There's a type of catch phrase you'll hear from time to time, from one political party or another, or a follower of said parties or leaders: Things are getting worse; Old ways are gone or going. Think: MAGA, or, Take Back Canada. All sorts of scare tactics. Anytime there's an election we get to hear them again. The Social Safety Net, by Nora Loreto, may be the first book in a series called Canada In Decline but it most certainly isn't an empty motto meant to play on your ignorance.

Rather, it is a researched and nuanced evisceration of all the lies we tell ourselves about how great Canada is. It doesn't stop there though, it sets the foundation for imagining a better Canada, one that more resembles the imaginary one we pretend to have.

Beginning with Brian Mulroney, Loreto shows us how Neoliberalism entered Canada. She then tracks how each subsequent leader enhanced it or solidified it, even when they told you they were doing something else.

Loreto explains how the decline of the social safety net is connected to health services, education, social services. She shows readers that everything they have known for the last 40 years has been part of the same trajectory: power being shifted away from collectives of people and toward financial markets.

After detailing the decay of the social safety net, she points out that the social safety net is tied to colonialism and white supremacist ideas. As a “Registered Status Indian” in Canada, I thoroughly enjoyed this part. The foundation of this country is exploitation and settling of land by and for white people. The country has systematically kept other groups marginalized even as they brought them in to build it.

This is an important and relevant book that will only increase in relevance as we continue declining. It is also quite easy to read and follow along, considering the topic, so I hope folks pick this one up. I look forward to the rest of the series.