Month: February 2009

Unemployment insurance – some numbers

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities met Thursday and, at that meeting, heard from a variety of departmental officials at Human Resources, the department that administers Canada's employment insurance system. Some numbers that popped out at me during that meeting:

  • Mike Savage, the Liberal MP from Dartmouth-Cole Harbour noted that, according to a Caledon Institute commentary [PDF}, fewer unemployed Canadians than ever qualify for employment insurance benefits. The Institute said that in 1976, 84 per cent of unemployed Canadians could expect financial help from the federal government in the form of employment insurance. In 2007, that had fallen to just 44 per cent. Mind you, it was the Liberal governments of Jean Chretien that largely changed the eligibility rules on EI that has resulted in so few unemployed now being eligible.
  • Departmental officials told me that, at the end of January, total number of claims for employment insurance was up 14 per cent compared to January, 2008.
  • In 2008 — a year of remarkable job creation, notwithstanding the 100,000 jobs lost in the final two months — the department had 2.6 million applications for employment insurance; it processed 22 million cheques that were sent to 2.1 million Canadians.
  • As of December, the department says it was meeting its service standard of ensuring that 80 per cent of applicants received their first benefit cheque within 28 days of applying. One should note that 28 day period generally begins the day after losing your job. EI requires a two-week waiting period during which you cannot receive benefits. That two-week waiting period is also within that 28 day waiting period.

The U.S. "Buy America" clause and Stockwell Day's reaction

Here is what the U.S. Congress passed in the stimulus bill Thursday that has folks on our side of the border a little nervous:

SEC. 1605. USE OF AMERICAN IRON, STEEL, AND MANUFACTURED GOODS. [PDF – see page 489]

(a) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for a project for the construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair of a public building or public work unless all of the iron, steel, and manufactured goods used in the project are produced in the United States.

(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply in any case or any category of cases in which the head of the Federal department or agency involved finds that

(1) applying subsection (a) would be inconsistent with the public interest;

(2) iron, steel, and the relevant manufactured goods are not produced in the United States if sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality; or

(3) inclusion of iron, steel, and manufactured goods produced in the United States will increase the cost of the overall project by more than 25 percent.

(c) If the head of a Federal department or agency determines that it is necessary to waive the application of subsection (a) based on a finding under subsection (b) the head of the department or agency shall publish in the Federal Register a detailed written jurisdiction as to why the provision is being waived.

(d) This section shall be applied in a manner consistent with United States obligations under international agreements.

[The Joint Explanatory Statement indicates:]

Section 1605 provides for the use of American iron, steel, and manufactured goods, except in certain instances. Section 1605 (d) is not intended to repeal by implication the President's authority under Title III of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979. The conferees anticipate that the Administration will rely on the authority under 19 U.S.C. 2511 (b) to the extent necessary to comply with U.S. obligations under the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement and under US free trade agreements and so that section 1605 will not apply to least developed countries to the same extent that it does not apply to the parties to those international agreements. The conferees also note that waiver authority under section 2511 (b) (2) has not been used.

Canada's Minister of International Trade, Stockwell Day, was asked about this yesterday. Here's what he told reporters in a scrum in the House of Commons foyer Thursday after Question Period:

Reporter: Wouldn't it have been better if they had taken the Buy American provisions right out of this bill?

Hon. Stockwell Day:Well, we're waiting for now — there is agreement on the bill from what we understand and they now go over it line by line – there's hundreds of pages – and then it goes to the President. We are understanding that President Obama's request that there be words in there to the effect that this should not in any way impede their international agreements – which is what we specifically asked for – we understand it's going to be in the bill that goes to the President and that's what we're waiting for. But it does underline the fact that we have to continue to push back against protectionism. This is why we're so aggressive on pursuing our free trade agreements. As you know, we've got one in the House right now with countries in Europe. We have others that we've signed, one from Peru that's coming to the House, one from Colombia. We've got one from Jordan. We're pursuing broader free trade economic agreements with India. We're being very aggressive to make sure that Canadian exporters have expanded credit through the Export Development Corporation. On every front we are demonstrating the importance of moving away from protectionism and going for broader, freer and more open free trade agreements with other countries.

Reporter:The Buy American provisions are still in the stimulus bill. There's still protectionism that can be used against China, India, countries that (inaudible) under the WTO Procurement Agreement. So are you saying that it's okay that Canada is not affected — to have a protectionist bill that doesn't affect Canada?

