Canada is at a cross-roads, much like its neighbour the United States. For many on both sides of the border there is a sense of unending crisis. There are so many fires and not enough hoses. People feel that the status quo is not working but are unsure what needs changing. Most politicians are offering no real hope, while the others offer a facade, which evokes baser instincts of their constituents stirring resentments.
Neither Canada nor the United States are strangers to adversity. War, rebellion and even the Great Depression tested the people and they pulled through each time by working together rather than against each other. President Franklin Roosevelt enacted the New Deal during the depression, which put people back to work and gave them the hope that they desperately needed at the time. Prime Minister R. B. Bennett eventually proposed our own Canadian deal after reading an immense number of letters from impoverished people and offering up some of his own money to help people out. The Canadian deal was similar in spirit to the US New Deal, but different, because the circumstances in Canada were similar, but not the same.
A group of American politicians are currently working on another new deal in an effort to counter the rise of populism and divisions in the country. It is termed the Green New Deal, although it tackles more than just environmental concerns. In their case it also proposes universal health care benefits for all citizens, which is something that Canadians have had for quite some time. Their deal also addresses deep rooted racial and gender divisions for which there are some analogs in Canada.
Any deal at the scale of an entire country would attempt to tackle some of the biggest and most urgent problems of the current day in a way that benefits everyone. It is this intense focus on "win-win" that makes the deal so great. This is in contrast with populist policies or austerity, which aim to deny benefits to some or otherwise divide people with little or no clear vision for the future. It has been a long time since the political left (or even the right) has painted a compelling picture.
In order to better understand what a New Deal 4 Canada could look like, we would first need to consider the problems facing Canadian society today. While the Green New Deal can provide us with some inspiration it is not useful to simply copy it and re-use. Canada needs its own deal.
There is now clear scientific consensus that humans are causing unprecedented climate change due to carbon emissions. The evidence is overwhelming. While Canada does not have a very large population compared to rest of the world we are in the top ten producers of carbon overall and per-capita we are nearly the worst in the world. The picture is even more grim considering that the majority of the oil produced domestically is exported abroad contributing even more carbon to the atmosphere.
It is not quite as pronounced as in the United States. The wealthiest Canadians have been making large gains in their accumulated wealth, while the middle class has been shrinking and the most vulnerable of us are barely able to make ends meet.
In major Canadian cities the price of houses has become much less affordable, especially for young people. Many are deferring their decision to purchase a home. Some are taking significant financial risks in purchasing a home. People are increasingly desperate about any increase in their bills, such as for electricity or municipal taxes.
There is an estiated 60 million displaced people worldwide, which is a sharp increase in recent years. Some are fleeing war, others are trying to escape violence and terrible economic conditions. There has been cases of increasingly desperate attempts of migrants to escape to countries with much more stable environments. Settling of refugees has been met with increasing animosity in Northa America and Europe. For example, Germany has settled an impressive number of refugees, but with significant pains and increasing resentment.
Canada is the second largest country in the world and has has among the lowest population densities. The distances are vast and there is incredibly abundant room. Transportation of people and materials is an ongoing concern.
Resources of all kinds are abundant here. In terms of basic human needs there is fresh air and water. For food, there is abundant land and water for farming. There is a variety of minerals depending on the area of the country, everything from aluminum to uranium, which is often exported elsewhere for manufacturing into products.
Much of Canadian climate includes very cold winters. Heating during the cold weather is not optional and energy intensive. Often the choice of heat is either carbon intensive or expensive, sometimes both. As a result of the climate there is a significantly shorter growing season.
Canada already enjoys universal healthcare. Unlike the US Green New Deal, there's not as much urgency in reforming the health care system.
There is so much space in Canada and such a small population that it should be possible to sustain many more people. There are many refugees who could benefit greatly from that. At a high level this seems quite possible, but how can this be accomplished while maintaining stability.
Suddenly introducing new Canadians into existing communities can be disruptive and increase the level of animosity between the them and existing citizens. This is happening lately in places like Germany. It also happened in Canada over 150 years ago when there was a sudden influx of Irish refugees fleeing the potato famine. We know that people from different backgrounds can eventually work and live together peacefully after a shaky start.
What if new Canadians could participate in the building entirely new cities? Also, what if existing Canadians were given the same opportunity?
