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November 24, 2017

CANADA ECONOMICS



NAFTA



THE GLOBE AND MAIL. NOVEMBER 24, 2017. NAFTA. Worried about NAFTA’s fate, Wynne calls for more trade with China
NATHAN VANDERKLIPPE

BEIJING - Worried that NAFTA talks are not going well, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says there is urgent need for Canadian companies to build up new business in China and elsewhere.

"The NAFTA conversation makes it much more obvious that we need to do this," Ms. Wynne said Friday in Beijing, at the outset of a trip to China and Vietnam accompanied by Ontario firms and mayors.

U.S. NAFTA negotiators have taken aim at Canada's supply managed agricultural sectors and hardened Washington's stance on rules of origin provisions on manufactured goods.

Ms. Wynne said she remains hopeful that common ground will be found, but acknowledged a rising possibility that NAFTA will fall apart.

"The nature of the positions that the Americans put on the table and seem to be standing behind make it a much more difficult conversation than I had expected," she said.

"I feel less optimistic than I did a few months ago," she added.

The fifth round of NAFTA talks ended in Mexico this week with few obvious signs of progress. Another round is scheduled for December, but negotiators remain far from a resolution.

That has added new importance for Ontario's corporate sector to find buyers and trading partners outside the United States, she said.

"To pretend that we don't have to diversify would be really dangerous for our economy," she said.

Ontario's trade with China, at $42-billion, is a fraction of its $355-billion trade with the United States.

China is Ontario's second-largest source of imports, but only its fourth-biggest destination for exports. The imbalance is striking: Ontario exports less than $3-billion to China, barely half what it exports to Indiana.

In China over the next few days, the Ontario delegation expects to announce deals worth about $2-billion, although such headline figures typically represent an optimistic view of the business that can be done.

Ms. Wynne arrived in Beijing little more than a month after Chinese President Xi Jinping consolidated his power through a twice-a-decade congress in which he offered a new vision of China under the strict leadership of the Communist Party.

"The Party exercises overall leadership over all areas of endeavour in every part of the country," he said.

Chinese authorities have sought to make that vision a reality, building up new party committees inside private and foreign firms, imprisoning dissidents, pursuing "sinicization" of religion and dragging large numbers of people into political re-education.

Ms. Wynne said she is willing to discuss her views on China's human rights record "if I am asked," but otherwise deferred to Ottawa.

"I think it really is for our national leaders to speak to the national leaders [in China] on those issues," she said.

"My role is to connect our economies."

She acknowledged, however, that intermingling of China's corporate and party interests could complicate matters for Canada as it contemplates a free-trade agreement with China.

As if to underscore the point, Ms. Wynne attended a signing ceremony on Friday for the establishment of a $500-million high-tech venture fund between Ontario mutual fund dealer Queen Financial Group and two Chinese firms, Funding Investment Management and China Taihe Group.

According to Taihe, one of the aims of the fund is "the export of 'OBOR' concepts," a reference to the Beijing-led One Belt One Road, a concept that seeks to spread China's development model and extend the influence of its corporations.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to announce the formal launch of free-trade talks during a visit to China in early December.

Ms. Wynne supports the idea, but acknowledged the difficulties it could present for manufacturing and agriculture in Ontario.

"There's a sense that we don't want to be taken over – we don't want to be taken over by the United States, we don't want to be taken over by China. And by taken over, I mean our economy kind of subsumed," Ms. Wynne said.

But as neighbours of the United States, "we actually know what it's like to deal with a giant right beside us," she said.

When it comes to free trade with China, she added, "there need to be caveats and there need to be protections. But I think if we stay out of the game, I think if we pretend that somehow we'll be fine if all these other countries connect with China and we just stay at home – I think we're missing huge opportunity. And I don't think that's smart."

With reporting by Alexandra Li.



