CBC Forum: What's the cure for Canada's ailing economy?
Canada's economy is off to a rough start this year. A low dollar, record-low oil prices and global turmoil have all taken their toll. What's the cure for Canada's ailing economy?
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It hasn't been a bad day for Canada so far, though the trend over the last few months has been down, with a low loonie and record-low oil prices.
Loonie gains almost a cent as crude bounces back to over $30 a barrel
The Canadian dollar gained almost a full cent today to change hands back above 72 cents US. -
The economy is understandably front of mind for many Canadians, which showed itself in our recent CBC News special with the prime minister, who sat down with 10 Canadians face to face. The topics included manufacturing, Alberta's economy and middle-class families.
Canadians talk 1-on-1 with Prime Minister Trudeau
Watch Face to Face with the Prime Minister, a special CBC News presentation in which 10 Canadians with diverse backgrounds and viewpoints from across the country question Prime Minister Justin Trudeau face to face, alone in in his office, behind closed doors. -
Trudeau's government ran on a platform of deficit spending and has no plans to scale that back.
Scale back infrastructure spending? Federal Liberals speed up, instead
The Trudeau government is "actively considering" speeding up promised investments in infrastructure in a bid to stimulate Canada's rapidly deteriorating economy. -
Business columnist Don Pittis had a few suggestions, including reinvigorating the public service.
Parliament must look for low-cost ways to rebuild a strong new economy: Don Pittis
Even doubling infrastructure spending cannot replace the value lost to the Canadian economy by the oil and commodities crash. Instead, the Liberal government must think of ways to nurture growth without putting our grandchildren into debt. Don Pittis has some suggestions. -
CBC senior correspondent Neil Macdonald - while stressing that a prime minister's options are much more limited than people generally assume - suggested freer trade, both with the U.S. and between provinces.
Repeat after me, there is no economic crisis: Neil Macdonald
The good news is the Canadian economy is not tanking, but that may be the only good news in an "intractable pathology" that defies any easy solution by government, Neil Macdonald writes. -
On the monetary side of things, some countries including Japan have tried negative interest rates.
Will negative interest rates help the Canadian economy?
Last December, Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz gave a talk at the Empire Club of Canada in which he discussed four so-called unconventional monetary policies to desperately help stimulate the Canadian economy. -
Are any of these solutions right for Canada? All of them? None? Let us know what you think in our latest CBC Forum.
What's the cure for Canada's ailing economy? -
Simply put - there is no quick fix. Traditionally, manufacturing is supposed to "pick up the slack" when currency is low and resource sector is struggling.
But with myopic policies of consecutive governments - Liberal and Conservative alike, - over the last few decades favoring globalization, Canada's manufacturing sector, the very backbone of the economy, has been all but decimated. -
Invest in R&D, renewable resources and technological advances. Space exploration and sciences.
Canada Is filled with highly educated people, but no one is will to take the risk because what has worked will always work.
Well apparently not Why not build high speed railways or change legislation to foster creativity. Were coasting ans still holding on to the old, time to let go. -
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The problem with infrastructure spending is that it always goes to the same pocket - construction companies and their workers. Those individual companies and people can only spend so much and will more likely save. The Conservatives spent the surplus to that pocket, so now to spend more = deficit. However if the goverment will spend, it should do it in different industries than solely construciton
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At the same time our economy is always going to be subservient to global forces. So there isn't much to do. Personally the best approach would be to cut taxes. With more disposable income, all Canadians will have more to spend, rather than putting it in a small percentage to hope to spend on our behalf to stimulate the economy.
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Investing IN canada is the best and easiest way. Not shipping raw resources out and value adding at home, with our low dollar there is NO excuses to not be refining our resources, raw logs and bitumen net a fraction of their finished worth. As well, time to seriously consider a high speed rail line from Thunder Bay to Calgary/Edmonton to start with plans to push through the rockies and in to Quebec later on. A high speed rail line would revolutionize this country the same way the original rail did
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We're entering a post-industrial age. Automation and computing will destroy 50% of all jobs within 20 years. bit.ly Expect 90% to be lost within 40. How do you keep an economy going when nobody has to work to produce? How do you tell people what needs to be produced? It's time for a guaranteed annual income. -
Seriously, a high speed rail line paired with gas/oil lines, electrical and internet/ cable lines from Ontario to Alberta would be the kick this country needs, China just finished an over 100 billion dollar investment in their rail lines for passenger and commercial goods which is set to propel their economy in to the future with faster than ever transit and delivery.
