Wait. You're from the "no child left behind" generation, aren't ya? Resources is really what we do well. That, and repelling invaders with drunken arsonists.
So long as we only compare ourselves to the US, we look great on many fronts, and that's what most Canadian politicians and mainstream media do - which is absurd and serves an agenda. Compare us to all OECD countries (same as or similar to wealthy peers), and we look middling or abhorrent on many fronts. For example, I know we're almost at the back of the pack of ~40 countries in terms of disability services. I realize the article is probably about economic indicators more so than health and quality of living. My comment is really "who we compare ourselves to matters a lot to the evaluation" and comparisons exclusively to the US are self-serving and of little value
We've needed a better industrial policy/strategy for quite sometime now, way before Trudeau happened. We have been falling behind in productivity, in investment in research and IP, all leading indicators of creation of wealth and prosperity for decades. We just can't rely on oil and natural resource booms to keep us afloat economically. None of the prior administrations have brought that, and Trudeau's hasn't got that vision. Neither does PP quite frankly. He hasn't said jack that talks to how we're going to be more competitive, nor does he have the brains for it.
Government isn't about industrial policy any more, the leaders are all too busy with the latest all-purpose political strategy: Flood the zone with useless bullshit, hope something good happens that you can take credit for.
Headline and article mischaracterize the report's findings.
The country added nearly 1.3 million people last year — a 3.2 per cent increase — while the economy grew by just 1.1 per cent in the same time period. That means more people taking slices out of an economic pie that hasn't grown much bigger.
Right, but if we're talking about GDP per capita growth, we should probably subtract retirees from the population number, and not count new residents that don't have the right to work. Also, one year data is probably not very valuable because I think the we're only just now reaching a post-pandemic equilibrium in terms of retirement/ migration flows. Probably a lot better to look at 10 year numbers.
The news isn't all bad. Data shows real weekly earnings — a person's take home pay — has actually increased in Canada, even when accounting for inflation. The household savings rate is also up.
So it's not that we're getting poorer, it's that we're not getting richer as quickly?
This is toxic 'keeping up with the Joneses'.
We should focus on equity and sustainability, not growth for growth's sake.