FINANCE



Department of Finance Canada. November 23, 2017. Minister Morneau Holds Pre-Budget Roundtable With Leaders on Gender Budgeting and the Economy

Toronto, Ontario – When you have an economy that works for the middle class, you have a country that works for everyone. A meaningful and transparent discussion around gender and other intersecting identities allows for a greater understanding of the challenges this country faces, and helps the Government make informed decisions to address those challenges—with better results for the middle class and all Canadians.

The investments the Government of Canada has made in people, communities and the economy are working. Over 500,000 new jobs have been created since 2015 and the unemployment rate is nearly the lowest it has been in a decade. Canada now has the fastest-growing economy in the G7, giving the Government the ability to reinvest the benefits of that growth back into the people who contributed most to that success.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau today held a roundtable at the Rotman School of Management's Institute for Gender and the Economy, during which participants discussed how the Government can build on its first ever Gender Statement and take further action to ensure that all Canadians—men and women—can have an equal opportunity to thrive and succeed in Canada's economy.

This roundtable discussion is part of the Government of Canada's consultations for Budget 2018. During these pre-budget consultations, Canadians are invited to provide their ideas and priorities on how the Government can make sure they are ready for the changes and opportunities that lie ahead, and what their family, community and country need to face the future with confidence.

As Canada's economy continues to grow, it is important to ensure that the middle class and those working hard to join it have an opportunity to contribute to and benefit from that growth. That means continuing to make smart investments in people and communities to ensure continued progress for the middle class, and investing in lifelong learning to give Canadians the tools they need to find good, well-paying jobs in the economy of tomorrow. It also means ensuring that government policy and budget decisions consider impacts on different groups of women and men.

Over the coming weeks, Canadians can submit their ideas as part of pre-budget consultations in person and online through: http://www.budget.gc.ca/pbc18.

Quote

"Our Government believes that Canadian women and men should have equal opportunity to realize their full potential. A meaningful discussion around gender, like the one I held at the Institute for Gender and the Economy today, provides a greater understanding of the challenges we face in advancing this goal, and allows us as a government to make informed decisions to address and overcome these challenges—and to help build a better country for all Canadians."

- Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance

See also:


StatCan. 2017-11-24. Quarterly financial statistics for enterprises, third quarter 2017


Overall operating profits

Canadian corporations earned $100.5 billion in operating profits in the third quarter, up $7.9 billion or 8.5% from the second quarter. The financial industries were the main drivers of growth in the third quarter.

Compared with the third quarter of 2016, operating profits for Canadian corporations were up 17.2%.

Chart 1: Quarterly operating profits

Chart 1: Quarterly operating profits

Non-financial industries

In the non-financial industries, operating profits increased 3.3% from the second quarter to $65.6 billion in the third quarter, as operating revenues increased 0.3% or $2.4 billion. Operating profits were up in 11 of 17 non-financial industries.

Compared with the third quarter of 2016, operating profits for Canadian non-financial corporations increased 16.1%.

Operating profits rise in retail and wholesale trade

Operating profits in retail trade rose 0.7% from the second quarter to $5.4 billion in the third quarter, led by the food and beverages stores industry (+3.9%).

In wholesale trade, operating profits increased 2.3% from the second quarter to $7.2 billion. A 16.7% increase in the machinery, equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers led the gain.

Manufacturing sector: Petroleum and coal products manufacturing operating profits rebound

Operating profits in manufacturing were up 11.2% from the second quarter to $14.4 billion in the third quarter, with 9 of 13 manufacturing industries reporting gains.

Most of the increase in operating profits was attributable to petroleum and coal products manufacturing, up 567.8% to $1.6 billion in the third quarter—mainly due to higher oil prices. This followed a $1.2 billion decline in the second quarter.

Operating profits in food and soft drink manufacturing rose 7.1% to $1.8 billion.

Operating profits in motor vehicle and parts manufacturing declined 14.6% from the second quarter, due in part to longer than usual maintenance shutdowns in assembly plants and changes to vehicle models being manufactured in Canada. Production was also somewhat affected by strikes in the automobile sector.

Excluding petroleum and coal products manufacturing, operating profits in the manufacturing sector rose 0.4% to $12.8 billion.

