For the third and final blog, I am choosing the theme : CANADA AND LOCAL ECONOMIC AND PUBLIC POLICIES.
Since
we discussed Canada's standing with other countries last week, and
given some of the events that have shaped up in the last few weeks, it
is appropriate to discuss how the Canadian government is handling some
of our own local issues. What better time to discuss the state of some
of the issues that has been going on in the last few week. Some of the
more controversial issues that have come up includes the recent
development of the Keystone Pipeline, last year's election results in
Ontario's , investigations conducted by elections Canada, the state of
the budget, the controversy behind the current oil prices and the
declining dollar etc. This blog is slightly different that the first
one, as I would like all of you to concentrate more on news that
combines both economic and public policies rather than just the
monetary/fiscal policies. Consider discussing the following:
1) How is the Canadian government dealing with these issues? What are their strategies and reform policies ( if any)?
2) What are some of the pros and cons of these economic/political issues?
3) What are its repercussions on the Canadian people?
4) (Where/when possible) - How does this issue or news tie in with the course content.
The blog is due Sunday , March 15th before midnight. If
you have not completed a blog yet, this will be your last chance to do (
Please keep in mind that it is worth 5% of your final grade) .
Over the past few weeks it seems that the Canadian economy has been quite unstable, there was a decrease in the value of the dollar and it now stands at only 79 cents US which is only a cent higher then the lowest it has been in 6 years. This Is showing Canadians the strength of the US compared to them. Canada has had to cut interest rates to help the ailing economy. The country has been on a downward slope for the past eight months, but there could be a light at the end of the tunnel.
ReplyDeleteBecause of the latest boom in the US Canada is lucky that they are their closest trading partner, with the US having faster then usual growth this means that Canada should expect to see a faster demand for Canadian exports. This could be the key to bring Canada out of its slump. The current leading problem in the Canadian economy has been the oil shock, gas prices plummeted to record lows that hadn't been seen in years only to reach back up to the prices citizens have gotten to used to seeing. These economic conditions that could cause a US rate increase can also imply that Canada's economy could get rid of its need for a rate relief sooner rather then later.
The Canadian government needs to step up and work to ensure that our trading commodities stay in demand and they need to ensure that all of these demands are met. The Canadian dollar is down but it most certainly is not out, within the next few months citizens should expect to see a further decrease in the currency but expected also should be that around mid-year the dollar will regain its feet and the economy should begin to get stronger.
The government of Canada is working to keep it's citizens happy as well as it's trading partners. They must keep trading partners happy and so in some cases the citizens take the fall paying higher interest on things such as gasoline and some foods but in the end it should pay off in the bigger picture. There is a positive that can come out of all of the recent economy issues and that is after the country makes it through it could make them stronger as a whole. Some of the cons are higher prices that Canadians wish they didn't have to pay.
The issue of the Canadian economy is very pressing in politics right now and it largely effects everyone in Canada and so discussing this issue in class is very relevant. The government doesn't really have any solid policies in place to help fix our economy and so discussing their governance or lack of is a key concept in this course. Individuals need to understand issues like this and this course helps students in it to learn more about them and work through these problems.
Canada is going to come out of their slump but it will take a bit of time and citizens are going to have to bare with the economy for a little while longer.
The Canadian government is always looking for new ways to make public services more accessible and human-centric. Chris Hannay discussed this in an article in the Globe and Mail. The article, “How public servants are learning new ways to ‘nudge’ citizens,” delves into some of the ways public servants are being taught to make their services more appealing. Through the use of innovation in bureaucracy and the basics of economics and psychology, public servants are learning to “nudge” the public into using government services.
ReplyDeleteOne example of this that was provided was when Ontario wanted more people to sign up as organ donors. Through simplifying the application process and making it more convenient for those interested, the sign up rate increased. This simple change in the process revealed to the government that the public needs to be treated as a customer in some regard. Through advertising services as more accessible to the public and using methods targeted at consumers, I think the impact is positive. Providing people with more knowledge of opportunities to get what they want and need, “nudging” cannot really be seen in a negative light.
As for other positive aspects, encouraging the public to use services available to them is in itself positive. Why would you not want to know and be more aware of what is available to you? The repercussions of nudging could result in public services being turned in to a sort of marketplace, where advertising takes over and the public is appealed to entirely. However, as discussed in the course, public servants act as a sort of middle-ground between the government and the public. Public servants can be seen as a communication method to indicate what the public wants and relay it back to their services.
As indicated, the basics of economics and psychology are applied. Therefore, using business techniques and appealing to people is primarily what is being taught. As we live in a democratic country, our government and its services should appeal to the wants and needs of the people. If that involves heightening our awareness and adding a convenience factor, I am all for it.
