Here are a few of the challenges: Firstly, Ontario, the country’s most populated province, depends heavily on the auto industry. No need for more comment on that. Secondly, Alberta, our main oil producing province, relies on the oil sands for its growth and investment. The oil sands are a notoriously dirty and expensive source of petrol. Under an Obama administration they promise to be controversial. Thirdly, our principle market is the United States – the destination for most Canadian manufacturing and our petrol. The US goes into a prolonged recession/ depression, so does Canada.

Here is our government. In 2003, then opposition leader Stephen Harper wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal complaining of Liberal governance, calling Canada an over-regulated Socialist dystopia. He had a hissy fit in Parliament when Canada declined to join the invasion of Iraq. He and other prominent Conservatives labelled Canada dangerous because it was so smug (what does that even mean?). Then, during the Democratic Party’s primaries, his chief of staff leaked information damaging to the Obama campaign.

Of course, in the messed-up world of Canadian politics none of this disqualified Stephen Harper from becoming Prime Minister. He’s now enjoying his second parliamentary minority. The irony is the Conservative coalition he assembled, consisting of unreconstructed neo-conservatives and market and social fundamentalists with zero representation from the major cities, are hanging onto power because twelve years of stable, pragmatic Liberal rule have given the country a strong, low-debt (relatively speaking) foundation. This is same governance the Conservatives spent twelve years sneering over.

Take the subprime fiasco. Almost immediately after winning the 2006 election, the freshly sworn in Conservative finance minister Jim Flarety amended the regulations governing the mortgage industry to allow subprime loans. Thus, Canada does have a number of bad loans winding their way through the economy, just not very many of them because the Conservatives haven’t been in power long enough to cause that much damage. (The legislation has since been rescinded).

Canada is facing challenges which require prompt government action, but we have a government which – like the Bush Administration it previously so publically and obnoxiously admired – fundamentally doesn’t believe in government. So far it has done nothing.

Unfortunately, I’m not Spanish!

I will say one thing, though; the only Government I’ve seen doing what even appears to be the right thing is that of Canada, where they reduced taxes some time ago and now they’re simply riding the waves as they come. It’s all you can really do.