Operating profits in the oil and gas extraction and support activities industry declines

The oil and gas extraction and support activities industry reported an operating loss of $450 million in the third quarter, down 21.3% from the second quarter.

Although the oil and gas extraction and support activities industry started to report lower operating losses since the first quarter of 2016, the third quarter marked the first time that the industry's losses grew. The decline was attributable to lower operating revenue, due to the maintenance shutdowns in Newfoundland and Labrador that affected conventional oil production.

Chart 2: Change in operating profits in major non-financial industries

Chart 1: Quarterly operating profits

Financial industries

Operating profits up in the financial sector

Operating profits in the financial industries rose 20.0%, up from $29.1 billion in the second quarter to $34.9 billion in the third quarter.

Operating profits for depository credit intermediation increased 9.6% from the second quarter to $12.2 billion in the third quarter. This $1.1 billion increase in operating profits was the result of higher interest revenue and lower operating expenses.

Operating profits for insurance carriers and related activities rose 196.8% to $6.7 billion in the third quarter. Life, health and medical insurance carriers ($4.7 billion) led the gain. This sharp increase was the result of fair value adjustments to actuarial liabilities, which decreased by $8.1 billion in the third quarter.

The marked decrease in fair value adjustments was likely influenced by valuation changes resulting from the Bank of Canada's rate hikes in July and September.

Net income for the life, health and medical insurance carriers rose 9.2% to $2.5 billion in the third quarter. Write offs and valuation adjustments mitigated the large increase in operating profit on lower actuarial liabilities expenses.

Property and casualty insurance carriers' operating profits declined 15.3% to $1.2 billion.

Chart 3: Finance and Insurance industries (excluding other funds and financial vehicles): Loans as a percentage of deposits

Chart 3: Finance and Insurance industries (excluding other funds and financial vehicles): Loans as a percentage of deposits

FULL DOCUMENT: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/171124/dq171124a-eng.pdf

The Globe and Mail. 24 Nov 2017. Toronto fast becoming hub for financial services, report says
JAMES BRADSHAW, BANKING REPORTER

Toronto is steadily growing as a hub for financial services, piling on a larger proportion of the country’s jobs at banks, insurers, asset managers and other firms.
The city’s metro area makes up a third of all financial-sector employment in Canada, securing its status as a vital engine for growth, according to a Conference Board of Canada report released on Thursday.
Financial-services jobs now account for 8.5 per cent of all employment in the Toronto area, after growing at an average of 2.3 per cent a year for the past decade – well ahead of the 1.5-per-cent annual average across all other sectors.
With Toronto as the core, Canada’s financial-services industry has grown at a healthy rate over the past 10 years, while firms extended their reach in other countries. But the sector’s continued growth can’t be taken for granted.
Major U.S. banking hubs such as New York and Chicago have seen their ranks of financial-services professionals shrink in that same span.
And while financial technology startups have added jobs in the short term, they are also helping drive advances in artificial intelligence and automation that could make many existing roles obsolete.
“I think there’s that tension there, certainly,” said Jennifer Reynolds, chief executive officer of the Toronto Financial Services Alliance, which sponsored the Conference Board report. “But I think having a healthy fintech ecosystem here is important. … Innovation, no doubt, is the challenge in the financial sector, and making sure we’re staying ahead.”
With 808,100 jobs, financial services accounted for 4.5 per cent of all Canadian employment in 2016, and made up 7.2 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), rising from 6.8 per cent two years ago.
Toronto directly employed 272,280 people in financial services in 2016, from tellers to insurance agents – more than half of them in banking and one fifth in insurance. But the sector also supports another 115,224 jobs indirectly in the city, mostly in consulting, legal, accounting and computer services professions.
Over all, Canada is a net exporter of financial services: Total exports more than doubled over the past decade, reaching nearly $13-billion in 2016. More than half of that is to the United States, but the trade balance could shift due to uncertainty over negotiations to redraw the North American free-trade agreement, and as U.S. leaders adopt a protectionist stand.
Even so, Ms. Reynolds pointed to Canada’s political and economic stability as well as its diversity as reasons Canada should continue to attract financial services talent. “Now is the time to go out and sell what a strength this is for Canada, and for our economy,” she said.

