I disagree they should embrace deficits as all money borrowed has to be paid back with interest so there is good reasons if thinking long-term to be concerned about running debts and deficits.  As for Scandinavian levels of public services, its true many in the NDP and some in the Liberals might favour this, but I doubt many Tory or swing Liberal-Tory voters favour going this far.  They might not support the US system, but many support something in between the two extremes.  Also on taxes, corporate tax rates are lower in Scandinavia, top marginal rate is only slightly higher, however VAT and middle income tax rates are way higher.  There simply aren't enough rich to fund those programs by just taxing them, you have to tax the middle class heavily to afford such safety net and not sure how many Canadians would support this, but definitely worth having a conversation on in general.