Why We Should Worry About The Economy

The Canada-U.S. Free Trade agreement, and the North American Free Trade Agreement that followed, were supposed to trigger big change in Canada, including making Canada a magnet for North American investment and sharply narrowing the Canada-U.S. productivity gap. On both counts, these agreements failed. As the Competition Policy Review Panel, chaired by Red Wilson, reported last week in a consultation document, "Sharpening Canada's Competitive Edge," Canada's share of inward North American foreign direct investment stock fell from more than 40 per cent in 1980 to 16.3 per cent in 2005. Likewise, while Canadian labour productivity per hour worked was 87.4 per cent of the U.S. level in 2001, by 2005 it was just 81.4 per cent. Wilson's panel has been appointed by the federal government to review Canada's competition and foreign takeover and investment policies to see whether they should be changed to improve Canada's potential in the global economy. The panel's mandate, it says, is to recommend to government "ways to establish the domestic conditions that both encourage Canadian firms to be active and aggressive investors at home and abroad, and maximize Canada's attractiveness as a destination for new investment and talent." ... Wilson's panel is calling for public contributions, so this represents one of those rare opportunities for a full-scale debate on Canada's future economy. But it can only succeed if Canadians take it seriously and don't leave the discussion to the usual business lobbyists. It is something our opposition political parties should engage in as well. http://www.thestar.com/article/273479

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