A friend of mine was born in the U.S. but moved to Norway (where her father was born) as an adult. Norway is a socialist country. Canada is not.

"In order for a country to be socialist it requires a lack of economic freedom."
FALSE
Socialism is simply the Gov agreeing to care for its citizens, first and foremost. As such it can be attached to ANY political system or economic system.

During the cold war and red scare there was a consistent effort to link Socialism and Communism.
USSR= United Soviet Socialist Republic, which was Communist, and the terms got mixed up
Communist Socialists, Fascist Socialists, Democratic Socialists, are all possible and historical.

Cannuck is Democratic Captitalist and Socialist
SO IS AMERICA
Social Security, The VA, Police, Firemen, first responders of all ilks
ALL socialist ideas manifest.

Pretty much. Many right leaning americans relate socialism with communism...but they are not the same, not close at all really and every capitalist (democratic) country has some degree of socialism as far as I know. Socialism exists in a spectrum within an economic system, capitalism or communism or authoritarianism even (Cuba).

There is a reason most capitalist countries practice socialism to a greater degree than the US. I think because the govt's job in a democracy is to do the best for the most people...that is how they get elected. The US is starting to resemble and always has to some degree, a corporate oligarchy, more than a social democracy. There is corruption in all political systems but here it is pretty much in the open with big lobby groups "buying" law/votes by creating narratives across media that scare enough people into choosing their platform. Guns, tobacco, oil/gas/energy are all the most obvious and have been around the longest, many of them since America was a country. The healthcare industry is massive, especially true here in Nashville, and essentially run by insurance/pharmaceuticals essentially. It is why drugs cost more here than anywhere else in the world even though many are developed here., er, the legal drugs...the illegal ones are just a market to market thing.

Canadians pay more taxes on average. I think my EOY tax payments were probably 25% in Canada and somewhere around 15-20% in the US (thanks giant mortgage). However in addition to that 8% we pay "sin" taxes on things considered luxuries...alcohol, tobacco, gasoline, etc. Because these are burdens on the healthcare system the government has decided that those that indulge will pay more thatn those that do not. It actually makes alot of sense and is common

A country is like any system...you are as strong as your weakest links. If you can put everyone on more or less equal footing it strengthens the nation. As a result the education system is highly subsidized all the way through university and obviously the healthcare system is almost exclusively a publically funded program. Better educated and healthy populations can provide better workers and opportunities for all.

Not to mention the Patriot Act reduces the personal privacy freedoms of Americans in the name of "security". Your govt/law enforcement/court has a much greater ability to access and share your information,no matter how private, than they do in Canada. I can't speak for other countries but I am sure they are closer to Canadian privacy than the US version

Not even remotely. It is merely a nicer, saner, more civilized country!

Hi athena,
well done , your information is true and valid
canada is the only country in the world that is socially oriented
that means canada cares about its people . You forgot the OAS : old age security
canada is by far the finest country on earth
and offers the best possible life to be lived
greetings from mephisto