11-28-06, 9:22 a.m.
Despite bourgeois claims to the contrary, capitalism remains the same crisis-ridden economic system it has always been. The Canadian economy continues to be hit by cycles of boom and bust, recovery and crisis. The long-term trend is towards further concentration of wealth and ownership at the top, and increasing desperation and poverty at the bottom.... Even at the height of this economic upturn, over one million Canadians are officially counted as jobless. In some parts of the country, the spike in resource prices has led to a shortage of certain skilled trades and some limited wage gains. But the bigger picture remains - an overall decline in manufacturing employment, cuts in the public sector, and a long-term trend towards low-wage, part-time and precarious employment. There are ominous signs of a new economic crisis, such as the downturn in US housing prices which may foretell a collapse with severe consequences for Canadian working people. There will be another recession here - the only question is how soon, and how deep.
The real winners in today's economy are the corporations. Profits are at record levels, yet wages are falling as a share of the overall economy, and inequality is growing wider. Over the past fifteen years, productivity in Canada has advanced by close to 2% per year, while the real wages of the bottom half of the workforce have barely increased....
Corporate pre-tax profits now account for a record-high share of Canada's national income - 14.6% of GDP compared to a twenty-five year average of 10%. Pre-tax corporate profits in the second quarter of 2006 were $196.1 billion, compared to $183.7 billion in the same quarter of 2005. Yet the corporate tax-rate was cut from 28% in 2000, to 23% in 2006....
Taking account of inflation, minimum wages and social assistance rates are far below the levels of the 1980s, driving millions of Canadians deeper into poverty. One fifth of Canadian children live below the poverty line, making a mockery of Parliament's vow to end child poverty by the year 2000. Homelessness is skyrocketing; in Vancouver, the number of people living on the streets is projected to nearly triple by the year 2010, as low-income housing is closed down leading up to the Winter Olympics.
There is a sharp racist edge to poverty in Canada. Right across the country, Aboriginal peoples remain by far the poorest section of the population, with the highest school dropout, unemployment, and incarceration rates. On many reserves and other Aboriginal communities, residents lack clean drinking water, and health conditions are abysmal.
-From the December 1-31, 2006 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper.
From People's Voice
