A housing development on the edge of the Ontario Green Belt in the Greater Toronto Area of Bradford West Gwillimbury, Ont. on May 25. A billboard at the foot of a field on the far outskirts of Toronto heralds the coming construction of new homes, while highlighting a broken promise never to permit encroachment on this vast green space, which has provoked a public outcry.COLE BURSTON/AFP/Getty Images
Make do
Re “Canadian mortgage rates pause climb, but will the calm last?” (Report on Business, Aug. 11): Contrary to popular beliefs and professional wisdom, inflation and the higher prices it beckons may be an ideal solution for our economy and environment.
The higher the prices, the less of everything we, by necessity, consume. As buying power decreases, so conversely would creativity for stretching a dollar further. Superfluous consumption would decrease.
The environment would benefit and the economy would experience deflation, which is also a welcomed curb to runaway inflation. Soon the price of housing would fall, as would the cost of labour to build new ones. All prices would fall in line with reduced buying power.
All of these monumental gains, which no one seems able to provide, may be too simple to be recognized.
Looking at the Alberta Electrical System Operator’s generation stats for 2022, wind energy made up 20 per cent of the nameplate capacity but only generated 8 per cent because of seasonal factors. Solar energy is much the same, making its maximum daily contribution during the summer and almost nothing in the short daylight winter months.
Then there is the “orphan well” problem. If developers of renewables are so socially responsible for projects that only have 20- to 25-year lifespans, why are they so opposed to putting up performance bonds and guarantees?
We should stop being the wild west and start building a truly sustainable future.
Chris TworekCalgary
Greenbelt grief
Re “Doug Ford is trying to gaslight voters about what he did in the Greenbelt” (Report on Business, Aug. 11): I’d like to assume that people running for office, and their parties, will act with integrity in serving the public interest. This would allow me to vote based on my perception of their competence and platform.
I’m dismayed when public trust is so blatantly betrayed and, when this is exposed, a party then has the gall to refuse to reverse an indefensible decision. It is distressing to be forced to vote strategically, just to get rid of people who show themselves to be dishonest and self-serving.
Roy CameronKitchener, Ont.
The sale of lands from the Ontario Greenbelt to developers clarifies for me the Progressive Conservative slogan – “getting it done” – during the 2022 election campaign.
We now know what “it” is and for whom.
Steve IscoeKingston, Ont.
Thanks to Ontario’s Auditor-General for verifying what we all suspected: Influence peddling is alive and well in Ontario politics, and the Ford government is a willing participant. However, the solution should not be to fire the Housing Minister, as opposition parties have demanded.
In 2003, the Chrétien government passed a campaign-finance bill which set limits on the amount of contributions to federal political parties. Subsequent amendments in 2007 prohibited corporations and trade unions from making any contributions whatsoever.
This should be the defining issue for the next provincial election. My vote would go to whichever party promises to follow the federal model.
Brian DougallOttawa
If this level of corruption won’t bring a government down, what would?
Leonard ConollyToronto
Struggling young Ontarians pay nosebleed rents, and many of them have no reasonable prospect of ever in their lifetimes affording to own a home. All this while watching rich developers add billions of dollars to their stash, for what I consider no effort and minimal risk.
And we expect them to buy into “the system?” As a boomer, I am ashamed of what we are bequeathing our youngsters.
At my current institution, for instance, there is no faculty that does not have strong interdisciplinary research and teaching, in areas ranging from neuroscience and bioengineering to business and even the much-maligned humanities. Many professorial job recruitments and funding decisions are based on interdepartmental, multidisciplinary collaboration.
We can always do more, but our country’s universities have been well down this road for at least three decades.
Daniel Woolf Principal emeritus, Queen’s University; Stone Mills, Ont.
More than 40 years ago, when I was teaching high-school French in Rosthern, Sask., I used to play the Band’s beautiful song Acadian Driftwood in class. It is more than six minutes long and covers this important, tragic event in Canadian history – and the last stanzas are in French.
It is from their 1975 album Northern Lights – Southern Cross and was written, of course, by Robbie Robertson.
Linda HolmesOttawa
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OTTAWA – Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.5 per cent last month as hiring remained weak across the economy.
Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday said employment rose by a modest 15,000 jobs in October.
Business, building and support services saw the largest gain in employment.