Day:I've said all along we stand up for Canadian interests first obviously. In doing that, we also speak to the broader interests of freedom of trade and staying away from protectionist trade walls. If other countries are hit with protectionist trade barriers, then that affects all economies. We need to be able — as Canadians, we need to allow Canadians to sell their products and their services as freely as possible around the world so as much as we are standing up for Canada but we also ask the United States to think of the broader global implications of protectionism and that's why we're asking them to stay away from it.

Reporter:How concerned are you, sir, about this language in the stimulus bill about protectionism? On one hand you're hearing from President Obama let's not violate any trade agreements. Do you have — what's your level of concern about that that there will be problems with protectionism with the relationship between the United States and Canada?

Day:If the bill in its final form which is presented to the President, if it has the language that says clearly from the President's point of view that nothing in that agreement should in any way violate their international agreements with us or with anyone else, then that will be some comfort to us.

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Just married!

Minutes ago, MPs voted on the Budget Implementation Bill. It passed with Conservative and Liberal members supporting it.
The NDP caucus, perhaps because they were feeling the bitter sting of rejection after the Libs tore up their coalition deal, have been saying for days that there is now a new Conservative-Liberal coalition and that these two parties are now married to each other.
As if to underline that point, as the Liberal MPs were voting, the NDP caucus started singing "Going to the Chapel"…

Incidentally, the government's first "probation report" is due to be tabled, as per the Liberal budget amendment, "on or before March 12," Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale told the Commons.

David Akin
Canwest News Service
http://www.davidakin.com
Cell: +1 613 355 5347

Canada settles into trade deficit for the first time since 1976

[From today's editions] For the first time since 1976, Canadians spent more money buying goods and services from foreign suppliers than they did selling things to foreign customers, drawing attention to the importance of exports to Canada's own recovery plans.

Where Canada had been posting monthly trade surpluses of $3 billion or more for most of 2008, that surplus evaporated in December, with a trade deficit — the difference between the amount Canada sold to the world and the amount Canada bought — coming in at $458 million, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday. Analysts said it likely will be the first of several monthly trade deficits. 200902121144.jpg

In simple terms, Canada's foreign customers did not do much shopping here in December and when they did, they didn't pay very much for what they got.

“It's predictable when we're in a worldwide downturn in the economy and some of our major purchasers — the United States, China — are going through a very difficult time and therefore, they're buying less,” International Trade Minister Stockwell Day said Wednesday. “It reflects the tough economic times we're in.”

But the Opposition Liberals jumped on the latest data to note that the Conservative government is amassing a dismal record of economic indicators.

In December, bankruptcies shot up 50%. In January, the country suffered its worst single month for job losses. Now, the Conservatives have presided over the first trade deficit in 33 years.

“This is a bad record for this government,” Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said in the House of Commons Wednesday.

Day said the federal government is continuing to push for open markets and against rising protectionist trends, as it has done in the last six months at international gatherings such as the G20 and the annual summit of Pacific Rim leaders.

“When we see a drop in exports, certainly it magnifies the reasons why we can't have any country fall backwards into protectionist activities and start slamming the doors on trade,” said Day. “We will continue to lead the parade so far as encouraging countries not to fall into protectionist activity.”

But Liberal trade critic Scott Brison said the Harper government must shoulder some of the blame. Brison said the Conservatives have taken the wrong tone with China and have done little to foster ties with India. The economies of both China and India are expected to post strong growth this year.

[Read the full story]

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Scott Brison's To-Do List for International Trade

MP Scott Brison is the Liberal International Trade Critic and, because of that, is the ranking LIberal on the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade. That committee is meeting this morning to listen to witnesses from a shipbuilding union and from the federal departments of finance and industry talk about Bill C-2:

An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the States of the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland), the Agreement on Agriculture between Canada and the Republic of Iceland, the Agreement on Agriculture between Canada and the Kingdom of Norway and the Agreement on Agriculture between Canada and the Swiss Confederation

After the committee finishes taking its testimony on this issue, Brison has give notice that he'd like the committee to consider the following motions:

  • Motion 1 – That the Standing Committee on International Trade request that the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, appear before the Committee during its study on Bill C-2 in order to answer questions regarding the state of Canada's shipbuilding industry.
  • Motion 2 – That the Standing Committee on International Trade request that senior officials from Industry Canada and Finance Canada appear before the Committee during its study on Bill C-2.
  • Motion 3 – That the Standing Committee on International Trade travel to Washington D.C. as soon as possible in order to meet with members of the United States Congress and Obama-Biden Administration.
  • Motion 4 – That the Standing Committee on International Trade conducts a comprehensive review of the Canada-United States border, especially as it pertains to our joint trade and security pursuits with the United States.

