income in the United States rose by 12 per cent from $65,792 to $73,565. In approximately this same period, cash generated in Canada and invested outside Canada exceeded incoming investments in this country by nearly $300 billion. From the onset of Covid in February 2020 to June 2023, the number of private sector jobs in Canada increased by 3.3 per cent while public sector jobs increased in number by 11.8 per cent and public sector employees are paid 31 per cent more on average than those in the private sector. Canada now has 4.1 million public-sector employees, more than 10 per cent of our entire population. The corresponding percentage in the United States is slightly over six per cent despite that country’s very large military establishment.