Category: Economy

NDP Convention: 4-02-13 Resolution on Foreign Investment Review and Target

4-02-13 Resolution on Foreign Investment Review and Target

Submitted by UFCW Canada, UFCW Canada Local 1518, UFCW Canada Local 1000A

WHEREAS Target purchased the lease agreement for up to 220 Zellers Stores in Canada; and

WHEREAS over 10,000 Zellers employees have been terminated; and

WHEREAS Target will only offer former Zellers employees an interview with no guarantee of a job or recognition of their years of service; and

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED That an NDP government will lower the threshold for a full review under the Investment Canada Act; and

THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED When determining the ‘net benefit’ test for the sale of a company, that the impact on the employees and their working conditions must be considered.

MP Raymond Cote spoke to this motion.

Motion passed.

NDP convention: 2-03-13 Resolution on a National Mining Strategy

The NDP convention in Montreal debated teh following resolution:

2-03-13 Resolution on a National Mining Strategy

Submitted by Nickel Belt

WHEREAS Canada, a major mining country, was a top 10 producer of 17 key metals and minerals in 2012; and

WHEREAS New Democrats understand the significance of mining to Canada’s overall economy and to our mining communities in particular;

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the following clause be added to Section 1.2 of the policy book:

New Democrats believe in

E. Supporting a national mining strategy that will contribute to sustainable development, job protection, training and skills development, responsible treatment of the environment, as well as community and Aboriginal partnerships for resource sharing.

A Steelworkers rep spoke in favour; another delegate was worried this motion omitted Canadian mining activity taking place outside of Canada.

Then Hélène Laverdière, MP for Laurier-Sainte Marie spoke. A member of the socialist caucus said this motion did not go far enough, that the NDP should nationalize mining companies.

MP Paul Dewar (Ottawa Centre) spoke on this motion, mostlly about conflict minerals.

 

Youth unemployment: About as bad as it ever was

Mulcair on Youth unemployment
New Democratic Party leader Thomas Mulcair speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on January 30, 2013 (REUTERS/Chris Wattie)

In the most recent Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada (that would be the numbers for December 2012), we find the country has 4.46 million people who are between the ages of 15 and 24. Of those, 2.83 million are “in the labour force”, that is to say, they either have jobs or they are looking for jobs.

StatsCan says 1.28 million of them have a full-time job, 1.16 million have a part-time job while 398,000 of these young people say they can’t find any work. That means the unemployment rate among Canada’s young people in December was 14 per cent. By comparison, the unemployment rate for men 25 years of age and older was 7.6 per cent. For women 25+, it was 5.6 per cent.

This relatively higher unemployment youth rate has been a leading topic for the opposition parties in the House of Commons this week. Indeed, it was the first question the Leader of the Official Opposition, Thomas Mulcair, put to Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Question Period on Wednesday. Here’s the exchange from Hansard:

Hon. Thomas Mulcair (Leader of the Opposition, NDP):  Mr. Speaker, more than five years after the recession hit in 2008, Canada’s youth unemployment rate is still sitting at 15%, double the national average.    According to a report by TD Bank, this represents lost earnings of $11 billion to date, which will take a generation to recover. The high youth unemployment rate obviously has significant consequences for our economy.  Why are our young people not one of the Prime Minister‘s four priorities?
Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC):  Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, job creation and economic prosperity are our top priorities. In fact, the Canadian economy has created more than 900,000 net new jobs since the end of the recession. That is the best record of all G7 countries.    There are obviously still challenges in this regard, especially for some young people. That is why our budgets include specific measures for youth. I encourage the NDP to support these measures.
Hon. Thomas Mulcair (Leader of the Opposition, NDP):  Mr. Speaker, young people suffered more than half of all the job losses during the 2008 recession. Nearly 280,000 jobs were lost among Canadian young people and to this day only about 30,000 have been recovered. Almost half of all young people who lose a job are not even eligible for EI. That is in the government’s budget, which we will not support. That situation is made even worse by the Prime Minister’s latest rounds of EI cuts.    Does the Prime Minister understand the devastating impact his failed policies are having on an entire generation of Canadian youth?
Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC):  Of course, Mr. Speaker, it is completely to the contrary. Since the recession ended we have created 900,000 net new jobs in this country, the best track record in the G7. There is no better place for a young person to be today than in Canada.     Challenges obviously still exist in the labour market and for young people. That is why the government has addressed this in a series of budgetary measures, things like the youth employment strategy that has created over 50,000 positions, the Canada summer jobs program and others, which the NDP unfortunately always votes against.

