Canada is a chronic underachiever, a condition caused by poor political decisions and the failure to address unresolved issues.. “A political quagmire that requires a crisis to make decisions”; “layers of regulation”; “permit and consultation that take ages to complete”; “Canada is one of the most highly taxed economies on Earth which is discouraging”; “interprovincial barriers that cost four per cent a year in GDP alone to Canada”; and falling foreign investment and disinvestment by Canadians to the U.S., among others.