Article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/public-servants-learning-new-tricks-to-influence-people/article29099424/
In the past few weeks (and in this case months) our economy has taken a hit from the plummeting prices of oil. In January, the price of oil was about 30 US dollars a barrel (Boutilier, 2016), which was a new all time low for us in the past few years. The federal government has decided to order an in-depth analysis to study the long term effects of the decrease in oil prices, and how it will effect our economy long-term. Alberta is one of the greatest oil-producing provinces due to the tar sands, and they saw a great impact on their government revenues. The government’s PBO did not take in to account that there could be a potential loss (such as this one) and estimated that the price of oil would remain about 48 USD per barrel. With the drop of price in oil, out economic budget has taken a hit. in 2016, our new liberal government will have to factor in the low cost of oil. The Canadian Government does not control the price of oil, but it should factor in the possibilities for an economic change such as this. Oil prices have lowered by 40% since June of 2014, and about 17,000 jobs have been lost for individuals working in the oil companies in 2015. We have seen the price of gas fluctuate consistently, hitting all time lows in years in the past few weeks. The price of oil is estimated to go up in the next few weeks, but there is no guarantee it will become strong again. This is a good time for the government to re-evaluate their involvement with the Alberta oil sands, if using them to produce oil is causing more harm than “income”.
ReplyDeleteAlthough some people are happy and would say that it is great that the price of gas has gone down, but they do not realize that it has its repercussions and effects on our economy. When the price of a barrel of oil goes down, our economy takes a hit as well. Canadians may lose their jobs (as they did in our oil rich and oil producing provinces such as Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador). Our government needs to pay attention to the economy, and factor in instances such as the one we are in right now into our budget.
Article:
Boutilier, A. (2016, January 21). Federal government
orders study into long-term effects of oil slump | Toronto Star. Retrieved March 19, 2016, from http:// www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/01/21/federal-government-orders-study-into-long-term-effects-of-oil-slump.html
Posted by: Natalie Chmiel
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn the past few months it seems as though the Canadian economy is in somewhat of a stump, with the Canadian dollar being at 77 cents. In recent news oil prices have suggested that they may have already reached there lowest point after hitting a 13-year low of $26.21, although the Canadian government does not have any say in the price of oil, they should factor in any sort of impact it may have on our economy. Due to the price of oil it has put many Canadians out of work, for example Alberta's unemployment rate has now risen to the national average of 7 per cent, in order for this to be solved there needs to be more of an environment that supports Canada's energy sector. Now Canada also needs to keep it's number one trading partner (U.S.) happy, we need to step up and make sure our trading commodities stay in demand in order for our economy to become more stable.
ReplyDeleteThe price of oil is only supposed to go up from here but there are no guarantees, with this being said the Canadian government should become more involved with Alberta incase the price of oil drops more than it already has. Some pros to cheap oil is that, to Canadians it may seem that oil being cheap is a good thing because it means it costs less to fill up your car, while infact it's damaging our economy and our government needs to step up and do something about it and factor in what is happening because it's leaving many Canadians unemployed.
Articles:
- http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/oil-prices-are-down-but-dont-count-alberta-out/article28324605/
- http://www.thestar.com/business/2016/03/11/loonie-approaches-76-cents-us-after-spike-in-oil-prices.html
In the past few months Trudeau has take over with his new cabinet and there are many new challenges they must face, especially with our recent economic issues. The finance minster Bill Morneau is now focusing on a federal budget to focus on long term problems in the areas of science, education and innovation. What the government is doing is trying to create jobs and such for people right now but mainly focusing on actually fixing the economy for Canada. I think that this is a very good strategy because there will be a focus on many different areas which will benefit especially municipalities and cities. There will be billions directed to housing, support for seniors payments to families and public transit. The cons of the reform policy on the economic issues will be that there is a 18.4 billion dollar deficit that may slow them down even thought they claim it will not which will potentially create a larger deficit. How these strategies will help the Canadian people is that it will help the broad middle class people of Canada, there are many new social policies to help. One of these will be the repaying of student debt which will help students like me after school immensely. The goal in helping these students is to create a better generational affect to be carried out in the long term. I think that Trudeau is doing a good job in dealing with the hard times of rebuilding an economy with very good policies in place that will actually make a change in peoples lives. What he is trying to do is not only fix the federal state of our economy with reference to national policies and other countries but really make a difference in the lives of Canadian people.
