Why so glum, Canada?

The 2013 children’s film, Despicable Me 2, featured the song "Happy" by Pharrell Williams. The song went on to be wildly popular and was Billboard's number-one single for 2014.

A year later, in 2015, Canada reached its high point on the global World Happiness Report, ranking fifth. As of 2024, Canada has dropped to 18th place in the global World Happiness Report making it one of the "largest losers" in happiness rankings since 2015. Of course the Yanks aren’t doing much better at 24th.

Finland once again was named the happiest country in the world for the eighth year in a row in the annual report published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford. At first glance, Finland doesn’t seem to be the most happy place in the world. The Helsinki Complaints Choir gives a long list of what annoys the Finns.

Astute Conservative partisans will note that 2015 was also the year former PM Trudeau took over promising ‘sunny ways’.

There is no doubt that Trudeau governed in a complicated time including a global pandemic and a rising wokeness that led many to question the legitimacy of Canada (google ‘so-called Canada’ if you want more on this), topple statues, empty library shelves and cancel many of the country’s historical icons.

Most of us certainly want to come to grips with the past particularly to do what we can in the present and future to reconcile with the Indigenous population and make our society a better place but things can, and I believe did, get out of hand.

Canadians (excluding new immigrants) are rejecting religion at a record pace and we are losing other forms of positive social interaction. I’m not going to go all ‘David Brooks’ on you but that stuff matters. Having friends matters. Engaging in positive and fun interactions matters.

Of course, as pointed out here, the economy was also somewhat challenging during the Trudeau years. Our international investment went from essentially even in 2015 (as much international investment here as Canadian investment abroad) to a huge $500 billionish deficit. Inflation-adjusted GDP per capita was lower in 2023 than in 2019.

I’m not trying to litigate the Trudeau legacy here nor blame him personally for the happiness decline. Former PM Mulroney had nothing but praise for Trudeau and his handling of the pandemic, the NAFTA renegotiation, his support for Ukraine and the economic revival in Atlantic Canada. Others have suggested he was one of the worst PMs in recent memory.

I am saying that, in general, happiness matters.

We have a lot to be thankful for in this country. The value proposition for Canada is fraying a bit but still strong. We live in a relatively safe country where if you work hard you can succeed in life. We have one of the strongest social safety nets in the world. Our health care system could use a makeover (listen to Jane Philpott) but we still live in a country where few are bankrupted by health care bills.

Unfortunately, we have seen rising anti-immigration sentiment in some quarters even as Canada has the best record in the world, IMO, successfully integrating newcomers into society. This is not to say there isn’t room for improvement. You have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.

My wife bugs me a bit about this but I remain someone who thinks you shape your own destiny. Yes, there are things that are beyond your control but that is precisely why you park the stuff you can’t control to the side and focus on the things that you do control.

Anyone who is active on social media or consumes the traditional news will say the drop from 5th to 18th on the World Happiness Report makes sense. Canada is noticeably grumpier than we were in 2015. Youth mental health since 2015 has fallen of a cliff. In 2015, 6.2% of 18-34 year olds across the country reported their mental health was fair or poor. By 2023, over one in five said their their mental health was fair or poor. Look at New Brunswick in particular. We now have the highest rate of poor youth mental health among the 10 provinces with Nova Scotia a close second. It’s hard to be objectively ‘happy’ when you are struggling.

But we can fix this. The one positive thing coming out of the Trump assault on this country is that ‘so-called’ Canada is becoming something people want to defend, particularly young people.

When times get tough, the tough get going. We have some big challenges ahead of us. It’s time to recognize what we have here is worth saving and improving on. It’s time to focus on setting this country (and our region) on stronger footing economically, demographically and socially.

I think our best days could be ahead of us. Not necessarily through the slavish growth of GDP - although it is important to have a strong economic foundation - but through a combination of building that economic foundation and deliberately focusing on the things that make communities great: reasonable housing costs, low crime, lots of green spaces, good schools and accessible health care, many social spaces and places for people to get together and have fun.

Why so glum, Canada? Stop whining and go out and do something about it.