Canada’s economy grew by a greater-than-expected 0.3% in May and looks set to turn in its best annualized quarterly performance for more than three years, official data indicated on Friday.
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[The growth] indicates annualized second-quarter growth of 3.4%, significantly higher than the Bank of Canada’s July 15 forecast of 2.5%, and the highest annualized quarterly increase since the 4.3% seen in the first three months of 2023.
The central bank left its benchmark overnight rate unchanged at 2.25% on July 15 and said growth would strengthen in the second half of the year as inflation pressures eased and firms continued to adapt to U.S. tariffs.
“The economy appears to have found ways to navigate the current cloud of uncertainty relating to trade with the United States,” said Royce Mendes, managing director and head of macro strategy at Desjardins.
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This means nothing for the average Canadian.
Depends on the industry you’re in. I just got a raise, and I’ve had more work this year than ever before. Meanwhile others I know have the opposite. The entire system is fucked.
Yeah. Growth in profits for businesses. Not for our paychecks, cost of living or quality of life.
I couldn’t give a fuck about “the economy”. As long as it is only measured by how well businesses are making profits.
And at the same time housing prices are still dropping
Housing prices should be dropping, if we can think of them strictly as shelter and not as an investment.
It would be nice if somebody could buy their first home for the cost of materials.
Just the materials? That’s unlikely - some guy has to manually fasten together every cubic centimeter of wall and floor, and they need to be paid. IIRC, labour actually comes out to more than the materials. For a remodel, labour definitely costs a lot more.
Modular homes can theoretically do better by shifting that labour to a factory nearby, but it’s still not going to be nothing.
Still, cheaper is better, just like for every other good, even if, as in every economic change, there’s some losers.
“That’s good news!” said the homeless, standing in soup lines.
Those soup lines will start getting shorter with this progress. Canada needs to make money if it wants to solve its problems. Imagine growth, during a recession, while dealing with the orange turd posse’s unpredictability to the south as we navigate away from relying on American spending for our goods and services. It’s kind of impressive really.
A bunch of rich assholes making more money usually makes the soup lines longer these days, not shorter.
In industries that involve tech, yeah I’ll agree. In industries requiring resource extraction, not at all. That only happens with labour, which is one of the reasons Carney has been advocating for opening up Canada. They’re very well paying jobs. It shortens these lines because these workers can also pay for services, so it really does trickle down in cases like this - more restaurants or more local artists, etc, can make it with a better economy.
It also burns the planet. We kinda need that.
Do you genuinely think if Canada stopped selling oil the world would be ok? We’re at about 0.5% of the world’s population, and we make about 6% of the world’s supply. I don’t know about you, but if the world is gonna burn, I’d rather a full stomach than an empty one for when that time comes.
So this is what we’ve come to.
First it was “global warming isn’t real”, then it was “it is, but it’s not our fault”, then “it’s our fault, but there’s nothing we can do about it”, and now you’re taking the position of “it’s all gonna burn anyway, so I might as well get mine.”
Putting the emotional argument aside for a moment, this is a blisteringly naive position to take. In a world on fire, and with Canada’s terrain the way it is, what could possibly make you think that your home isn’t going to be burning next year? A “full stomach”? In a world on fire? Where do you think the food is going to come from? What in your head tells you that you’re going to be able to afford to feed yourself or your family in a world where crop yields are cratering everywhere? The people with the money, who stand to profit further from policies like the one you’re supporting here will gleefully let you die and not even notice.
For every litre of oil & gas Canada leaves in the ground, the cost of accessing those fossils elsewhere increases. Driving up the price drives divestment and innovation everywhere, and that means fewer burning forests and a better chance of survival.
While it’s true that resource extraction can drive an economy, extracting resources that literally burn the future is at-best shortsighted… extractive if you will. We could be pushing money into electrification, transport, and education, fields in desperate need of support that objectively lead to a stronger economy nation-wide. With the US cratering, we could position ourselves as a cultural hub, or a manufacturing bridge between Asia and Europe… but instead Carney is choosing short-term profits for private companies (protected by public funds!) and increasing our already sizeable contribution to burning the world.
But I guess it’s ok if a few people have some jobs for a few years. You best hope your home isn’t next on the to-burn list.
I can empathize with your statement. I really can. I felt like you, once. Once, I went and worked in the Ontario AFFES, and I traveled around the country literally putting out fires for years. I tried to be the change I wanted to see in the world, someone helpful. Then I learned about our forests, and how it’s pretty much too late to save them.
Canada is fucked no matter how you look at it. The entire boreal forest sits on roughly 50cm to several meters of organic growing material and then it’s mineral soil underneath. When it goes, we’ll have a massive desert stretching through our country.
