When the kids were young we all liked to play the “what if” game, for all kinds of topics.
It was fun and even enlightening at times with the kids’ simplistic way of looking at life.
So let us play a “what if” game about Canada.
Now before people take to the keyboards, remember this is a Utopian view, an attempt to see what is currently not working and make it better. I welcome ideas, but there is enough criticism in this day and age, so let’s look for ideas and solutions.
In that light what if we gave every Canadian man, woman and child two million dollars a year and stop going back to the past to give compensation.
What if, in that light, we make education all the way through university, trade schools, medical schools, etc., free.
Then for that free education ask medical professionals to do a two-year rotation through rural areas all through Canada.
Make mental health and addiction recovery a priority in each community, and have health professionals go with first responders on all calls.
What if then, the government starts to work on our aging infrastructure. Dig up old systems for water and sewer, use energy-efficient, and environmentally-friendly system so that every single community in Canada has clear, functioning water systems and sewage systems.
What if we built our own oil refineries in a responsible, environmentally sustainable way for our own use and take care of our countries’ needs first.
What if we use our agriculture to feed our own population first, to ensure everyone has food. Then export.
What if we invest in our sciences and research for alternative energies, for cures, for cutting edge pharmaceutical research, and have our own pharmaceutical companies in Canada.
What if we had tiny home villages available in every town and city to have shelter for our community members at risk and unsheltered.
Now, there are some things we should do in all this, as well. Everyone should have to pay taxes, no loopholes.
The ultra rich should pay the most, sliding down a scale according to income.
Remember, we all get two million a year, so theoretically we should all be able to pay.
In this wonder world, politicians should only be able to earn to a cap of say $50,000 a year, no more. If they are in politics “to help people,” then their wages should not be a burden on the system.
Have a “living wage” for everyone that reflects hikes in inflation and cost of living.
And those corporations such as banks, that make outrageous amounts of money off of us, should also have to pay 25 per cent of their profits back to us, and taxes without loopholes for them too.
I’m sorry sports professionals, but you guys need to have a cap too, so people can afford to go to your games.
It is crazy sport pros get more than the person holding the highest office in the land, or the researcher who is going to cure cancer.
We can still help other countries, once we complete all the projects we need to do to help ourselves first. Roads, food, infrastructure, shelter, water, etc.
I realize this would be a whole different way, but there are just over 38 million of us according to statistics.com and our government collected over 332 billion dollars in 2021 from taxes the canada.ca site says.
So with those numbers yearly, I’d like to think all of those “what ifs” were possible.
Why not try something new and different where everyone can live, eat and even have time to play and enjoy the wonder of this beautiful country we live in.