XPost: can.politics, tor.general, ont.politics   
   XPost: bc.politics   
   From: gregcarrsober@gmail.com   
      
   On 07/06/2014 7:03 PM, {~_~}Раиса wrote:   
   > I read this article while waiting in a medical office.  Good article,   
   > but filled with hair-raising facts. Read it if you have the reading   
   > capability and the guts to face up to reality in Canada.   
   > _________________________________________   
   > Chris Sorensen - Macleans - January 8, 2014   
   >   
   >   
   > How safe is your job?   
   >   
   > The recession is over, but factories are still closing, companies are   
   > downsizing and people are getting laid off   
   >   
   >   
   > H.J. Heinz Co. celebrated its 100th year in Leamington, Ont., in   
   > September 2009. Despite the recession, company officials gushed about   
   > the future of the factory, where up to 300 bottles of ketchup flew off   
   > the assembly line every minute. The production line would be there for   
   > “a long time,” they said. And why not? It wasn’t like North Americans   
   > were about to stop eating burgers and fries.   
   >   
   > Four years later, Pittsburgh-based Heinz has suddenly soured on the   
   > tomato capital of Canada. It will close the Leamington plant in June,   
   > eliminating 740 jobs. The company’s new owners, which include Warren   
   > Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, say the facility had become unprofitable   
   > despite the recovering U.S. economy—the latest example of a big   
   > corporation pursuing a strategy of aggressive cost-cutting, even as   
   > sales appear set to revive.   
   >   
   > What happened in Leamington was not an isolated incident. In recent   
   > months, scores of big employers across Canada have made similarly   
   > distressing announcements: Sears is laying off nearly 800 workers;   
   > Hallmark plans to move 300 jobs to the U.S.; Kellogg’s is closing a   
   > cereal plant in London and laying off 500; U.S. discount retailer Big   
   > Lots is shuttering 78 Canadian stores and slashing 1,600 jobs; Potash   
   > Corp. is culling 1,045 workers, including 440 in Saskatchewan and 130 in   
   > New Brunswick; and natural gas producer Encana is dumping 800 employees.   
   > Even the Bank of Montreal quietly eliminated nearly 1,000 positions in   
   > the fourth quarter—despite posting a record full-year profit of $4.2   
   > billion. The list goes on. The job losses aren’t relegated to any one   
   > sector; they’re all over the map—manufacturing, resources, retail,   
   > finance—making it difficult to point to a sector that can be counted on   
   > for robust growth this year.   
   >   
   > Experts say it’s more than just a coincidence. “The Canadian economy is   
   > far weaker than anyone expected it to be,” says Mike Moffatt, an   
   > assistant professor at the University of Western Ontario’s Ivey School   
   > of Business. And while that’s never welcome news for the job market, the   
   > slump couldn’t come at a worse time for Canadian families who are up to   
   > their eyeballs in debt. Statistics Canada recently said households owe a   
   > record $1.64 for every dollar they earn.   
   >   
   > Escaping the crushing weight of all those mortgages and lines of credit   
   > requires job creation and income growth, which is looking like an   
   > increasingly tall order. The 179,100 jobs the Canadian economy created   
   > in the 12-month period leading up to November was, except for the Great   
   > Recession, the worst showing of any comparable period since 2001. Put   
   > another way, in 2012, an average of 25,400 jobs were added every month.   
   > In 2013, monthly job gains were barely half that amount. And many of   
   > those new positions are increasingly temporary or part-time. Of the   
   > 21,600 new jobs in November, fewer than one in 10 were in full-time   
   > positions—hardly ideal for supporting a family or paying off a big   
   > mortgage.   
   >   
   > In fact, economists predict Canada’s unemployment rate will surpass   
   > America’s in 2014 for the first time in five years.   
   > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
   > [see yesterday's news where the opposite happened]   
   >   
   > And, while an apples-to-apples comparison of the two countries’   
   > unemployment figures is fraught—for technical reasons having to do with   
   > how they’re calculated—psychologically speaking, the event will come as   
   > a shock to Canadians lulled into believing we are somehow economically   
   > superior; that with all the talk of recovery, our jobs would be safer.   
   >   
   > The net effect is a recovery that feels more like the recession that   
   > preceded it. Politicians boast about Canada’s exceptionalism, but it’s   
   > rapidly becoming apparent that our economy is a lot less dynamic than   
   > we’d been led to believe. “We were running up this huge housing and   
   > construction boom that, economically, probably didn’t make much sense,   
   > and covered up a whole lot of sins,” Moffatt says. “I think we’re   
   > finally starting to recognize that, five years after the financial   
   > crisis, there are still a lot of people looking for work.”   
   >   
   > Canada is facing a jobs crisis with its stagnating labour market and,   
   > unless things pick up soon, the financial crunch many families are   
   > already feeling is going to get worse.   
   >   
   > The narrative about Canada’s economic performance during the 2009   
   > recession is well-known: Buoyed by “prudent” banks, federal officials   
   > deftly pulled on their policy levers to make it easier for Canadians to   
   > borrow money to buy cars, houses and gadgets. All that spending propped   
   > up the economy and bolstered the job market while other countries   
   > grappled with massive unemployment. “Canada now has the best   
   > job-creation record in the G7—one million net new jobs since the depths   
   > of the recession,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper reminded Canadians in a   
   > recent speech.   
   >   
   > But such rosy pronouncements are at odds with the bleak performance of   
   > the Canadian economy in the last few months. <<=====   
   >   
   > It began slowing rapidly in 2012, and very nearly ground to a halt last   
   > year with GDP growth of just over 1.6 per cent. The reason? Consumers   
   > are finally tapped out. “Domestically, the growth drivers aren’t really   
   > there anymore,” says Benjamin Reitzes, a senior economist at BMO Capital   
   > Markets. “We’re still going to see consumption growth, which is the   
   > largest part of the economy, but it’s not going to be the leader it once   
   > was.”   
   >   
   > One of the first sectors to get hit will be Canada’s overheated housing   
   > market, which almost single-handedly pulled the country through the   
   > recession. While many (including this magazine) have predicted a crash,   
   > even a marked slowdown threatens to kneecap a construction sector that   
   > grew right alongside the forest of condo towers that now dominate the   
   > skylines of cities such as Toronto and Vancouver. Taken together,   
      
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