The Globe and Mail. 24 Nov 2017. Few will be hit by passive-income rule: PBO. In its first cost estimate of proposed tax changes, budget office says 2.5% of small businesses will be affected by new investment law
BILL CURRY

The Parliamentary Budget Officer says Ottawa’s planned changes to passive-income rules for small businesses will eventually raise up to $6-billion a year, but the spending watchdog supports the government’s claim that only a very small percentage of small businesses will be affected.
Providing the first cost estimate of the proposal, the PBO expects the plan would raise up to $1-billion a year during the first two years. This would rise gradually to up to $6-billion once the policy has been in place for 20 years.
Over all, the report estimates that about 2.5 per cent of incorporated small businesses – officially known as Canadian Controlled Private Corporations (CCPCs) – would be affected.
“One thing that surprised me when I saw the results of this study was in how the group that is affected, how small that group is,” deputy Parliamentary Budget Officer Mostafa Askari said at a news conference. “Based on the information that we have now … it would be a very small group of people.”
Mr. Askari said only about 4.3 per cent of professionals – including doctors, dentists and lawyers – would be affected by the changes related to passive-investment income.
Higher taxes on passive investments held by incorporated small businesses have been among the most controversial aspects of a package of tax proposals announced by Finance Minister Bill Morneau in July. Passive investments refer to income on investments such as stocks that are unrelated to the actual business and its active business income.
The government has said that because passive-investment income held inside a corporation can be taxed at a lower rate than if the investments were treated as personal income, the changes are necessarily to ensure high-income Canadians are not incorporating simply for the tax benefit. Businesses have countered that passive investments provide a legitimate financial cushion for businesses to rely on for downturns or retirement savings.
In addition to the passive-investment change, Mr. Morneau had also proposed restrictions on “income sprinkling” between business owners and their family members and a third measure to restrict the conversion of dividend income into lowertaxed capital gains.
In response to an outcry from the business community, opposition critics and some Liberal MPs, Mr. Morneau revised his plan in October. He dropped the proposal related to capital gains, largely maintained the proposal on income sprinkling and revised the passive-income proposal.
The passive-income plan – which will be launched as part of the 2018 budget – was revised so that it only applies to investment income above $50,000. That threshold represents a 5-per-cent return on $1-million in savings.
The income-sprinkling provisions are scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2018. Mr. Morneau has promised to release more detail, but business groups have expressed concern that those details have not yet been made public.
The PBO is working on an analysis of the income-sprinkling provisions.
Chloé Luciani-Girouard, a spokeswoman for Mr. Morneau, said 97 per cent of businesses will not be affected by the changes and that more detail will be released in the budget.
“This is not and has never been a revenue-generating exercise,” she said in an e-mail. “That being said, we believe that the eventual measures will likely generate significantly less revenues than what the PBO has estimated.”
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, a small-business lobby group, recently sent a letter to MPs noting that the October changes have not addressed all of the concerns of business owners.
“Our members remain very concerned with the parts of the proposals that appear to be moving ahead,” the letter stated. “While the changes announced by the government show some important progress, the remaining proposals will cause significant harm to Canadian small businesses.”
The Senate’s national finance committee has also been travelling the country, hearing primarily from business groups about their concerns with the proposals. Senators on the committee have noted that strong objections remain in spite of the minister’s October revisions.
Thursday’s PBO report found that CCPCs with high passive-investment income are disproportionately large in size. About 32 per cent of passiveinvestment income in 2014 was earned by firms with more than $15million in taxable capital, and represent 2.3 per cent of CCPCs. It also states that 60 per cent of all passive income – representing about $11-billion – is earned by CCPCs with no active business income, “suggesting they were set up solely for the purpose of generating income.”
The PBO numbers are broadly in line with figures released by the Finance Department in October. They showed that 1.3 per cent of CCPCs hold between $1-million and $2-million in passive investment assets and 1.6 per cent hold more than $2-million. Yet, those two categories represent nearly 90 per cent of all passive income earned by CCPCs.
The report from the PBO, which is a non-partisan body that reports to Parliament, did not weigh in on the policy merits of the government’s proposed tax changes.
“Whether it’s reasonable or not is something the politicians can decide, not us,” Mr. Askari said.

