We&#x27;re (Canada, to be clear) one of the richest countries in the world.  One of the most educated.  One of the most cosmopolitan.<p>So why is it that we&#x27;re limited to being a petro-state?  We live next to the biggest economy in the world, we&#x27;re their largest trading partner (and vice versa).  They&#x27;re growing ~4% a year and we&#x27;re in a recession.<p>I don&#x27;t know about you, but I&#x27;d like to think that we could do better.  The reason the conservatives are mentioned is that they&#x27;ve been in power for 9 years and there&#x27;s an election coming up.  Their only plan seems to be to deny that there&#x27;s a problem and hope people believe them...