Both English Canada and the United States are essentially liberal fragments of European society. But in Canada, liberalism must vie with touches of Toryism and socialism; as a result, the common good receives more formal attention than in the U.S. The extent of variation in local financial resources for education is potentially under the control of both state and provincial governments. However, in recent years, Canadian provinces have acted more decisively in educational finance than have American states. In Canada, equality means equality of condition; in the U.S., equality means equality of opportunity. The energy crisis and other global crises are forcing the U.S. and other liberal fragment societies to face the future they escaped when they split off from Europe. Reentry into the full political spectrum is likely to pose greater problems for the U.S. than for Canada, with its relatively wider political spectrum. The major hope in the U.S. lies in the continued redefinition of equality from equality of opportunity to equality of condition. If this redefinition occurs, educational finance will probably be one of the first beneficiaries. (Author/JG)