THE GLOBE AND MAIL. NOVEMBER 24, 2017. Federal deficit at $5.9-billion for first half of fiscal year
BILL CURRY

OTTAWA - The size of the federal deficit was $5.9-billion at the halfway point of the fiscal year, representing an improvement over the same period a year before.

The results of Finance Canada's monthly fiscal monitor report also suggest that the government is on pace to beat its 2017-18 deficit target of $19.9-billion.

Friday's report shows Ottawa ran a $3.2-billion deficit in September, which is up from a $2.4-billion deficit in September 2016. During the six-month period from April to September, the $5.9-billion deficit represented an improvement over the $7.8-billion deficit recorded during the same six-month period the year before.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau's October fiscal update did not announce a timeline for erasing the deficit. Instead, it outlined a scenario in which the size of deficits would decrease gradually, reaching $12.5-billion by 2022-23.

The Liberal Party campaigned in 2015 on a plan to run short-term deficits before returning the federal books to balance by 2019. That pledge was repeated in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Nov. 12, 2015, mandate letter to Mr. Morneau, which assigned the minister to "ensure that our fiscal plan is sustainable by meeting our fiscal anchors of balancing the budget in 2019-20 and continuing to reduce the federal debt-to-GDP ratio throughout our mandate."

Mr. Morneau has suggested that the debt-to-GDP ratio is a more important metric and that Canada's finances are healthy in that context. The October fiscal update said the federal debt-to-GDP ratio would decline from 31.2 per cent in 2016-17 to 28.5 per cent in 2022-23.

The Privy Council Office recently launched a website that tracks the government's progress in delivering on pledges from ministerial mandate letters.

Rather than being listed as abandoned, the balanced budget pledge was described as "underway with challenges." It also said that that the anticipated result is that the budget will be balanced "over the long term" and that the government will maintain a downward deficit and debt-ratio track.

The details of Friday's report show that over the first six months of the fiscal year, revenues were up 4.9 per cent to $146.3-billion, while program expenses rose 4.2 per cent from the same period the year before.

Some of the main sources of increased spending included a rise in elderly benefits due to changing demographics and a 12.2 per cent increase in children's benefits resulting from the new Canada Child Benefit.



AGRICULTURE



StatCan. 2017-11-24. Farm income, 2016 (revised data)


Realized net farm income increases

Realized net farm income totalled $8.4 billion in 2016, up 4.2% from the previous year. This follows a 7.1% rise in 2015, and marks the sixth increase in the past seven years.

Realized net income is the difference between a farmer's cash receipts and operating expenses, minus depreciation, plus income in kind.

The increase came despite slower growth in farm cash receipts, as total operating expenses were essentially unchanged from 2015.

Realized net income rose in six provinces: Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta. Quebec (+57.6%) and Ontario (+27.0%) contributed the most to the national increase.

Farm cash receipt growth continues, but at a slower pace

Farm cash receipts, which include market receipts from crop and livestock sales as well as program payments, rose 0.8% in 2016 to $60.3 billion. While it was the sixth consecutive increase, it was the smallest one over that period.

Market receipts totalled $57.9 billion, up 0.3% in 2016. A rise in crop revenue was sufficiently strong to offset a drop in livestock receipts.

Market receipts are the product of price and marketings. Marketings are quantities sold, using various units of measure.

Crop receipts increased 6.2% to $34.0 billion in 2016.

Canola receipts led the way, increasing 15.2% to $9.2 billion. Marketings rose 12.1%, to a record 19.5 million tonnes. Prices were up 2.8%, with demand exhibiting strength in both export and domestic markets.

