Canada rolled over and allowed the one sector it had any hope in–resource extraction–to be sold off to foreign investors, first from government control and then from domestic hands. Then it allowed rampant consolidation in the “captive” industries it does have (telecomm, food). Other countries did the same, but Canada rolled over faster and harder than any other western nation.
Now we’re at the stage where our primary industry is skimming the cream off of the housing market. After that, what? Strip-mining south Asian immigrants for value? Whoops, we’re already doing that, too.
It’s a sad tale of governments, Liberal or Conservative, selling everything not nailed down in hopes that the magical market fairy would make it better, and then steadfastly refusing to do anything at all, sacrificing current donors’ profits for everyone’s future. Everyone saw this as an issue at least as far back as 1995, but no one was willing to admit that the Reagan/Thatcher (and in our case, Mulroney and Chretien) era of neoliberalism would eventually present a bill. So it was more tax cuts, more service cuts, more selling assets, more emphasis on cash hoarding and more disincentives for investing in business.
This is what happens when you do ethical business in a global, capitalist economy. Its not a bad thing.
Ethical business? Wat? Our economy is propped up by a housing bubble and resource extraction
Wood houses and oil. Fire’s Favourite food groups.
Compared to your neighbor?
Compared to almost anyone.
Canada rolled over and allowed the one sector it had any hope in–resource extraction–to be sold off to foreign investors, first from government control and then from domestic hands. Then it allowed rampant consolidation in the “captive” industries it does have (telecomm, food). Other countries did the same, but Canada rolled over faster and harder than any other western nation.
Now we’re at the stage where our primary industry is skimming the cream off of the housing market. After that, what? Strip-mining south Asian immigrants for value? Whoops, we’re already doing that, too.
It’s a sad tale of governments, Liberal or Conservative, selling everything not nailed down in hopes that the magical market fairy would make it better, and then steadfastly refusing to do anything at all, sacrificing current donors’ profits for everyone’s future. Everyone saw this as an issue at least as far back as 1995, but no one was willing to admit that the Reagan/Thatcher (and in our case, Mulroney and Chretien) era of neoliberalism would eventually present a bill. So it was more tax cuts, more service cuts, more selling assets, more emphasis on cash hoarding and more disincentives for investing in business.
What ethical business? Our biggest companies:
Brookfield Corporation (finance: produces nothing, extracts value from others and concentrates it in the rich)
Alimentation Couche-Tard (kwikie marts: underpays employees, over charges for products, petroleum energy vendor)
Royal Bank of Canada (bank: produces nothing, extracts value through fees and fines)
Cenovus Energy (oil and gas: oil and gas)
Toronto-Dominion Bank (bank: produces nothing, extracts value through fees and fines)