Yes. Canadian smugness is an impediment to growth. Our unwillingness to face up to our culpability for genocide and our continuing war on the poor are at odds with our national myth — this is a blight on the nation and a source of crippling cognitive dissonance.  I could be wrong, but I don't think the Scandinavian countries waste a lot of time blowing smoke about how great they are; instead, they use the instruments of democracy, human rights and public policy to implement concrete measures aimed at providing a measure of economic equality and opportunity to all citizens.