Canadians Learn to Live With Less; Politicians Find Support for Cuts in Social Programs; Protest Sputters
Kinder, gentler Canada used to allow high school dropouts onto the public dole, let workers quit their jobs at will and collect unemployment, and give senior citizens an extra few thousand dollars a year regardless of their income or wealth. As for that long-regretted tattoo, the country's system of national health care would pay to have it scrubbed away.</br></br>It became an article of national faith, even identity, that there would be a government program to help any Canadian in need, and even some who weren't.</br></br>A product of the country's booming economy and liberal politics during the 1960s, "the feeling was that we were getting rich . . . and that we should share," said William Watson, an associate professor of economics at McGill University in Montreal. "Canadians regarded themselves as more egalitarian. That is part of our official ideology."</br></br>No more. Saddled with debt that far outpaced economic growth, Canadian federal and provincial governments over the last five years have renegotiated -- some say broken -- the nation's vaunted social contract. And perhaps more significantly, the public so far appears to have gone along.</br></br>Prime Minister Jean Chretien has made budget balancing the hallmark of his Liberal Party government, and opened a party convention this week with a strong lead over the opposition parties.