Trade and pricing controls are in many respects the way in which Canada is most backward. When it is harder to ship some goods between provinces than across an ocean, many would conclude that there is a distinct problem with Canadian law, and one that hampers the livelihoods and lifestyles of many. Admittedly, it also greatly augments the power and prosperity of many bureaucrats and administrators, but that's another topic.
David Frum has written an excellent editorial discussing this problem, and how it could be fixed. He also shows how a government empowered to suppress choice in one area will quickly move to do so in others. The fact that farmers can be jailed for selling their produce to the wrong person would make us an international laughingstock if anyone important still took Canada seriously. The sooner our government starts letting the economy grow, instead of penalizing entrepreneurs and producers, the better off all of us, from the top of society to the bottom, will be.
Posted by Clio at December 24, 2002 04:08 PM