David Gratzer | ||||
Student at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, where he served on the university's Board of Governors for four years. Author of a weekly column for the Halifax Herald and contributor to over a dozen newspapers and magazines including the National Post, the Calgary Herald, the Ottawa Citizen, and the Toronto Star. Author of Code Blue (1999), winner of the Donnor Prize for outstanding books on public policy. | ||||
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| Click here for essays by David Gratzer | ||||
| Canada might not be a country of distinct culture or identity. Much of the last three decades we defined ourselves by what we opposed (Quebec sovereignty) and what we weren't (Americans). For this reason, we embraced a huge, intrusive welfare state - one that dictated language policy like bilingualism, regional transfers, and social programs. We attempted to social engineer ourselves into a post-colonial nation. Compassion and accommodation became the buzz words of the body politic; deficits and inflation, the fiscal realities of the policies. Dec. 19, 1999 - from his column in the Halifax Herald | ||||
