Germany Breaking Under Weight of EU: What Parallels with Canada ?

The European Union (EU) has many fascinating parallels with the Canadian federation. Unspoken by many, the most obvious is that it is propped-up primarily by only two members: Germany and Britain in the EU and by Ontario and Alberta (now joined by BC and Saskatchewan) in Canada.

The corruption that fiscal dependency has wreaked on EU member-states is highlighted by Greece’s temper-tantrum over raising its state-mandated retirement age from 61 to 63, all the while German taxpayers – who retire at 67 – are expected to bail that country out after decades of reckless spending that rivals even Quebec’s provincial government.

A McLean’s piece by Mark Steyn paints a pretty picture of the whole scheme and why Germany’s own problems at home will mean that it will soon be unable to carry the EU’s (even) less frugal members.

Canada’s demographic issues are not as acute as Europe’s, but still fatally serious if issues like healthcare and public sector pension obligations are not brought under control.