A Conversation with David Anderson.

FRONTIER CENTRE: In August the National Post published a provocative article in which you argue that Canada's rate of economic growth could out pace the impressive American rate and that Canada's standard of living could surpass that of our American cousins within twenty years should we adopt certain changes in public policy. Wouldn't such an about face, in fact, restore the Canadian advantage? DAVID HENDERSON: Well, it very well could-in fact, I think Canada could equal the United States within twenty years and then potentially go ahead of the United States after that. FC: Wasn't Canada more prosperous throughout the first part of its history? DH: My impression is that they were relatively equal and I think one of the main reasons they were relatively equal was that there was completely free immigration between the two countries until the early 1960s. We can't have major divergences in standards of living when people are free to move from one to the other. FC: The facts that you identify as the reasons why Canada has fallen behind the U. S. economically-higher taxes, higher levels of government spending, more regulation-are the same attributes cited by nationalists as the Canadian identity. They claim that Canada is a better place to live than the United States precisely because we have socialized more of our economy. What's your view? DH: There are a number of people who think of that as part of the Canadian identity. My own view, growing up as a Canadian, is that the Canadian identity had more to do with a sense of fair play and so on and not really with having more government. That was never my view nor the view of people in my community so far as I could ever tell.