this is cultural!
Canadian culture is defined purely and only as contrasting itself to the US
it isn't just business competitiveness, its anything...healthcare, public safety, the environment...ask any Canadian about their thoughts on these (or any) topics and the answer provided will be a contrast to the same issue in the US
this has resulted in a unwarranted pride and willingness to turn Canadian society inwards on itself, supposedly to protect itself from ugly Americans
the Globe And Mail nailed it with an article titled something like "Canada: Smug For No Good Reason"
Canadians are discovering the pitfalls of basing a national culture on nothing more than being appalled by the US...all that is left over is a maniacal obsession with total mediocrity
tl;dr: Canada is in decline, but at least we aren't them Trump loving Americans, eh!?!?!