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News Roundup for September 22, 2023
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PM Justin Trudeau's Canada

Great to see the Globe and Mail call out Canadian businesses for being lazy and preferring cheap labour to innovation.

www.theglobeandmail.com

Globe editorial: Canada’s much-touted labour shortage is mostly a mirage

If there’s a shortage of workers, why aren’t wages rising? The reason could be an over-reliance on Ottawa’s temporary foreign workers program
www.theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com

From the above:

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Exactly what I've been saying.

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The Globe had a really weird idea after that about quotas and exchanges for the rights to TFWs that I frankly find bizarre (and they were doing so well).

Lets just turn the tap off on TFWs for any low-skill, low-wage job and raising the minimum wage by at least $4 per hour over 2 years; the problem will naturally fix itself.
 
yrt+viva=1system said:

Trudeau says new housing-based long-term infrastructure plan coming this fall​

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-housing-long-term-infrastructure-1.6856234



Why does this seem like another do nothing announcement?
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It's so annoying how the Feds do nothing to fix homelessness in this country. With "only" about 300,000 homeless individuals in Canada, It's not an insurmountable issue. Here's what I want Trudeau to do.
  • Commit to working with the Provinces to have a plan to eliminate homelessness in Canada by 2030, through:
    • Providing federally-managed and funded housing for any refugees or immigrants (both allowed entry by the Feds) that are without housing, that would otherwise fall upon the municipal emergency shelters.
    • Establish Fed/Prov managed permanent housing for all 300,000 homeless, including group-home, health care managed housing for those with addiction and mental health care needs.
  • Long term goal, constitutional amendment guaranteeing right to permanent housing.​
What can this possibly cost? Let's say its $150k per homeless person, or $45 billion. That's a lot considering that the federal government's total revenue in 2023 is estimated to be $413 billion. But the provinces would need to pay a share. And maybe it's a lot less than $150k per person, IDK. Has this been costed out before?
 
Admiral Beez said:
It's so annoying how the Feds do nothing to fix homelessness in this country. With "only" about 300,000 homeless individuals in Canada, It's not an insurmountable issue. Here's what I want Trudeau to do.
  • Commit to working with the Provinces to have a plan to eliminate homelessness in Canada by 2030, through:
    • Providing federally-managed and funded housing for any refugees or immigrants (both allowed entry by the Feds) that are without housing, that would otherwise fall upon the municipal emergency shelters.
    • Establish Fed/Prov managed permanent housing for all 300,000 homeless, including group-home, health care managed housing for those with addiction and mental health care needs.
  • Long term goal, constitutional amendment guaranteeing right to permanent housing.​
What can this possibly cost? Let's say its $150k per homeless person, or $45 billion. That's a lot considering that the federal government's total revenue in 2023 is estimated to be $413 billion. But the provinces would need to pay a share. And maybe it's a lot less than $150k per person, IDK. Has this been costed out before?
Click to expand...

If there is no land cost, your likely looking at a target construction cost of $250,000 - $350,000 per unit in large urban centres like Toronto and Vancouver.

It will be a bit less costly in some other centres.

Housing within an institutional setting may cost more.

Its likely you're looking at something closer to 90B in capital costs.

Then you have the operating costs. The residual 'rent' to cover basic upkeep, future maintenance, electricity/water etc.

Its entirely do-able with political will, and I'd happily support it, but it certainly would be a substantial commitment.

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For the kind of unit totals suggested, you're likely needing a bit more money as I expect some land purchases would be required.
 
I suspect getting people into housing will help them become independent once again, so not all 300k would need permanent housing support. Many of those people require addiction and mental health treatment, and that would be more expensive. However these folks are already causing a lot of expense in policing, incarceration and hospitalization so much of it should net out.

Apparently, pharmacare would largely be offset by better health outcomes through drug compliance. I wonder if housing the homeless and treating those with addiction and mental health problems would be similar.
 
afransen said:
I suspect getting people into housing will help them become independent once again, so not all 300k would need permanent housing support. Many of those people require addiction and mental health treatment, and that would be more expensive. However these folks are already causing a lot of expense in policing, incarceration and hospitalization so much of it should net out.

Apparently, pharmacare would largely be offset by better health outcomes through drug compliance. I wonder if housing the homeless and treating those with addiction and mental health problems would be similar.
Click to expand...

I think it would, but with an asterisk.

The benefits often don't flow right away, at least not in full.

For instance, a study on providing free contraception showed immediate savings from fewer abortions, and fewer unwanted children. But savings in child benefits/social assistance among other things are cumulative over a generation.

Likewise there are some immediate savings to housing people properly ( its cheaper than the shelter system!) ; but the gains that occur from higher employment, lower crime and better health outcomes accumulate over years. You see some right away, but the full effect takes longer.