A 46.2% rise in marketings combined with a 14.9% price increase pushed dry pea receipts 68.0% higher. Prices were up sharply for the first part of the year, as strong export demand supported prices.

The rise in crop receipts was moderated by declines in wheat (excluding durum) (-10.9%) and lentil (-11.0%) receipts. In both cases, declining marketings more than offset small increases in prices.

Livestock revenue fell 7.0% to $23.9 billion, as receipts declined for both cattle and calves, and hogs.

Lower prices for their stock meant cattle and calf producers saw their revenue decrease 17.2% to $8.7 billon. The 21.9% decline in price followed price hikes in 2014 (+38.3%) and 2015 (+20.2%). Ample North American cattle supplies have put downward pressure on prices.

Lower prices were also the primary factor for the 3.2% drop in hog receipts.

Moderating the decline in livestock receipts were gains in the supply-managed sector. Increased receipts for dairy (+2.4%), poultry (+2.9%) and eggs (+7.4%) were largely attributable to increases in volume sold.

Rising payments from provincial stabilization and private hail insurance contributed to the 14.4% increase in program payments.

Farm expenses hold steady

Farm operating expenses were essentially unchanged in 2016, up 0.2% to $44.9 billion.

Pesticide expenses rose 7.8%, as wet weather fostered favourable conditions for crop diseases in the Prairie provinces. This cost, along with unexceptional increases in most other expense items, was just enough to offset price-related declines in livestock and poultry purchases, fertilizer, and machinery fuel expenses.

A 1.0% rise in depreciation charges pushed total farm expenses 0.3% higher. Total farm expenses are the sum of operating expenses and depreciation costs.

Higher durum wheat and lentil inventories drive gains in total net income

Total net income grew $1.6 billion to $9.7 billion in 2016.

Total net income is realized net income adjusted for changes in farmer-owned inventories of crops and livestock. It represents the return to owner's equity, unpaid farm labour, management and risk.

Inventory changes were the primary factor for the rise, as increased on-farm stocks of wheat (including durum) and lentils more than compensated for a slight reduction in cattle inventories.

Total net income rose in Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Alberta, with the latter two provinces accounting for the bulk of the gains.

FULL DOCUMENT: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/171124/dq171124b-eng.pdf

StatCan. 2017-11-24. Dairy statistics, September 2017

Production of specialty cheese during the first three quarters of 2017 (January to September) increased 5.2% compared to the same period last year. Varieties of specialty cheeses that have increased production over that same period include parmesan (+16.0%), Havarti (+3.3%) and mozzarella (+5.5%).

However, not all varieties of specialty cheese have increased. Emmental and Swiss cheese have shown decreases for the last eight consecutive months. This has resulted in a 22.3% decrease for these products for the first three quarters of 2017, compared to the same period last year. Other varieties of specialty cheese that have decreased their production over the same period include cream cheese (-3.7%) and gouda (-22.2%).

Production of creamery butter increased on a year-over-year basis for the 13th consecutive month, rising from 6 060 tonnes in September 2016 to 7 703 tonnes in September 2017 (+27.1%).

Total cash receipts from milk and cream sold off farms totalled $534.6 million in September 2017, up 4.1% from September 2016.

FULL DOCUMENT: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/171124/dq171124d-eng.pdf



EMPLOYMENT



Employment and Social Development Canada. 2017-11-24. Backgrounder: Foreign Credential Recognition Program

Foreign Credential Recognition Program

The Foreign Credential Recognition Program aims to improve the integration of internationally trained newcomers into the workforce. The Program provides funding to and works with the provinces and territories and other stakeholders—including regulatory bodies, post‑secondary institutions sectoral stakeholders and employers—to implement projects that facilitate the assessment and recognition of qualifications acquired in other countries.

Targeted Employment Strategy for Newcomers

The Targeted Employment Strategy for Newcomers, which was announced in Budget 2017, will have three components to help newcomers enter the job market. These are:

  • improved pre-arrival supports;
  • a loan program to assist newcomers with costs of getting their foreign credentials recognized; and
  • assistance to acquire first Canadian work experience in their profession or in a field related to their profession.

