“What happened to the Canadian advantage? For years after the great recession of 2008-09, Canadians comforted ourselves with the fact that our economy had survived the experience in better shape than most other countries, especially the United States. But the most recent survey of Canadian business leaders tells us that this sense of superiority is, decidedly, no longer the case. C suite executives see the American economy poised to dramatically outperform ours over the next 12 months.”
That was the lead paragraph of a March 30th story in the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business Section. The comments were based on the latest of the paper’s periodic surveys of the economic outlook of Canadian corporate executives. But the superiority of the USA over Canada in total and full-time job creation is not a prediction for the future, linked to the recent steep decline in the price of oil. It has been a glaring fact for the past two years.
Between February 2013 and February 2015 the number of jobs created in Canada rose by 1.3% compared to an increase of 3.4% in the United States. Full-time job creation in the USA over the same period rose by 4.5%, three times the increase of 1.5% recorded in Canada.
Yes, as difficult as it may be for ROB reporters, Canadian business executives and other apologists for the current government to believe, Stephen Harper and his team have, over the past two years generated only one-third the percentage growth in full-time jobs experienced by the USA under Barrack Obama and a dysfunctional Congress. Since 2009 the Harper government has spent millions of our tax dollars on advertisements crowing about their vaunted Economic Action Plan for jobs and growth and their skill as economic managers. You have to spend a lot of money to make that claim when your record doesn’t support it.

Last week Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke to the United States Congress at the invitation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner. In the context of reports that the United States, in concert with the other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and other major powers, was about to come to an agreement with Iran restricting its capacity to develop and deploy nuclear weapons, Mr. Netanyahu’s advice to those negotiating with Iran was simple. Walk away, step up sanctions against Iran and they will come back offering better terms.
Just under fifteen years ago at the Camp David Summit Yasar Arafat, then the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, was in a position similar to that faced by the USA today. Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, with the support of the USA , had offered him an independent Palestinian state consisting of the entire Gaza Strip and 73% (rising to 91% over the next 10-25 years) of the West Bank including pockets of East Jerusalem.
Playing the part of Netanyahu, Hamas and PLO hardliners pressured Arafat to refuse the offer and to launch new attacks against Israel, confidently predicting that the Israelis would soon come back with a better offer. We all know how well that strategy worked out for the Palestinians.
Fortunately, President Obama does not seem willing to repeat Arafat’s mistake.
Walking away from the negotiating table and putting additional pressure on your adversaries in the belief that will that they will come back with a better offer is just what it appears to be: a high stakes gamble based on wishful thinking.