Canada is one of the "developed" countries. With one of the highest standards of living in the world. It got that way through a combination of democratic struggle, being on the winning side of world imperialism and through smart investment both public and private.
Now we find ourselves on the cusp of what might be a major world depression and Canada's level of economic prosperity seems at risk. Environmental collapse needs to be factored into the balance. The perils of global warming, the depletion of the oceans fish, oil shortages, all must be added to the list of dangers.
All operations are being suspended at Hamilton's U.S. Steel works (formerly STELCO or Steel Company of Canada) with 1,500 well-paying jobs being put on indefinite layoff. The steel sector is failing because the auto sector is failing. Foreign competition is part of this, especially in steel. But North America's auto sector is on the verge of collapse as a result of worldwide competition and given world over-capacity in auto production there's not much that we can expect from this area.
Canada's financial sector has been a source of nominal economic growth but it really seems to provide nothing but examples of monetary masturbation. As well, financialization has tended to produce a neglect of the real economy in preference for this insular narcissism. Finally, the world financial system as a whole seems poised on meltdown.
Construction and retail were all based on unsustainable growth in household debt levels.
What might be some sources of strength for Canada's economy? Healthcare.
Guess what? I really wanted to say something here but I'm too busy.
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As a Hamiltonian, let me weigh in on this a little. In the recession in the early 80s, the first huge contraction in the steel industry hit Hamilton very, very hard. About two-thirds of the steel-related jobs in Hamilton vanished in that period. Something on the order of 20,000 jobs -- and that's just the jobs at the major steelworkers. My own father's job disappeared in the contraction, and he was about two degrees of separation from the steel industry.
The steel industry in Hamilton changed -- they started going into "gourmet" steel alloys for specific applications (Dofasco, now owned by Arcelor-Mittal, was especially successful in this field). But the city is fundamentally different because the higher-paying steelworker jobs are simply not there any more, and what jobs are left in that industry are very, very unstable.
But to drag this story back to your post -- what sectors are now the biggest employers in Hamilton? First is health care -- with some world-class research and treatment facilities -- and second is education -- much of it in those world-class medical facilities.
The steel industry will probably not die in Hamilton -- they have ideal geography and infrastructure for it -- but it will continue to shrink. Steeltown took its lumps in the early 80s, something that places like Oakville and Alliston haven't yet felt to anything like the same degree.
So Hamilton is a case in point for where you seem to be going in this post, Thwap -- it's been moving in this direction for a generation.
Thanks M@.
I often wondered if all those thousands of jobs really left or if they were replaced by contractors.
Although I think that given the depressed state of "Steeltown" in general, those 1,500 lost jobs are going to have pretty significant ripple effects anyway.
And yeah, its the public sector health and education areas that are the big employers and McGuinty is stupidly forcing layoffs in one of them.
Where are the private sector jobs? The good ones?
Yes, absolutely those jobs will have a major effect. I guess where I was going was that Hamilton has dealt with far, far worse.
Those jobs left in 1980-83 and never came back. I remember as a kid going along Burlington Street, the main industrial highway in Hamilton, in rush hour; it was like a parking lot, just as busy as any highway in Toronto. By the time I was old enough to drive in the late 80s, it was always clear sailing -- busy at times, sure, but never like it used to be.
As for private sector, Hamilton is pretty diversified. Cultural industries (especially film and TV), agriculture, and other manufacturing and heavy industry are still very active sectors. (Oddly, the high-tech sector never took root in Hamilton. I wish it had; I wouldn't be working in Toronto if I could find work in Hamilton.)
Well, TV looks bad. (The Hamilton Spectator's opposition to a CBC affiliate and the CBC in general is a little depressing.) I heard some scuttlebutt at "Sam's Pizzeria" on Concession Street that National Steel Car is going to move to the US.
I guess my home address (near Barton & Wentworth Streets) and my bus travelling have me mired in a pessimistic look at the real economy.
All I see are a proliferation of contract jobs, many of 'em near minimum wage.
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