The world’s burning of fuels affects Canada whether we contribute or not. If we completely drop out, the world is still going at 94% pace, which is still going to blow past all of the warning limits scientists have screamed about. The world is doomed. Rage and complain all you like, it’ll change nothing. People are too stupid to listen to scientists, and so they’ll just keep using these fuels the world over, and here in Canada our forests will keep burning.
Do you know why? Because no one goes out and solves this problem. No one. Everyone complains, but no one sacrifices their comforts for the world’s health. In addition, developing nations need our resource to grow. You’d deny them advancing civilization, after you’ve got yours?
I have not gotten mine. I’m no millionaire. I just understand some harsh truths that I’ve come to terms with. People are generally awful, not out of malice, but out of indifference/convenience. So yeah, fill my stomach before I die. It’s better to burn full than hungry.
But I’ll continue the discussion for you. You complain about burning crops. Well, do know know what percentage of fields are devoted solely to animal food? Way too much, north of 50% of all fields, but much higher if my memory serves. Those fields can be converted and we’ll be fine. It’ll just take too much loss before we do. Do you know why? Because humans don’t listen and don’t care enough until they have to suffer for their choices.
Fwiw, I’ve never said the statements you opened with. I always knew it was the fault of humans and argued with several big wig deniers that we strongly contribute to climate change. It was all in vain. And now here we are.
Money being made doesnt mean anything if it isnt going where it should be
Money ain’t a solution, it’s a middleman with questionable value. We need a major system change that focuses less on money (or amounts of money/profit) and more on ecology, progress and humanity. We run around in money circles over and over again while things get steadily worse. Reminds me of this scenarios…“Well, we have the shovels and we have the men and we can feed them, clothe them and house them, but we ain’t got the money”.
So how do we keep track of ecology, progress and humanity, in such a complicated system? Maybe we could make some kind of tokens representing it, and then require everyone to maintain a positive flow of tokens. Realistically, there’s going to be an unavoidable shortfall somewhere, but if whatever activity is worthwhile, you could still make it up somewhere else.
Oh wait, that’s money.
Toronto LRT had 118 vice presidents at one point. Canada suffers from an excess of white collar bullshit jobs.
It would be nice if the less-than-needed jobs could be cut and the needed jobs split more evenly among everyone able to do so. I’d love a 5 day weekend, or to be able to imagine retirement as a possibility.
I agree with you that our system needs to focus more on progress, ecology and humanity. An ideal country ought to have policies where these are the paramount foci. But we don’t live in that ideal society sadly, as we’re a bunch of humans. Without incentive, we don’t make things happen as individuals or as a collective. We need to make that money so we can have good things again. People won’t do much for free, and money is still the best reward for effort, regardless of its value to you. That money opens up more options for a future government that’s more in line with what we’d both like to see.
Let’s be real, these companies aren’t hiring people off the street. I think the guy wearing his underwear on the outside of his pants is going to have some friction in the interview process.
Of course, but the services he needs will be more likely to be in place thanks to the increased tax revenue as the jobs market picks up.
It sounds like you’re taking about a homeless person with a debilitating mental health issue, but there are many unemployed who have employable skills that would benefit from this news. The homeless people with these mental issues will never be employable regardless of the economy, so I think you need to figure out what you’re trying to argue here.
So, you’re saying it’ll trickle down any moment now?
I see. You’re just trying to argue because you don’t understand economics. To you, everything needs to be immediate, is that it? Have you ever built something?
It takes over a year to build a house. How long do you think it takes to build an industry? It starts tickles down when people show up to put the shovels in the ground and continues until the last coat of paint is on. You think all of those workers are going to be eating bush berries to survive as they work, or will they be buying up services as they work? Have some patience.
Of course, but the services he needs will be more likely to be in place thanks to the increased tax revenue as the jobs market picks up.
Not true when services are being cut
The homeless people with these mental issues will never be employable regardless of the economy
Also not true for a lot of people if they were actually supported.
Services are being cut for two reasons: we’re in a recession and we need to triage, and people aren’t so keen on the policies being cut as they are for those remaining in place. This means that essentials stay, and perks get dropped. Sadly, those perks usually most benefit the ill and downtrodden, as those resources/services are very cost intensive for the return to society.
You’re right about my comment on unemployable. That wasn’t said properly. If we were fully funded, warning signs would be caught earlier and supports would be put in place to keep the individual as a contributing member of society.
Cutting services isn’t “triage” if it impacts the most vulnerable and poor. Triage would be cutting tax breaks for multi billion dollar oil corporations and raising taxes on the wealthiest people in the country.
Fun fact, the class with the biggest share of the country’s wealth, is also the one most on Lemmy.
Like, sure, that probably is the answer, but let’s not pretend there’s some kind of distant, invisible group of billionares that will be the only ones effected. And that’s why it’s hard for politicians to actually raise taxes.
