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John Ivison: No painless way out for Liberals from the worst economic blow in history – National Post

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The initial reaction on reading the new report by the Parliamentary Budget Officer was to curl up into a ball and turn out the lights.

The “illustrative scenarios” presented by the PBO reveal the combination of the COVID pandemic and the oil-price shock has put Canada on course to rack up a deficit of $252.1 billion this year, or 12.7 per cent of the country’s economic output.

In that event, the value of goods and services produced in Canada will have fallen by 12 per cent for the fiscal year, even with a modest rebound in the second half.

If the outlook proves correct, tax revenues will fall by $60 billion, while program spending will increase $168 billion  — fully one-quarter of GDP — compared with the previous year.

To put those numbers into context, they are the worst in Canadian history.

Even in the depths of the Great Depression, real GDP did not fall by 12 per cent in a single year (there were four consecutive years in the early 1930s where growth was in negative territory, but the drop was never as precipitous). The deficit would also be greater than in any single year during the Depression, as a percentage of the economy.

So is Canada insolvent? Can it ever pay back a national debt that may total nearly $1 trillion?

The good news is debt can be rolled over. Economic historian Livio Di Matteo of Lakehead University notes that Britain was still paying off Napoleonic-era debt well into the 20th century.

Interest rates on new debt are also at historic lows and, in theory, much of the $146 billion in emergency spending is temporary in nature.

If the economy is growing slowly and you raise taxes on income and capital, it is going to slow growth even more

The PBO sees the federal debt-to-GDP ratio rising to 48.4 per cent this year, but that is nowhere near the 66.6-per-cent peak in 1995–96, when 38 cents of every tax dollar was used to pay the interest on the national debt.

The Liberals can be justly criticized for entering the crisis in fiscal deficit but, even then, the Canadian economy was in a much healthier state than it was in the mid-90s.

That perspective may be enough to persuade readers to uncurl from the foetal position.

However, there is no room for complacency.

A curious editorial in The Globe and Mail this week suggested the government’s game plan should be similar to that employed in the immediate post-war period when, not only did Canada not pay off the national debt, it added to it.

This was manageable because the weight of the debt fell. The economy grew faster than debt.

However, replicating those conditions smacks of wishful thinking. GDP growth in the 1950s and 1960s averaged 5.7 per cent, thanks to the liberalization of world trade, a demographic surge, a rise in consumer spending, a natural resource boom and the auto pact with the U.S.

Canada experienced 35 consecutive years of growth in the post-war period, according to Di Livio’s calculations.

Given the uncertainty in the economy, the PBO does not make any growth projections beyond the end of the year. But does anyone think that Canada is on the brink of a new golden age of prosperity that will rejuvenate the economy?

People see the handwriting on the wall

The comparison with the post-war period is not pretty. We are currently seeing a rise in trade protectionism. To compound things, we have an aging population, a resource price crash and record household debt.

It’s clear now, if it wasn’t before, that the exit from this crisis is going to be painful and protracted.

There are going to be more demands to provide relief to specific industries not yet covered by government aid programs. This week has already seen the Canadian Federation of Agriculture seeking $2.6 billion, as processing plant closures and other supply-chain disruptions threaten food security. The National Airlines Council says the airline industry is under “significant threat” as its members try to cope with a 90 per cent drop in capacity.

The PBO noted that additional fiscal measures may also include stimulus spending to ensure the economy reaches “lift-off speed.”

The government is going to be faced with some unpalatable choices that will require a retreat from emergency spending and may necessitate an increase in taxation.

The most logical move for any government desperate for cash would be an increase in the goods and services tax.

Yet as Brian Mulroney noted in his autobiography, the tax on everything that moves was and remains “as unloved as any measure could possibly be.” Raising it would be political martyrdom.

A more palatable and natural alternative for this most progressive of governments would be to squeeze the rich, either through an increase in capital gains tax or the kind of wealth tax that the NDP proposed in the last election — one per cent of the value of household assets above $20 million.

The PBO estimated that the tax might raise $9 billion, but the experience in other jurisdictions like France was the introduction of wealth taxes leads to a flight of capital. The tax was criticized, and subsequently reformed, by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said it was unfair to those who invested in the productive economy.

One tax lawyer I spoke with said that high-net-worth individuals are already anticipating their departure from Canada at a time when their asset values have decreased and the exit tax is cheaper. “People see the handwriting on the wall,” he said.

Even before the crisis hit, there was speculation that the Liberals were keen to raise the capital-gains inclusion rate to 75 per cent from the current 50 per cent — a measure the PBO estimated could raise $8 billion in tax revenues.

But cooler heads may caution against such a tax grab. Marginal income tax rates in most provinces are already over 50 per cent and Canada has had trouble attracting capital. Real business investment has fallen 10 per cent in the past four years.

“If the economy is growing slowly and you raise taxes on income and capital, it is going to slow growth even more,” said Di Livio.

What the PBO report makes stark is that there are going to be no easy choices.

jivison@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/IvisonJ

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Economy

Canada’s unemployment rate holds steady at 6.5% in October, economy adds 15,000 jobs

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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 Press. All rights reserved.

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Health-care spending expected to outpace economy and reach $372 billion in 2024: CIHI

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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.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Trump’s victory sparks concerns over ripple effect on Canadian economy

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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.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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