The angry din of car horns echoed through Virginia’s capital city Wednesday as the debate about America’s path to recovery pitted impatient U.S. workers and business owners against governors and health experts who fear a crippling resurgence of COVID-19.
A procession of vehicles paraded past the state capitol in Richmond in hopes of convincing Gov. Ralph Northam to lift a stay-at-home order and let people go back to work — a carbon copy of protests in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Tennessee and Maryland, among others.
The protests have been widely linked to the country’s pro-gun lobby and conservative action groups that support Republican President Donald Trump, fuelling doubts about whether they represent a wider impatience in the U.S., particularly since polls have continued to suggest widespread bipartisan support for the restrictions.
But whatever their genesis, the result is the same: there is mounting political pressure on governors and municipal officials — even in hard-hit New York state, where more than 20,000 people have died — to rouse the dormant U.S. economy.
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“This is no time to act stupidly. Period. I don’t know how else to say it,” said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Like Northam in Virginia, Cuomo is a Democrat.
“This is not going to be over any time soon. I know people want out, I get it. I know people want to get back to work. I know people need a paycheque. I know this is unsustainable. I also know more people will die if we are not smart.”
The contrast of Cuomo’s message with that emanating from other states, particularly Republican-led states in the Deep South, was jarring.
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In Georgia, which was reporting nearly 20,000 active cases Wednesday and 836 deaths, Gov. Brian Kemp expects to have many businesses — including hair salons and tattoo parlours, where physical distancing is physically impossible — back up and running as early as Friday. In Tennessee, the plan is for shops and services to reopen next week.
Governors who choose to roll the dice would likely be more inclined to do so if they knew that the recent protests were an organic expression of public sentiment, said Matthew Mitchell, a professor of international business and strategy at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
But even if they’re inauthentic, they still provide a measure of handy political cover, Mitchell said.
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“In some ways, it definitely gives coverage to those governors that have the predisposition to open their economies more quickly,” he said. “That’s the chess match these competing narratives are playing out.”
In Canada, which negotiated with the U.S. a mutual ban on non-essential travel between the two countries that has since been extended until May 21, a similarly segmented approach to reopening is beginning to emerge — albeit one shrouded in caution and caveats.
Prince Edward Island, where the COVID-19 caseload is low, is aiming to start lifting restrictions on outdoor activities and elective surgeries late next week, with an eye towards reopening businesses in mid-May, Premier Dennis King said Tuesday. New Brunswick is optimistic it could adopt a similar timeline.
“The different provinces will make different decisions about how and where to start restarting, reopening their economies. We are going to work to co-ordinate, so that we’re basing ourselves on shared values, principles and scientific approaches right across the country,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday.
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That, however, isn’t going to translate into any sort of phased-in changes to Canada’s border agreement with the U.S. any time soon, he added.
“We will continue to co-ordinate with the United States, but the national measures will apply right across the Canada-U.S. border, regardless of provinces or jurisdictions.”
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As the situation in the U.S. continues to evolve, Canada and its leaders, themselves not immune to the influence of political pressure, could eventually end up in an awkward position, Mitchell said.
“Canada definitely has to think long and hard about the health and economic impacts of opening up too soon and following its larger cousin to the south,” he said.
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Coronavirus outbreak: Trump agrees to waive FEMA costs on New York amid the pandemic
“Canada is still critically intertwined with the U.S. economy, so I just don’t think it can ride off into the sunset and be self-sufficient any time soon. Nor can we, frankly. But the conversation and decision needs to be informed by domestic health issues and domestic economic issues.”
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.
