The average income, adjusted for inflation, is about 20 times higher today than it was at Confederation. It is worth thinking about how this progress arose. Essentially, Canada’s economic growth up to around the end of the Second World War depended primarily on exploiting our natural resources. To accomplish this, we needed three things: foreign investment, immigration and access to foreign markets.
If they had, they would have increased their flexibility and growth potential by reforming their labour and product markets. Given the spillover effects of postponed structural reforms on the functioning of EMU, these reforms cannot be the sole responsibility of the governments concerned, but should also have a “European” dimension. This can take different forms.