" the natural-resource wealth upon which this country and its social-welfare systems have been built." Has been built. The past. It has done a  marvellous job, but as demonstrated in "The Spirit Level"  wealth is not a good measure of the qualities of life in a country. All the developed countries have the same characteristic, namely that an increase in wealth will not improve living conditions. A good example is the US. Very wealthy and one of the two worst countries in which to live. By comparison, Japan with mediocre wealth, an economy in tatters and along with Sweden, the best place to live.

Something more that countries have in common. Their living conditions correlate with income inequality. (Income of the bottom  20% of population divided by the income of the top 20%.) The lower the inequality the better the living conditions. The US and Portugal with high inequality of income  as expected have the poorest living conditions. 

So Canada would best live with what we have.