I saw a most interesting headline in Wednesday’s National Post, the burden of which is that we, Canada, could possibly not see a balanced budget till 2070. (I’m all for “long-term planning” but this seems a little extreme.)
I’m all for 'long-term planning' but this seems a little extreme
It is the year 2070.
So much has changed.
The Earth is a sea of windmills.
Come to think of it, the sea is an earth of windmills.
The main thing here is that there are a LOT of windmills in 2070.
Lifestyles have changed since the old days.
Since 2050 people have stopped breathing out. Inhaling is fine. But exhaling is now illegal. Violators are exiled to Jeff Bezos’ old space stations where they can breathe any way they want.
The CBC has been formally acquired by Greenpeace and the David Suzuki Foundation. It was a friendly takeover.
The pandemic is in its 51st year and 17th wave. (They’ve run out of Greek letters for the variants.)
However there are no more lockdowns. This is because since net zero was achieved in 2050, as predicted by Prime Minister Trudeau the Second, there are no shops or stores. In fact there is no economy. When the carbon tax reached $900 an ounce everything closed and global warming stopped everywhere.
There is a huge debate whether wearing four facial masks (after triple vaccinations) is sufficient.
The administration of Prime Minister Trudeau the Third is in its 14th year. There have been great changes in how Parliament works.
The House of Commons is now conducted entirely on submissions to TikTok. Question period is done in rap rhymes of 30 seconds or less.
Nonetheless 2070 will go down in the history books as a great year for Confederation. Because, in 2070 Canada has finally achieved a balanced budget, a target first set in the long-ago days of 2015.
And they said it couldn’t be done
And they said it couldn’t be done. It is difficult in 2070 to in any way understand why people back then thought a Trudeau government, any Trudeau government, would never reach a complete and balanced budget. They were just a bunch of noisy cynics.
Well, how does that crow taste now? It only took half a century, just 50 years — a blip in the life of the cosmos — to bring Canada’s finances back to the sane level they enjoyed in 2015, the remarkable year the second Trudeau arrived to ornament the office of prime minister. (It’s since become, as it should, hereditary. Check Bill-C 170, the Keep it in the Family Act.)
They said way back then they would “build back better.” Have they ever! And then some.
I think the real surprise here is that it really didn’t take that long to smother the economy. It was a struggle, but with the global warming crusade and the lockdowns it was finally possible.
True, there were a few hiccups. Alberta is now a partner-state with Rhode Island. The Quebec nation is a full-fledged member of what remains of the European Union. And there is a movement on Newfoundland’s Fogo Island, world-class vacation venue, to join up with a newly democratic Cuba. Frost and sunshine, an experience.
Canada may be smaller in 2070. There’s very little of a noticeable economy. But the books are balanced, there is peace in the land, and Mr. Dressup is finally available on Netflix.
Rex Murphy: Starship Canada takes the federal budget where it's never gone before | National Post
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