The Strategy will also test innovative approaches to help skilled newcomers gain critical first Canadian work experience in their professions. Pilot projects to assess the value of foreign work experience will be implemented to learn the best ways to facilitate the critical first Canadian work experience for skilled newcomers. This could include testing initiatives such as paid internships, mentorships, and job matching, and looking at ways to help overcome employers’ reluctance to hire newcomers as a result of difficulties in assessing the value of their foreign work experience. 

A Call for Proposals for the Foreign Credential Recognition Loans Program to help newcomers with loans was launched on September 29 and the closing date is November 24. Newcomers can use the loan to cover costs associated with getting their credentials recognized.

A previous loan pilot, which ended in 2015, aimed to test models of community-based partnerships. Through this pilot, nine immigrant service and support agencies across Canada were funded to develop and deliver a loan program for internationally trained workers.

CME. November 23, 2017. Passage of Bill 148 Leaves Many Concerns Unanswered
Marie Morden

Toronto (November 23, 2017) -- Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) is concerned with the passage of Bill 148, Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017, despite repeated cautions, based on sound economic analysis and in-depth consultation with our membership, that the changes will have a negative impact on Ontario's manufacturers. "For the manufacturing sector, the substantial increase in costs of doing business in Ontario associated with Bill 148 will certainly result in fewer jobs and could impact larger investments," said Ian Howcroft, Senior Vice-President of CME. "Manufacturers are operating in a highly competitive global market and, the new and rapid increased costs to will affect Ontario's competitiveness and could result in regrettable unintended consequences that will impact businesses, workers and, the economy."

CME was pleased to see the government acknowledged its concerns through the fall economic statement and elsewhere but, cautions that these measures fall short of offsetting the costs on Bill 148Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017. "One of our member estimates the new requirements will result in $400,000 to $500,000 in new costs while the reductions in the small business corporate tax rate would save $5,000," stated Howcroft.

Other changes on scheduling and personal emergency leave continue to create a great deal of uncertainty amongst businesses as they wait for the government to address these through guidance and regulations. CME concerns about significant privacy implications associated with changes to the Labour Relations Act were also not fully addressed in the Bill.

"CME will continue to advocate on behalf of Ontario manufacturers on these issues," affirmed Howcroft.



USA



The Globe and Mail. 24 Nov 2017. Biden memoir is a meditation on life and death. Former U.S. vice-president’s Promise Me, Dad is of a different genus and species than other political memoirs – in a good way. Mr. Biden’s new book is refreshingly short for a political memoir, yet its brevity is its advantage as it delves into the politician’s personal life as well as his career.
DAVID SHRIBMAN, Special to The Globe and Mail