ReplyDeleteArticle:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/morneau-focused-on-the-long-term-as-he-prepares-to-sell-his-first-budget/article29300621/
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ReplyDeleteBlogging assignment #3
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of problems facing Canada and it's economy at this time and date. Though I think one of the biggest and most recent problems is the decline of the dollar value in Canada. The U.S. have started rising their dollar value with stronger gas prices and stronger export and importing amounts. I did some research into how we could regain the dollar value in Canada. I think it starts with stabilizing our economy. With the fluctuations with our imports and exports, and the changing price of gas and oil. Our economy is suffering and there for our dollar value keeps dropping. It helps that we are one of the main traders with the U.S. Though until they start helping us stabilize our economy we need to find our way to stabilize it on our own. Also I don't think the U.S. dollar dropping and us rising is a real solution. We need to find a way for us to be stable on our own. Not stable because people are to afraid to invest in the U.S. because that's a fake sense of security. That's what they talk about in this article "Loonie Tops 77 Cents, But Some Analysts Say Worst Is Yet To Come" by the Huff Post. They talk about how recently the Canadian dollar has risen. Though it's only because people are getting more scared of the U.S. currency. The problem is even with these setbacks the U.S. is still growing faster than Canada and its going to stay that way until we find a permanent solution.
Another big problem is Canada still has a lot of companies they have to bail out and keep afloat. With their dollar dropping and fluctuating it made it hard for a lot of companies to still bring in revenue. Some companies even wanna extradite some of their business to other countries. Like this one company in a Globe and Mail article "Bombardier still aims to outsource jobs as it seeks bailout from Ottawa." This company is still seeking a million dollar bailout even though they want to outsource some of their company to Mexico among other countries. Until the Canadian government finds a way to pay out some of these companies and settle back down, they won't find a clear cut solution to this currency problem. A lot of the problems and options given to us to talk about in this blog stem and add to the currency problem. That's why I found it the most interesting and intriguing one to talk about. Honestly I think catering to the U.S. government may be one of our only options. Making sure we keep up with imports and exports form the country. If we can do that it may lead to the U.S. somewhat helping us get back on our feet and back to some stability. So in the end I think Canada does have a long road back to our economy being as stable as it once was. Recent spikes in our economy are promising though I don't think it will be a permanent solution. A permanent solution won't come until we find a more permanent solution. Money and time will be needed to solve this problem and hopefully that can come sometime soon.
Articles:http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/bombardier-still-aims-to-outsource-jobs-as-it-seeks-bailout-from-ottawa/article29307944/
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/03/17/canadian-dollar-forecast-outlook_n_9486708.html
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ReplyDeleteRecently the controversy behind the current oil prices and the declining dollar have been an incredibly important and relevant issue. The Canadian dollar is currently at 77 cents which is the lowest it’s been in a long time. The new oil prices have also taken a hit with crude oil front being at $38.98. This has been making Canadian citizens anxious as the economy is getting weaker which results in loss of jobs. The Canadian government however can not change oil prices thus making immediate change difficult. Which is exactly what anxious citizens want to see. An example of a con to the low oil prices is that they have a negative impact on stock when in comes to investments related to energy. Where as an example of a pro would be energy input costs to businesses such as airlines. As for the weak dollar, it is a pro for producers and it is a con for Canadian consumers. Wherever oil goes the Canadian dollar follows, thus there doesn’t seem to be hope for the Canadian dollar to increase until oil prices do first. This is relevant to what we have been learning about in class recently as we discuss Canadian standing with other countries. This relates to oil and dollar decline as trading of the Canadian dollar is against the United States, with their strong economy and dollar.
ReplyDeleteArticles:
-http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/top-business-stories/the-crash-position-scenario-for-the-canadian-dollar/article22907490/
-http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/canadians-anxious-about-low-oil-prices-and-weak-dollar-pollster-says/article27989834/
-http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/boom-bust-peg-parity-the-canadian-dollar-has-seen-it-all-before/article28227022/
Over the past couple weeks one thing I have noticed is the decline of the dollar value in Canada. Any chance I get, I travel. I recently went to Florida and noticed how much the Canadian dollar has declined. In January our currency fell below 69 cents for the first time in 13 years. One of the biggest problems here is that the U.S is trying to strengthen their dollar. One good thing that is coming out of this is that our exchange rate is functioning as it should. It is benefiting us Canadians because our gas prices have been lowered as well as home heating costs. The downfall is, for people like me who travel a lot the prices have gone up enormously. The decline in the Canadian dollar is a huge problem for us because most of our foods are imported from places in the United States. This will higher the cost of importing which will higher the cost of food purchases. The government has been trying their best to get businesses to stop slacking on investment. Having the Canadian dollar decline the way it is might be the kick that the corporate businesses need in order to stop their slacking. This relates to what we have been learning in the course because all the government wants is to make their citizens happy. They have responsibilities and we have been talking a lot about how important it is for the government to keep up on their responsibilities and to ensure that the citizens get what they were promised. Just like our discussion on the ministers. They have a responsibility to be accountable for anything that happens in their department. Just like the government is responsible for things like the decline of the dollar value in Canada.
ReplyDeleteArticles:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/boom-bust-peg-parity-the-canadian-dollar-has-seen-it-all-before/article28227022/