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Pulling Together?
Today's edition of the Toronto Star carried the news that a decline in crossover vehicle sales has led Ford to delay "the addition of a third shift and hundreds of jobs at its Oakville assembly plant." This follows two months of bad news for Ontario from GM
. Across the country, Canadian communities have been seriously affected by the economic turndown. Here in Ontario it is the automotive and manufacturing sectors that have taken the front line hits. In Quebec, it's been the pulp and paper industry and its manufacturing sector, notably furniture. In British Columbia the pulp and paper industry has suffered. The cost of fuel has risen, the cost of housing has gone up, the cost of food has increased and Canadians are no longer optimistic about the future. When I arrived at the office today, there was a release from TNS Canadian Facts with the latest findings from that company's research into consumer confidence in my mailbox. According to TNS, in the last eight months the consumer confidence index has fallen 11.5 percent. "Waning consumer confidence is further evidence of softening domestic demand and bad news for Canadian business. The decline comes as the Bank of Canada places emphasis on the downside risk of higher inflation rather than on stimulating demand," said Richard Jenkins, vice-president of TNS Canadian Facts and director of the marketing research firm's monthly tracking study.
But Jenkins is only providing evidence of something most Canadians know. And, as every retailer knows, that lack of confidence has trickled down and right into their store. Whatever the cause, Canadians aren't shopping like they used to. However, the front page of today's Star also carried the good news that the federal government has agreed to inject nearly $7 billion dollars into Ontario's aging infrastructure. In the article, Bruce Campion-Smith and Rob Ferguson report that the money means "construction projects and more jobs for the struggling province."
In the comments section of the article, the skeptics--and people do have every right to be skeptical, even cynical--point out that the Federal government made the announcement the day after it was reported that Federal Liberal leader Stephan Dion thought Canadians would be interested in a fall election. Others point out that the $7 billion is a band-aid on a gaping wound. There is, no doubt, truth in both statements. But, whatever the motivation for the funding or its ultimate efficacy, at least it's a signal that the levels of government--federal, provincial, and municipal--might be starting to pull together to help the economy and the Canadians they were elected to serve. It's about time.
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Lori Smith, , Editor-in-Chief
Lori Smith is the editor of Gifts and Tablewares, Canada's premiere gifts and tablewares magazine. Written for retailers of gifts, tablewares, housewares, stationery and home furnishing accessories, its objective is to help readers increase their sales and run their businesses more profitably by providing information on new products, merchandising, small business management, customer service, consumer behavior and industry news. The magazine is published six times a year by BIG Magazines, LP, a leading Canadian information company.
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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on July 24, 2008 11:02 AM.
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