All of which is to say, its absolutely the right thing to do, and it absolutely pays off; but there is a net increase in expenditures that lasts several years before diminishing as positive benefits add up.

Just to afford one other example on point.

A 100-bed shelter costs essentially the same to operate at 80% capacity as it does at 100%.

The big savings occurs when you close the shelter entirely. That means at some point after you've built 100++ new housing units (allowing for previously unmet demand and population growth)
 

Yoga giant Lululemon wins exemption to immigration rules that limit hiring foreign workers​

https://www.thestar.com/business/20...-rules-that-limit-hiring-foreign-workers.html

Lululemon has been seeking the exemption since at least 2016. It was reported at that time by CBC that the company warned in a letter to the House of Commons Finance Committee that it may move its headquarters out of Canada if it was not granted an exemption. The clothing company has argued that there is a shortage of talent in the Canadian market and said it wanted the same exemption given to the film industry and universities. Federal Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne said last week if Ottawa hadn’t acted, the company’s headquarters may have left Vancouver.
Click to expand...

The IRCC said that the only other time the exemption was granted was in 2014 when the federal government allowed Microsoft Canada to bring in an unspecified number of foreign workers to British Columbia as trainees without LMIAs.

When asked why Lululemon in particular was granted a waiver from immigration rules, IRCC said “they demonstrated a persistent labour shortage for the high wage positions they are seeking to fill, a quantifiable significant investment in the B.C. economy and a robust strategy to encourage knowledge transfer to Canadians and permanent residents.”
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Northern Light said:
Great to see the Globe and Mail call out Canadian businesses for being lazy and preferring cheap labour to innovation.

www.theglobeandmail.com

Globe editorial: Canada’s much-touted labour shortage is mostly a mirage

If there’s a shortage of workers, why aren’t wages rising? The reason could be an over-reliance on Ottawa’s temporary foreign workers program
www.theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com

From the above:

View attachment 482086
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View attachment 482087

****

Exactly what I've been saying.

****

The Globe had a really weird idea after that about quotas and exchanges for the rights to TFWs that I frankly find bizarre (and they were doing so well).

Lets just turn the tap off on TFWs for any low-skill, low-wage job and raising the minimum wage by at least $4 per hour over 2 years; the problem will naturally fix itself.
Click to expand...
Not even just innovation, it's about just being willing to pay what the free market is willing to exchange for its labour.

It seems like these businesses want their cake and to eat it as well.

'Not a simple story': Labour shortages aren't being driven by lack of highly educated job seekers​

Shortages appear to be mostly centred in jobs requiring little education

financialpost.com

'Not a simple story': Labour shortages aren't being driven by lack of highly educated job seekers

A Statistics Canada study finds complaints about a labour crunch cannot be attributed to a shortage of highly educated job seekers. Read on.
financialpost.com financialpost.com
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lenaitch said:
Living up against a stirring bear tends to focus the mind.
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Canada can do things very quickly when it needs to. Look at the C17s, C130Js and Chinooks during the Afghan war.

I really hate that people confuse procurement policy and politics. The system itself is fine. The politics is not. It's no different than our issues with building high speed rail or housing. Writing contracts and cutting cheques is not the hard part.
 
Admiral Beez said:
Not abutted like Poland, but Russia‘s not too far from Canada either.
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Far enough from population centres though. The truth of the matter is that for all the talk about being an Arctic nation, most Canadians don't care. Canada is less of an Arctic nation in mindset than all of the other Arctic nations. I would argue that the US cares more about Alaska than the average Canuck cares about Nunavut.

Admiral Beez said:
Thankfully we share the continent with the global superpower. Otherwise Russia might be giving us trouble.
Click to expand...

The real irony is that so many Canadians chafe at the idea of being beside the US. Meanwhile the majority of the world would be happy to trade places with us.

That map is slightly deceptive. Russia has gotten really aggressive in the Arctic. And they claim the North Pole as part of their continental shelf. You can bet this means any ice free summers in the decades to come will see Russian naval projection far closer to Canadian shores. And people wonder why I think we need to plan some amphibious capabilities and field a proper submarine force.
 
kEiThZ said:
Canada can do things very quickly when it needs to. Look at the C17s, C130Js and Chinooks during the Afghan war.

I really hate that people confuse procurement policy and politics. The system itself is fine. The politics is not. It's no different than our issues with building high speed rail or housing. Writing contracts and cutting cheques is not the hard part.
Click to expand...
And what *I* really hate is when someone stomps on an opinion or viewpoint with both feet.

Policy is only as good as the politicians allow it to be exercised.
 
There's a good video discussing Australia's evolving foreign policy (especially with regards to China) and how that is driving their rearmament.


We have similar issues in Canada with regards to our Arctic and even our Atlantic and Pacific approaches. We don't usually have this kind of intellectual rigour in our analysis and policymaking though.
 
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