Well this is a first, I usually get told that Canadian politics is center (NDP), center-right (LPC), right (CPC) or far-right (PPC) because it’s compared to the

Well this is a first, I usually get told that Canadian politics is center (NDP), center-right (LPC), right (CPC) or far-right (PPC) because it’s compared to the politics of Western Europe. Generally I don’t consider it useful to conceptualize a global “center” and say that a countries political parties are mostly to the left or right of it. I only ever hear this in the context of somebody painting an entire country as (unduly) off to one side or the other. Compared to most comparable countries Canada is to the economic right and social left, and people tend to vastly overestimate how much social spending Canada does and vastly underestimate how much social spending the US does… when you crack open the books the amount spent on social services is shockingly similar.