Meanwhile, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing experienced the largest decline.
Many economists see weakness in the job market continuing in the short term, before the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts spark a rebound in economic growth next year.
Despite ongoing softness in the labour market, however, strong wage growth has raged on in Canada. Average hourly wages in October grew 4.9 per cent from a year ago, reaching $35.76.
Friday’s report also shed some light on the financial health of households.
According to the agency, 28.8 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older were living in a household that had difficulty meeting financial needs – like food and housing – in the previous four weeks.
That was down from 33.1 per cent in October 2023 and 35.5 per cent in October 2022, but still above the 20.4 per cent figure recorded in October 2020.
People living in a rented home were more likely to report difficulty meeting financial needs, with nearly four in 10 reporting that was the case.
That compares with just under a quarter of those living in an owned home by a household member.
Immigrants were also more likely to report facing financial strain last month, with about four out of 10 immigrants who landed in the last year doing so.
That compares with about three in 10 more established immigrants and one in four of people born in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says health-care spending in Canada is projected to reach a new high in 2024.
The annual report released Thursday says total health spending is expected to hit $372 billion, or $9,054 per Canadian.
CIHI’s national analysis predicts expenditures will rise by 5.7 per cent in 2024, compared to 4.5 per cent in 2023 and 1.7 per cent in 2022.
This year’s health spending is estimated to represent 12.4 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. Excluding two years of the pandemic, it would be the highest ratio in the country’s history.
While it’s not unusual for health expenditures to outpace economic growth, the report says this could be the case for the next several years due to Canada’s growing population and its aging demographic.
Canada’s per capita spending on health care in 2022 was among the highest in the world, but still less than countries such as the United States and Sweden.
The report notes that the Canadian dental and pharmacare plans could push health-care spending even further as more people who previously couldn’t afford these services start using them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
As Canadians wake up to news that Donald Trump will return to the White House, the president-elect’s protectionist stance is casting a spotlight on what effect his second term will have on Canada-U.S. economic ties.
Some Canadian business leaders have expressed worry over Trump’s promise to introduce a universal 10 per cent tariff on all American imports.
A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report released last month suggested those tariffs would shrink the Canadian economy, resulting in around $30 billion per year in economic costs.
More than 77 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S.
Canada’s manufacturing sector faces the biggest risk should Trump push forward on imposing broad tariffs, said Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president and CEO Dennis Darby. He said the sector is the “most trade-exposed” within Canada.
“It’s in the U.S.’s best interest, it’s in our best interest, but most importantly for consumers across North America, that we’re able to trade goods, materials, ingredients, as we have under the trade agreements,” Darby said in an interview.
“It’s a more complex or complicated outcome than it would have been with the Democrats, but we’ve had to deal with this before and we’re going to do our best to deal with it again.”
American economists have also warned Trump’s plan could cause inflation and possibly a recession, which could have ripple effects in Canada.
It’s consumers who will ultimately feel the burden of any inflationary effect caused by broad tariffs, said Darby.
“A tariff tends to raise costs, and it ultimately raises prices, so that’s something that we have to be prepared for,” he said.
“It could tilt production mandates. A tariff makes goods more expensive, but on the same token, it also will make inputs for the U.S. more expensive.”
A report last month by TD economist Marc Ercolao said research shows a full-scale implementation of Trump’s tariff plan could lead to a near-five per cent reduction in Canadian export volumes to the U.S. by early-2027, relative to current baseline forecasts.
Retaliation by Canada would also increase costs for domestic producers, and push import volumes lower in the process.
“Slowing import activity mitigates some of the negative net trade impact on total GDP enough to avoid a technical recession, but still produces a period of extended stagnation through 2025 and 2026,” Ercolao said.
Since the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into effect in 2020, trade between Canada and the U.S. has surged by 46 per cent, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
With that deal is up for review in 2026, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing said the Canadian government “must collaborate effectively with the Trump administration to preserve and strengthen our bilateral economic partnership.”
“With an impressive $3.6 billion in daily trade, Canada and the United States are each other’s closest international partners. The secure and efficient flow of goods and people across our border … remains essential for the economies of both countries,” she said in a statement.
“By resisting tariffs and trade barriers that will only raise prices and hurt consumers in both countries, Canada and the United States can strengthen resilient cross-border supply chains that enhance our shared economic security.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
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