In a country like Canada spanning the distance between Ontario to Calgary cuts donw over a full days worth of travel. It's more than feasible and would employ tens of thousands -
You can't fix an economy with "borrow and spend" mentality. It has to come from the private sector to work, because in a free market, the key is competitiveness and customer service; with government money its waste, waste waste. First off, lower trade barriers between provinces. Second, get rid of any legislated monopolies. -
First I would devise a plan whereby a private company (excluding any level of government or government organization) or a charitable organization would have their yearly payments into the EI fund refunded after a full five years of continuous employment of any one of their employees and each individual employee would be eligible to convert their share of the payments into the EI fund convertible to CPP payments which in return could either allow that said person to be able to retire earlier or retire with an increase in CPP benefits thus making way for younger employees to retain their jobs and build into their own retirement fund. The scheme would be set up such that once a person’s employment is terminated, the private enterprise would lose the privilege until either the said employee whose job was terminated has reached full time status again or another employee has fulfilled the five year requirements and the first five years of continuous employment would not be refundable or convertible for either the employee or employer.
Second I would make all students working while attending a secondary school to have their contributions into CPP, EI and income taxes exempt to help pay the cost of schooling. Any employer with a student registered in such a program would be legally obliged to pay the difference as part of the student’s wages. -
Our biggest expenditure is government itself. Cut government staff and reign in the perks. Make the MP's spend their own money on pensions. Not 7 tax dollars for every one they put in. End foreign aid to countries that are human rights abusers. and Alberta should be trying to attract manufacturing closer to it's existing energy infrastructure. Im sure that is worth a few carbon credits
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I'd like to see the government mandate that in 10 years, no (perhaps with reasonable exceptions) raw resources will be exported, only resources that have a value-added component. For example, Canada exports finished lumber not logs, gasoline not oil. In 15 years, we would aim to have higher levels of 2nd stage value added production. Ie, Canada exports furniture, not lumber etc.
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For forestry, invest in sustainable forestry practices. Put people back to work in the woods.
For Green energy practices invest in R&D and canadian grown ideas
Reinvest in our aerospace industry, find a better solution at home than the F-35
Invest in our shipping, building viable products here at home outside of simply pumping money in to Iriving Shipyards.
Put thousands to work doing mitigation and clean up of former mill and mine sites like Britannia in BC, there are thousands of sites that need clean up.
Build a high speed rail line between Ontario and Alberta to assist in travel and delivery of vital goods.
And finally, buil -
Resource extracting operations should be reviewed in Canada to ensure that they are not intentionally operating at a loss in order to artificially undervalue commodities. These companies must operate on a for-profit basis or face penalties. This is a common activity by corporations who own the full chain of production from resource to finished product. The result is that Canada receives less tax from these operations and lower royalties.
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A pilot project building green townships would be amazing.
By building townships in every province of say 250-500 people, but completely green, complete with geo-thermal heating, solar power and more green tech initiatives and then putting out of work people or hiring tradesman to train the people who would live in these towns (1 per province) we could revolutionize and create an entire industry full of professionals. All while building towns for people willing to not only learn these green trades, but also that need sustainable affordable housing. 1 town per province over a 5 to 10 year period -
Here's one thing that will help both the EU and Canada. Drop the sanctions on Russia. the sanctions against Russia were designed to hurt both Russia and the EU, not just Russia. The Canadian ag industry has been hammered by the sanctions, Russia wants our farm implements. Russia's indiginous ag is going nuts since they can't import.
Then re work all the "free Ttrade agreements. We need to bring manufacturing back to Canada. We are turning into a low wage service industry and we can not support a first world society on fast food jobs. -
Diversify to "green" projects in everyday life, it's the only viable solution.
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Encourage private investment in new technologies. Give tax breaks based on technological revolution and employment rates. Slim down the public sector (or at least put it in line with private). Explore new trade options with emerging markets. Get rid of the entrepreneur-killing red tape at the provincial and federal level. Invest in our own energy refinement processes.
