Danielle Smith's revealing 'living standards' slip

Sigmund Freud believed that a dumb blurt sometimes reveals more than the most incisive analysis. Danielle Smith proved him right last weekend when she defended the grievances of the oil and gas lobby by insisting, with her signature self-assurance, that “we’ve got the lowest living standards in the world.”

Now, we should be a bit charitable here. We all say dumb stuff. And whatever other cockamamie ideas the premier may be guilty of trafficking, surely she does not really think that Canadians, or Albertans are worse off than the South Sudanese.

She probably “misspoke,” as the politicians say. But what a Freudian slip. How revealing of a mindset. And how in tune with all the bluster about how “Canada is broken” that has churned anger and resentment across the country. How aligned with the hostility and bitterness fuelling far-right movements around the globe.

You never want to invalidate anyone’s feelings but since the premier has invited us into a wider, global perspective, perhaps we might gently offer an alternative view: Canada has problems, for sure, but almost everyone in Smith’s audience is among the luckiest people on the planet. And, for that matter, among the luckiest people in the history of people. 

That’s not to say there aren’t people in the country who are still, unforgivably, without clean water or decent housing. There are grave injustices and destitution. But these are not the concerns of those looking to trigger our lizard brains into states of scarcity and precarity.

Whether it’s Donald Trump seizing exceptional powers by invoking an “energy emergency” (among the many other emergencies he keeps declaring), Danielle Smith or Pierre Poilievre raging about how “broken” we are, or the recent spate of federal and provincial bills to override environmental protections and hustle through First Nations consultation, the common theme is to leverage fear and crisis.

And there is plenty of fear to go around. Inflation and affordability are top of mind, exacerbated by Donald Trump’s temperamental tariffs and forecasters predicting a recession. Valid fears that make a context ripe for fearmongering and short-sighted decisions we will come to regret.

Which brings us back to Danielle Smith and her blurt about the “lowest living standards in the world.” Listen to the fossil fuel industry and its political spokespeople and you would never know that oil and gas production in Canada is at an all-time record. In fact, it was precisely some pushback about that broader perspective from CTV’s Vassy Kapelos that got the premier in such a mental knot.

Far from having the lowest living standards in the world, Canada has among the highest. The UN just updated its Human Development Index last month. Canada ranks 16th out of all the countries in the world when rated on the index of per capita income, life expectancy and education. 

If you’re reviewing the list with an eye on climate, you’ll find that the countries who have done the best job cutting carbon pollution are ahead of Canada on living standards (the UK, Denmark, Germany and Sweden, for example). Funnily enough, none of the countries that rank above Canada needed any bitumen to get there. And only three of the fifteen have any oil and gas industry to speak of.

Canada is a couple spots ahead of the United States. And if you’re wondering, the top spot goes to Iceland (I know, that surprised me too, but the Icelanders have been at or around the top for years).

When the UN adjusts the index to account for inequality, Canada ranks even higher, coming in 14th, while the US slips out of the top 20 and lands at 29th. 

The Human Development Index ranks 193 countries in all. So, to land in the top 20 is to have landed in the top 10 per cent of all countries today — and the most fortunate sliver of human beings, ever, as far as living standards are concerned. We can afford some perspective.

As it happens, several of the leaders of those remarkably fortunate countries are gathering in Alberta for the G7, starting this weekend (you might spare a thought for the poor organizers tasked with contingency planning to airlift the dignitaries in the event of wildfire evacuation). 

The political leaders have plenty to discuss. But they might also remember the words of the late Pope Francis, delivered to a previous gathering of the global elite: “I ask you to ensure humanity is served by wealth and not ruled by it.”