When the British Empire was expanding Canada's western frontier, refugees were offered crown land patents at a very reasonable price, but with some requirements. At that time, Canada needed farmers and settlers and so the requirements included timelines where the land had to be cleared, a home built and crops grown. Labour was very intensive, but the level of skill needed wasn't very difficult to achieve.
The situation is quite different now. Populations are now much more concentrated in urban areas. There is much more specialization and training required in many fields of employment. Vibrant cities need a wide variety of professions in order to function properly: construction workers, engineers, medical professionals, merchants, teachers, child care workers and many others. The necessary skills and training can be sometimes found among refugees while other times it can be found among Canadians. Apprenticeship programs can help to develop the skills with on the job training. The idea is to help people from different backgrounds to work together towards a common goal. A motivation for a new Canadian might be to have a home and a career in a safe place. Existing Canadians might be motivated by the prospect of owning their own home and having fruitful employment that pays the bills and offers them better hope than the alternative.
A modern equivalent of the crown land patent system could be to offer very reasonably priced homes (or promise of future homes) with the requirement that the patentee devote a specified number of years employed in the new city where they reside. After that time they could choose to sell their share and move onto whatever other opportunities that they like.
New cities can be made better than the old ones using better planning, technologies and without the limitations of history and geography. This is an opportunity to start over with the knowledge and experience gained over time.
Green technology in a Canadian context needs to address the areas that require the most energy: heat and transportation. The country is a very large place with a generally cold climate. Part of the new deal will be to foster the development new approaches to heat homes both economically and in a carbon neutral way. Similarly, transportation of people and materials should be green. Technologies in these areas will be particularly useful for the existing Canadian cities while they transition themselves to greener technology with ample opportunities for knowledge and business exchanges. Also, some of the spinoffs from this work could help Canada to lead the world in these efforts.
Prosperous nations have strong middle classes. It has been shown that worker cooperatives, where employees are also voting shareholders, provide a stable foundation for a middle class society. Employees take more of an active interest in the profitability of the company and also act to preserve the interest of the employees. Since no employee is permitted to own more shares than any other employee there is a strong incentive for cooperation even among people with very different backrounds. Also, everyone has a vested interest in the continued success of the company.
The New Deal 4 Canada proposal is to accept a large number of refugees, partnering with Canadians with the goal of building new green cities with a strong emphasis on leveraging worker cooperatives to create a strong workforce to build and sustain those cities. The proposal is a "win" for a variety of different people. Refugees win by getting a chance at a new life and opportunity. Canadians that are the vulnerable get the same chance. All Canadians would benefit from an economy driven by new growth and opportunities. Cities can benefit from new technologies, techniques and equipment devised by the new development. Business opportunities are there in terms of investment, partnerships and training.
While modern cities often have a wide variety of employment there is often a specific sector that helps to form the base that sustains it. Ottawa is primarily a government and technology town. Toronto has had a strong finance sector. For Calgary, it is the energy sector. For each new city there could be a theme that will help to establish its base.
Khawis City (Transportation)
Transportation of people and materials across this very large country is a big concern. Much of the materials and know-how to build electric vehicles is available already. There are world-class universities in Canada with excellent engineering programs. Materials for making batteries, such as Lithium can be found in various places around the country. There is steel and aluminum producers already for raw materials. What is needed is a design and manufacturing centre to bring in the raw materials and produce viable products.
Also, there is increasing effort to bring artificial intelligences into the transportation realm through self-driving vehicles. There are AI research hubs existing already in some places, such as Ottawa.
Iskotew City (Energy and Heat)
Heating requires alot of energy, whether to heat air or water. The question is how to produce energy sustainably and without emitting more carbon into the atmosphere. Bold new ideas might be needed here. Alternatively, adjustments to existing ideas might work too. Luckily, Canada already has expertise in producing energy from nuclear, water and wind, not to mention the fossil fuels. The focus on this city will be to show the rest of Canada what the future of energy can be and to provide the technologies to do it.
Gitige City (Green Agriculture)
Canadian farmers have had to endure short growing seasons and the cold weather. They have adapted quite well given the circumstances. Many have adopted new techniques and equipment over time to feed more and more people. More can be done though to feed more people with less energy, land and water so that food doesn't need to be transported over large distances at great cost. Also, agriculture should be able to adapt to extreme climate and weather events in order to safeguard the food supply. Future agriculture should also be able to make better guarantees about the safety and nutrition of the food that we consume.