Liberal (Minority/Majority) Government 2025 - ???

[ArmyRick]

Big point being missed here.

We should have/should be setting Canada to become the place well educated and entrepreneurial Americans flock to for opportunities.

They won't.

We have a gazillion reasons to encourage them not to come here and we make it very easy for people to say good bye to here.

I do know a lot of very good smart, well educated and hard working people who choose to go to the USA for better opportunities. The fact that my son is eyeing up a bunch of engineering schools in the states is personally very concerning.

 

[mariomike]

- but - they wanted to test their skills/abilities in an environment that is 10X the size of ours.

Nothing new new about people traveling from small to large population centers for employment opportunities.

 

[ArmyRick]

Nothing new about people who keep ignoring a thousand knife cuts until the whole system is dead.

Jobs leaving, Smart and talented people leaving, Businesses leaving or closing, money leaving (that happens in multiple ways), investors looking elsewhere.

Rather than dismiss all these little symptoms as nothing burgers, how about we RAISE the bar by saying how do we entice more job creation (non government), recruit the talented people of the world, get more businesses to open and encourage others to come back, get investors to actually invest in Canada, and lets get foreign money to come here (and make it Canadian bucks).

Its like dealing with one of my relatives who choose to ignore the symptoms of his obvious cancer until it was too late to do anything about it.

 

[PrairieFella]

Something that crossed my mind is we should really stop comparing ourselves to the USA in all regards. Its not a very apt comparison imo. Our comparables are the UK, France, Italy, S Korea, etc. Thats not to say we shouldnt aspire to rise to the economic prowess of the global hegemon, but there are serious global structural impediments to compete 1-for-1. The biggest one that comes to mind atm being the Americans basically have the infinite money glitch on by being the global reserve currency for nigh a century. That is catching up to them now but it has served them well since the 40s.

 

[Altair]

Something that crossed my mind is we should really stop comparing ourselves to the USA in all regards. Its not a very apt comparison imo. Our comparables are the UK, France, Italy, S Korea, etc. Thats not to say we shouldnt aspire to rise to the economic prowess of the global hegemon, but there are serious global structural impediments to compete 1-for-1. The biggest one that comes to mind atm being the Americans basically have the infinite money glitch on by being the global reserve currency for nigh a century. That is catching up to them now but it has served them well since the 40s.

Doesn't help the narrative to compare us to our actual peers.

 

[ArmyRick]

So I continue to make friends here. This will really do it.

Brian Liley of the Toronto Sun, who is highly respected (Many of the predictions he has made with his pal Warren Kinsella have come to pass)

So blow him off at your own peril.

 

[Altair]

So I continue to make friends here. This will really do it.

Brian Liley of the Toronto Sun, who is highly respected (Many of the predictions he has made with his pal Warren Kinsella have come to pass)

So blow him off at your own peril.

We do the dog and pony for 10 years.

Thanks Brian Lilley. Very insightful.

 

[HavokFour]

PMMC has had a busy day.

FTA with the Philippines among a few other things.

And an in progress Canada-ASEAN FTA.

Prime Minister Carney announces new partnerships with the Philippines in trade, energy, defence, and tourism

Today, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, welcomed the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., to Vancouver to announce a new Canada-Philippines Strategic Partnership that will deepen bilateral cooperation in trade, energy, defence, and tourism.

www.pm.gc.ca

 

[Altair]

PMMC has had a busy day.

FTA with the Philippines among a few other things.

And an in progress Canada-ASEAN FTA.

Prime Minister Carney announces new partnerships with the Philippines in trade, energy, defence, and tourism

Today, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, welcomed the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., to Vancouver to announce a new Canada-Philippines Strategic Partnership that will deepen bilateral cooperation in trade, energy, defence, and tourism.

www.pm.gc.ca

All those meetings and jetsetting in 2025 starting to pay dividends in 2026.

I don't begrudge him not being in QP if he's off doing more important stuff like this.

 

[Altair]

Canadian factory PMI edges higher despite war-linked supply disruptions

Canada's manufacturing sector expanded further in June as production and employment rose, but not all was positive for the sector as intensifying supply shortages helped ‌lift cost inflation to a near four-year high.

www.reuters.com

Canada's manufacturing sector expanded further in June as production and employment rose, but not all was positive for the sector as intensifying supply shortages helped ‌lift cost inflation to a near four-year high.
The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) edged up to 53.0 last month from 52.9 in May. It marked the sixth straight month that the index was at or above the 50 threshold. A ⁠reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.

“Canada’s manufacturing economy on the surface enjoyed a positive June, with output and new orders rising at solid rates and supporting an uplift in employment for a third successive month," Paul Smith, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said in a statement.
The output index rose to 52.1 from 52.0 in May and the measure of employment was at 51.9, its ‌highest ⁠level since October 2024, as firms added staff to cope with increased workloads.

Keep the good news coming.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Average first time homebuyer in Ontario is 40 now. The average age in the early 90s was 27-30.

Wages have stagnated. Some basic examples from 2000 as a snap shot into how bad it has gotten. In 2000 the average individual income was 51,418$. The average median income (i.e. what most were actually making) was 40,443$. Average household income was 68,318$.

In todays dollars those numbers are 91,891$ for a individual, 72,277$ for a median, and 122,094$ for a household.

The current reality is 68,700$ for a individual (or 23,191$ less), median of 46,300$ (or 25,977$ less) and a household income of 106,300$ (or 15,794$ less).

The youth are drowning, and all we are doing is propping up the seniors so they get to listen to the fiddle as the titanic sinks.

Where are you getting your numbers?

Statscan Wages in Canada, 1981 to 2024.