The political memoir is the 98pound weakling of American literature – 98 pounds because these volumes, almost always overwritten, seem to weigh that much in the hand, and weaklings because they are almost always so turgid that they’re even more a challenge to read than they must have been to write.
Hillary Clinton and George W. Bush wrote memoirs that each weighed in at exactly 512 pages – perhaps some kind of magic number of forgettable prose. Ms. Clinton’s was memorable for about three paragraphs of description of a controversial, deadly episode at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and for her glittery praise of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade pact she later repudiated under campaign pressure. And Mr. Bush’s effort? It won a big cash advance but almost no readers.
Joe Biden’s memoir is of a different genus and species altogether. For one thing, it checks in at a mere 260 pages, a deceptive figure because the book’s dimensions are undersized, the margins are huge and the space between the lines yawn almost as wide as the former vice-president’s toothy smile. Let’s stipulate from the start that its brevity is an advantage.
Promise Me, Dad is not as brief as a Trump tweet but it packs the same kind of punch, although from the left instead of the right.
Its power comes from the punch in the gut at the centre of the Biden story – actually, a one-two punch, the first one being the tragic death of his wife and daughter only weeks after his election to the Senate in 1972, and the second after the death of his promising politician son, to cancer, almost a half-century later.
So while you may think of Mr. Biden – a chronic talkaholic prone to gaffes and the how-ya-doin’-pal school of rope-line politics – as the happy warrior of U.S. political life, there is a deep stream of sadness in him. It wells up into the spare pages of this memoir, unforgettably, in this gush of grief from his diary marking the death of Beau Biden at the age of 46:
“May 30. 7:51 p.m. It happened. My God, my boy. My beautiful boy.” A few pages later comes the sort of reflection that sometimes is thrown into political memoirs to add a sprinkle of humanity to the dull pages – but that, in Mr. Biden’s case, are genuine and completely unforced:
“I have come to understand that nobody can take away all the pain, no matter how close. There are times when each of us must bear the burden of loss alone, and in his or her own way. The people who really understand that are the people carrying those burdens, too.”
These moments of regret and reflection are the main currents of this memoir, which skips briskly through his career in the Senate – breathes there another soul who spent nearly four decades on Capitol Hill who wouldn’t punish the rest of us with his lengthy recollections of his role in the House-Senate conference committee on the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia? – and focuses mainly on his years as Barack Obama’s understudy.
Here, Mr. Biden occasionally slips into the kind of insider account that’s of interest only to the principals, who in any case only pick up these sorts of volumes at the booksellers during their Washington lunch hour and search for their names in the index rather than actually buy it or, heaven forfend, read it. But Mr. Biden’s lapses into this genre are brief and, on occasion, help flesh out our view of Mr. Obama, who emerges from these pages with a warmth we seldom saw on cable.
One of Mr. Biden’s predecessors in the vice-presidency, John Nance Garner, a salty Texan who was Franklin Roosevelt’s first running mate, described the job as not being “worth a pitcher of warm piss.” A Texan of more refined sensibilities, George H. W. Bush, said his years as Ronald Reagan’s understudy could be summarized as a series of overseas funerals. “You die,” he said, “I fly.” Mr. Biden did his share of funerals as well, although his were mostly domestic. “I have found over the years that, although it brought back my own vivid memories of sad times, my presence almost always brought some solace to people who have suffered sudden and unexpected loss.” All this is from the painful passages he has endured. “When I talk to people in mourning, they know I speak from experience,” he writes. “They know I have a sense of the depth of their pain.”
What screams from these pages are not the negotiations in foreign lands, nor his agony over whether to challenge Ms. Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination last year, nor even the way he artfully nudged Mr. Obama to embrace same-sex marriage. It is, instead, the primal scream of the inspiration he drew from the courage of his son, the debilitation he felt from the struggle of his son and the devastation he felt from the death of his son. The result is a searing book that is both a memoir of Joe Biden’s life and a meditation on life itself.



MERCOSUL - UE



REUTERS. NOVEMBER 23, 2017. Mercosur to offer EU faster reduction in tariffs: Argentine negotiator
Maximiliano Rizzi

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - South American trade bloc Mercosur will offer the European Union (EU) a faster cut in import tariffs than currently included in a trade deal proposal, but will ask for the EU to accept more of its beef imports in exchange, the Argentine negotiator said.

Mercosur, whose full members include Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, is prepared to gradually reduce tariffs on imports of European goods over a period of 10 years on a majority of products, down from 15 years or more in the current proposal, chief negotiator Horacio Reyser told Reuters in an interview.

But Mercosur members whose economies depend upon agricultural exports, will also demand a “substantial increase” in the EU’s offer in an October proposal for a quota of 70,000 tonnes of tariff-free beef imports, he said.

“At the very least, it can take a year or a year and a half until all this is ratified,” said Reyser, who will travel to Brussels next week for a fresh round of negotiations.

A European diplomat familiar with the negotiations told Reuters this week the EU was prepared to improve its offer on beef, but that it would be less than 100,000 tonnes.

Reyser said Mercosur submitted a proposal to the European commission this month, outlining its conditions for a deal. He declined to give details of the proposal.

Additional reporting by Anthony Boadle in Brasilia; writing by Luc Cohen and Hugh Bronstein, editing by G Crosse


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