UPDATE: Brison withdrew Motion 2 but there was considerable debate on Motion 1, with the Conservatives essentially accusing the oppostion of ragging the puck and delaying implementation of a trade deal. Liberal and NDP MPs argued that hearing witnesses on a given bill and asking questions of ministers on behalf of constituents — there are concerns about EFTA's impact on Canada's agriculture and shipbuilding sector — is precisely what they were elected to do. The meeting concluded without any conclusion to that debate so all of these motions will not be voted on at least until this committee's next meeting on Feb. 24.

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The Hard-Hatted Caucus

The national Conservative caucus met this morning, as they do every Wednesday morning, and today all those attended a got a gift: A hard hat with a big bue sticker that says “Creating Jobs”. Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Minister John Baird was handing them out.

200902111225.jpg“He's the one who created these and there'll be lots of announcements about the infrastructure projects that are in our economic plan,” Flaherty told reporters as he emerged from caucus holding one of those hats. “It's very important, as it says, to create jobs in a difficult economic time.”

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Interested in the Internet? In knowledge? In the future of information? Then listen to David …

Ever since I heard him present at a PopTech years ago, I've been a big David Weinberger fan. Now I've been at dinner parties with Tim Berners-Lee; hung out at tech conferences with the likes of John Doerr, spent some time with John Warnock, even interviewed Bill Gates a couple of times. They were all pretty sharp but David (pictured here) is one of the smartest cookies I know when it comes to thinking about the the way we use or could use the Web. I'll bet you'll become a fan too after listening/watching to this presentation David gave a couple of weeks before last November's historic U.S. election. The presentation, given at the University of Toronto, has been archived and presented by TVO's Big Ideas program.

Best-selling author and Harvard Professor, Dr. David Weinberger, delivers the 2008 Bertha Bassam Lecture entitled “Knowledge at the End of the Information Age”. He provides insight into the impact of the internet on how we learn and what we know. Weinberger is recognized for his critically acclaimed book “Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder”.

David is much, much more than that little bio. Among other things, he's an American who lives in Brookline, Mass. but got his Ph.D in philosophy at University of Toronto and he's admiring of us Canadians for many reasons but still proud to be an American. He's also played a significant role in the way the Democratic Party uses the Web. He was the senior Internet advisor to Howard Dean when Dean ran for the Democratic nomination in 2004. (He signed up with Edwards for 2008). You'll remember that it was the Dean campaign that really “figured out” the Internet for political parties and David was a big part of that. In this presentation, you'll hear David refer to politics a fair bit but, for him, it's not just an academic issue: He actually delivered change.

During the last Canadian federal election, I asked David to take a look at what Canada's political parties were doing on the Web. His response, in a nutshell: Not much. All major parties could take a few lessons from what David and the Democrats did in 2004 (much of which was repeated by Obama in '08). Just cuz you got a guy on your staff who knows Flash doesn't make you a cutting-edge new media organization … So with that, I hope I've sold you on this TVO-archived presentation. It runs about 0an hour.

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Canada: Now "Remarkably Responsible"

Influential American columnist Fareed Zakaria looks north with, dare I say it, a tinge of envy:

Canada has done more than survive this financial crisis. The country is positively thriving in it. Canadian banks are well capitalized and poised to take advantage of opportunities that American and European banks cannot seize. The Toronto Dominion Bank, for example, was the 15th-largest bank in North America one year ago. Now it is the fifth-largest. It hasn't grown in size; the others have all shrunk.

So what accounts for the genius of the Canadians? Common sense.

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Canada has been remarkably responsible over the past decade or so. It has had 12 years of budget surpluses, and can now spend money to fuel a recovery from a strong position.

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If President Obama is looking for smart government, there is much he, and all of us, could learn from our quiet—OK, sometimes boring—neighbor to the north.

Le Journal's reporters are locked out; freelancer Facal will continue to publish

Former PQ cabinet minister Joseph Facal struggles with an important issue: Does he show solidarity with the locked-out reporters and editors from Le Journal de Montréal or does he continue writing for the paper (the largest circulation daily in Canada's second largest city)?

Facal has decided in favour of continuing to write and explains why at his blog:

Je l’ai vu dans une vie antérieure. Des reculs dans vos conditions de travail sont toujours douloureux. La culture syndicale traditionnelle en est une de gains successifs par accumulation. Les derniers gains deviennent le plancher de la ronde subséquente. Cette culture rend extrêmement difficile pour lui gérer des changements qui découlent d’une mutation radicale de l’industrie. [Lire la suite…]