Tag Archives: Bank of Canada

Business

Rethinking Canada’s ‘Productivity Problem’

By Isaac Phan Nay, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Jasmine Ramze Rezaee wants you to think twice when Ottawa says we have a productivity problem.

Prime Minister Mark Carney links weak productivity to rising costs.

“Our long-standing weak productivity is making life less affordable for Canadians,” Carney said in a speech in May. “It’s beginning to strain our government finances and starting to put at risk the social programs on which Canadians rely.”

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Politics

There is no easy way for Canada to de-escalate the trade war

By John Woodside, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

As a federal election kicks off, the trade war with the U.S. is casting a long shadow  over voters’ choices, and whoever forms the next government will have  the tall order of trying to draw this conflict to a close. 

“President  Trump wants to break us so America can own us,” said Liberal Leader  Mark Carney at a campaign stop in Gander, NL on Monday. “We are over the  shock of betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons. We have to  look out for ourselves.”

International trade experts interviewed by Canada’s National Observer say  that will be much easier said than done. The two economies are more  integrated than ever before, and President Donald Trump’s chaotic  governing style makes it extremely difficult to know how to even begin  to unravel this dispute. 

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Business, Politics

RIEP Presentation: US Tariffs & How Island Economies Can Respond

Around 100 people signed up for the Rural Islands Economic Partnership 2025 Virtual Forum. At least 10 were from Cortes Island and there were others from Quadra, Bowen, Texada, Hornby, Denman, Cormorant, Malcolm and the Gulf Islands, as well as the Broughton Archipelago. Several of the topics were of great importance to islanders. One of the foremost was Aaron Cruikshank’s analysis of the impact US tariffs will have on island economies and what we can do about it.

Cruikshank is the founder of CTRS, a Market intelligence company from the Lower Mainland that has worked with hundreds of organizations and governments over the past 20 years.

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Politics

Liberals’ climate wing backs Carney for leader

By John Woodside, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The climate wing of the Liberal Party is rallying around Mark Carney, offering the former central banker credibility on a file the Grits see as their competitive advantage over Conservatives.

This week Carney picked up endorsements from Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson (who previously served as environment minister), and MP Ryan Turnbull, a major proponent of sustainable finance who served as the Parliamentary Secretary under former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.

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Finances

Seven ways to tackle inflation without raising interest rates

Originally published on Corporate Knights

Editor’s note: Guy Dauncey’s Big Solutions: Raising interest rates is a cruel cudgel that hurts the most vulnerable. There are other responses that governments and central banks should consider.

By Guy Dauncey

There are many causes of inflation, but there’s only one solution central banks seem willing to consider: increase interest rates. This has many people scratching their heads: Why would this bring down the price of rent, food or gas? Won’t it increase costs for anyone who pays interest on a variable-rate mortgage or consumer loan? And won’t it make essential green investments more difficult?

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