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We should be partnering with other resource exporting nations to ensure that commodities are receiving fair market value on the international market. This way, we can ensure that the price reflects the real cost of the extraction and environmental externalities resource extraction and export entails. Resource extraction is a pollutive industry, so importing nations should share the cost in mitigating these environmental concerns.
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No immigration into Canada for people worth less than $1 million or without a job letter
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We need tax credits for industry of all kinds to invest in new tooling and equipment. This will make each labour hour more productive in the manufacturing sector.
Next, we need to ensure oil can move within our country and that we have sufficient refining capacity on our own soil to meet domestic needs...++. That will stop the bleeding of Canadian wealth out of the country for something we should never be importing.
Following that, other forms of domestic investment tax credits (think back to flow through shares that one could put in a self directed RRSP for example) to get boomer savings out of the banks and into the wild doing some goood for the following generation(s).
And, I dislike saying it, but given the current demographic wave, a modest estate tax to fund the healthcare each boomer (I am at the tail end of this...) will inevitably be consuming. -
All concerns of monetary constraint can not be addressed until the issuance of currency has been addressed.
To fix the Canadian economy don't we simply need to restore the function of the bank of Canada to issuing interest free publicly used currency instead of private banks issuing it at interest?
ENB..// -
Create our own defence ministry, where we build a lot of our own supplies and sell surplus to other partners. This would include building naval ships, aircraft, vehicles etc. Also, Ontario should give give breaks to qualifying companies on electrical costs, in order to attract and retain industry.
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My business is booming. Those out of work should seriously think about starting up a small business and working for self.
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We need to re-claim the manufacturing process in Canada which keeps people working and gives them good paying jobs that leads to people having money to spend which keeps the economy going. When resources boom, we get the money and jobs there, when resources bust, we used to have manufacturing boom to keep the money and jobs. Now with too many bad trade deals, we have lost half of our economy and nothing short of reclaiming that will help in the long run.
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Allow a pipeline or two to be built. That would put a lot of folks back to work immediately using money from private investors and it would increase Canada's GDP in the long run.
I know that CBC journalists and other activists like to talk about green energy, and while it is growing,, there isn't going to be any money to subsidize it if Canada goes broke in the meanwimte. -
There is no quick fix. Economic growth comes from production > consumption. Governments need to invest heavily in Engineering, Math, Physics and Computer Science colleges. We cannot compete in manufacturing due to our high cost. Therefore, we must become research and technology development leaders, much like South Korea and Silicon Valley... except across the entire nation - not just a small pocket in Ontario.
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We need more skilled immigrants and fewer refugees. Bring people in from East Asia, India, Europe and South America with education and skills. We need more doctors, nurses, pharmacists.
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Canada should be eliminating all inter provincial trade barriers. Canada should also make funding for ideas that being technology whether it is IT, medical, industrial. The funding should be made available and the risk to bring any and all new developments to market in Canada .
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Do whatever you can to bring back manufacturing to Canada. We were always good at specialty, custom, and short runs manufacturing, and Harper allowed this industry to die completely. Also, we should be refining our own oil into gasoline. Not sending most of our Alberta crude to the US for refining, and then buying it back in US dollars! Same goes for our other natural resources.
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Canadians can't to anything to cure "Canada's ailing economy." It is part of an sick global vertical economy and waiting for it to 'heal' us will be our death. All we can do to give us a chance of surviving is to join with the rest of the world and raze it. thelastwhy.ca -
We are so rich in resources. I dont see why we cannot build industries here to process it into finished products. We can use New immigrants, young students, and individuals to work for reasonable wages. The government can keep wages low. But offer very good Housing,clubs, fitness centres etc for employees free of cost. Most of the money can be saved by employees and jobe can remain in canda
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Canadians are the cure for Canada's ailing economy. Canada should be building local and buying local. Infrastructure projects should not be using steel from mills in China. We should not buy California wine ahead of BC or Ontario wine. We need to stop hopping across the border for a cheaper flights. Every time we try to buy something cheaper, we set ourselves up for lost jobs.
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I believe its manufacturing the other thing that needs to change is food we need to be more self sufficient we can't keep purchasing food from US . We need to open areas for off grid communities this is where the labor force to work the vegetable fields will come from. This providing jobs and food grown and sold in Canada.