Note that "real hourly wage" is an inflation-adjusted quantity.

 

[Brad Sallows]

The death and destruction of the private sector pension is criminal IMHO.

Nothing stops people from investing amounts equivalent to pension contributions except themselves.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Not a single person that I know who moved to the US (or Europe in a few cases) left Canada because of Politics, or 'high' taxes, or whatever gripe you can think of - they moved because they wanted to see if they could prove themselves in an arena of 350 million vs 39 million......

The reasons the US is a big arena are, at root, political. The fact Canadian out-migration is a long-term trend doesn't eliminate politics; it just suggests the political concensus which sustains that state is also long-term.

 

[YZT580]

Nothing stops people from investing amounts equivalent to pension contributions except themselves.

and the fact that they don't have an extra 50 a week that is available. Fuel is up, cost of cars is up, cost of public transit is up, property taxes are up, food is up - wages just aren't keeping up. People are not even buying toys. Easy indicator: the inventory at the local RV store is way down this year. They never stocked up beyond the absolute minimum this spring.

 

[Brad Sallows]

.

and the fact that they don't have an extra 50 a week that is available. Fuel is up, cost of cars is up, cost of public transit is up, property taxes are up, food is up - wages just aren't keeping up. People are not even buying toys. Easy indicator: the inventory at the local RV store is way down this year. They never stocked up beyond the absolute minimum this spring.

Typically a pension plan has contributions paid directly by the employee, and "employer contributions". The latter are just employee contributions everyone pretends are paid by the employer; they are still part of the employee's total compensation.

Everyone not in a pension plan is capable of making his own "employee/employer contributions", and should be doing so, to the tune of at minimum 10% of gross and recommended 20%.

If the point is that people in the remaining work forces represented by bargaining units have managed to use their labour monopolies to extract more concessions from employers, that's a different discussion. Unfortunately, for some people to get more, others have to get less - costs have to be paid from somewhere. Pick anything you choose - teachers, nurses, public service, auto assemblers - and assume everyone in Canada gets their compensation. Do you think that can be done?

 

[Eaglelord17]

Where are you getting your numbers?

Statscan Wages in Canada, 1981 to 2024.

Note that "real hourly wage" is an inflation-adjusted quantity.

Take the average income number for the year I mentioned and put it in the inflation calculator. Thats where I get my numbers.

 

[YZT580]

.

Typically a pension plan has contributions paid directly by the employee, and "employer contributions". The latter are just employee contributions everyone pretends are paid by the employer; they are still part of the employee's total compensation.

Everyone not in a pension plan is capable of making his own "employee/employer contributions", and should be doing so, to the tune of at minimum 10% of gross and recommended 20%.

If the point is that people in the remaining work forces represented by bargaining units have managed to use their labour monopolies to extract more concessions from employers, that's a different discussion. Unfortunately, for some people to get more, others have to get less - costs have to be paid from somewhere. Pick anything you choose - teachers, nurses, public service, auto assemblers - and assume everyone in Canada gets their compensation. Do you think that can be done?

Bit of a side track but germane. The advantage of a company pension is that the company extracts that 50 bucks I mentioned before it is paid out thus producing a forced savings. Yes it is part of the total pay package but the majority of people spend according to their take home and there is nothing left at the end. Our education system should be teaching money management as a compulsory course in H.S. with a thorough explanation of savings and self-administered pension plans. Whilst the illustrated paragraph is a great idea, for many people it is an impossibility given COL. and even for those whose budget would allow such investment it is a very disciplined individual who can actually do it.

 

[Czech_pivo]

All those meetings and jetsetting in 2025 starting to pay dividends in 2026.

I don't begrudge him not being in QP if he's off doing more important stuff like this.

Overall I agree.
He's treating this job like as CEO would and for that I'm glad. I believe that he's playing to his strengths - knowing alot of key people and having a solid reputation around the world. Both of these things are opening doors for Canada and for us to have a chance to prove ourselves as being a capable, engaged, reliable partner. If we f&ck this up, then its on us.

 

[Czech_pivo]

The reasons the US is a big arena are, at root, political. The fact Canadian out-migration is a long-term trend doesn't eliminate politics; it just suggests the political concensus which sustains that state is also long-term.

That political consensus goes well back before 1867 and before 1900 and before 1950. There was no cry from Canada to 'sends us you're poor, tired huddled masses yearning to be free.'
The Orange Lodge denominated politics in Ontario for decade after decade and discouraged non-Protestant and non-British immigration.
Quebec did the same for non-French speaking and non-RC's.
Clifford Sifton did all that he could to ensure that the immigrants allowed in during his time period where only farmers from the old Russian Empire, discouraging all others (except British farmers of course). He also did all that he could to discourage those farmers from being able to leave their farms and move to the towns/cities because existing 'English' Canadians saw them as a threat to their culture.

The US's mantra of 'send us you're poor, tired huddled masses yearning to be free' was a political decision, 100%, they wanted to fill up all their spaces so that no one else had the chance to go there and claim it for themselves. Their push on the 'melting pot' mentality ensured that this mix of cultures all blended up to be 'American'. Whereas those in charge here pre-1960 did all that they could to keep 'Canada British' and resisted mass immigration.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Take the average income number for the year I mentioned and put it in the inflation calculator. Thats where I get my numbers.

Sure. I'll stick with the Statscan numbers for medians.

There is one aspect, only, in which "younger generations" are at a disadvantage. Home prices. Everything else is gravy. Tech has never been more advanced; availability of consumer goods has never been more widespread; and right now, all kinds of employment opportunities exist. "We need more people working in X" has practically become the national motto.