Just in case there were any doubts that the financial meltdown was not inevitable:

World looks to Canada for model economy
[Finance Minister Jim Flaherty] recalled visiting China in 2007 and hearing suggestions that the "Canadian banks were perhaps boring and too risk adverse. And when I was there two weeks ago, some of my same counterparts were saying to me, 'You have a very solid, stable banking system in Canada,' and emphasizing that. There wasn't anything about being sufficiently risk-oriented."

The banks are stable because, in part, they're more regulated. As the U.S. and Europe loosened regulations on their financial industries over the past 15 years, Canada refused to do so. The banks also aren't as leveraged as their U.S. or European peers.

There was no mortgage meltdown or subprime crisis in Canada. Banks don't package mortgages and sell them to the private market, so they need to be sure their borrowers can pay back the loans....
Smart move, Canada!