In 1961 Canadians were being gouged by doctors to the point that they didn't bother going to see a doctor unless they were missing an appendage.
In 1961 my dad would have been dropping out of Grade 10 because he didn't need to go any further to make a living repairing telephones.
What anyone is doing comparing today to 1961 I don't know. Only ones crazy enough to do that might be the Fraser Institute.
We're in the ballpark of most other nations (scroll to bottom):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Canada