Notably, on Friday, the government will have something to say about the Canada Summer Jobs Program. Human Resources Minister Diane Finley has a press conference scheduled in Ottawa and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews will have the mirror version in Winnipeg.

As we get set for those press conference, here’s a couple of tweets from Laval University economist Stephen Gordon which help add some context to the StatsCan numbers and ensuing political exchange:

 

Reaction to resolution of U.S. fiscal cliff drama

Late last night, the U.S. Congressed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. Read more about that here.

Here’s a comment on that Act this morning from BMO Capital Markets economist Michael Gregory (my emphasis):

“The bottom line is that taxes will be going up for most Americans, ranging from a 2 percentage point increase in payroll taxes for all employees, to higher tax rates on ordinary income, capital gains and dividends for those making above $400k …[There are] more fiscal battles on the horizon. For now, however, we can relish in the fact that the fiscal cliff was averted, political compromise was achieved (yes, 85 of 236 House Republicans voted in favour), and America’s finances are starting to move to a firmer footing.”

Here’s Scotiabank’s Derek Holt and Dov Zigler in their morning note on yesterday’s theatrics in Washington: Continue reading Reaction to resolution of U.S. fiscal cliff drama

About those speeches Governor Carney gave …

In light of the revelations that Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney stayed over for nearly a week last summer at the Nova Scotia home of Liberal MP Scott Brison, some, including us, are looking at two speeches he gave last year in a slightly different light.

First, there was the speech in August to the annual convention of the Canadian Auto Workers, titled “Globalisation, Financial Stability and Employment”. Among other things, Carney argued that the high value of the Canadian dollar was not responsible for any slowdown in manufacturing. Continue reading About those speeches Governor Carney gave …

Border guards battle over name tag directive

Back at the end of November, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews announced that the Canada Border Services Agency has ordered the country’s border guards to wear name tags. After all, members of the Canadian Forces, the RCMP, and U.S. border guards all wear name tags. In that November 27 press release, the CBSA said this was a good idea because, “We believe that this small step will allow the millions of clients we serve to feel more comfortable in their interactions with our officers. Personalized name tags reflect our commitment to service excellence and reinforce the professionalism and integrity for which CBSA officers are known.”

This initiative, colleague Mark Dunn reported, was going to cost Canadian taxpayers nearly a quarter-of-a-million dollars.

The border guards, though,  didn’t like this idea and a bunch of border guards refused to work, Continue reading Border guards battle over name tag directive

Glenn Thibeault's SO 31 of the Year: The Conservative Car Tax!

Yesterday in the House of Commons, Glenn Thibeault, the NDP MP from Sudbury, Ont. delivered the following “S.O. 31”, which I’m picking as the early favourite this holiday season to win the Oscar for SO31 of the year.

You can read up here on the running “S.O. 31” battle between New Democrats and Conservatives.

Thinking of cross-border shopping Friday? Could be a gamble.

NFR_nfrboarderGuardsJun28

The Public Service Alliance of Canada, like many federal government public sector unions, is upset that the Harper government is trying to trim the civil service. Earlier this week, the Harper government announced it had reduced the size of the civil service by nearly 11,000 positions. Most of those job cuts came by attrition — i.e. someone retired or quit and no replacement was hired — and only a few were actual layoffs. And while 11,000 sounds like a lot, there are about 275,000 federal civil servants. So that’s about a 4% reduction.

But, as I said, PSAC is upset about this and they’re going to take it out on cross-border shoppers Friday, if I read between the lines in this press release correctly: Continue reading Thinking of cross-border shopping Friday? Could be a gamble.