We're Number 11! We're Number 11!

Friday, August 29, 2008 03:57 AM

Prince George, B.C.- B.C has the eleventh best performing labour market in North America! That's the latest from the Fraser Institute which pegs Alberta with leading North America with the best performing labour market over the past five years.

“For the past five years Alberta has enjoyed strong employment growth, high levels of worker productivity, and low durations of unemployment, making it the best performing labour market overall,” said Niels Veldhuis, co-author of the study and Director of Fiscal Studies at The Fraser Institute.

British Columbia has the second-best labour market in Canada but is ranked 11th in North America, with Saskatchewan finishing third in Canada and 14th among all 10 provinces and 50 U.S. states.

The study, Measuring Labour Markets in Canada and the United States: 2008 Report, assesses the performance of labour markets and examines characteristics which impact performance. The study includes an overall measure of labour market performance based on five indicators: total employment growth, private sector employment growth, unemployment rates, duration of unemployment, and labour productivity over the years 2003-2007.

Aside from Alberta, the rest of the top 10 rated jurisdictions are U.S. states, lead by Nevada, Utah, and Alaska. At number 11, BC narrowly missed the top 10.Ontario and Quebec, ranked 25th and 50th respectively. Newfoundland was the lowest rated province at 51st with the remainder of the Atlantic provinces all ranked in the bottom half on labour market performance.

The study also examines four aspects of labour markets that directly affect labour market performance: public sector employment, unionization, minimum wages, and labour relations laws.

All provinces, with the exception of Alberta, also maintain relatively high minimum wages which have been proven to reduce employment and on-the-job training.

“Canadian provinces should reduce public sector employment, pursue more balanced and less prescriptive labour laws, and avoid increasing minimum wages to improve the functioning of their labour markets,” Veldhuis said.

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Posted on Friday, August 29, 2008 03:57 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: REALIST on August 29 2008 4:06 AM

The Fraser Institute has about as much credibility as the World Wrestling Federation. They heavily funded by and act for Neo-conservatives. Shame on anyone using this sham as a valid source for anything.

Posted by: RRrabbitt on August 29 2008 6:11 AM

Hey Realist !!!.... don't insult the WWF... they are pure entertainment and do not disguise themselves as anything other than that ... TFI pretends to be a serious enterprise doing a "serious" job of thinking for us.

Peace.

V.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on August 29 2008 6:30 AM

The Fraser Institute does make more sense though than the neo-communists at the Policy Alternatives lobby. Canadians seem most comfortable living as close as we can to the communist side without damaging the economy too much. Small swings left or right, as is the case in BC politics, certainly prove this out regularly. The NDP get in and the wages go up and the people start loossing their houses. The Liberals get in and the controls are removed and the employment numbers go back up. The crash in the lumber market would have lead to deficit financing and a Have-Not status with the NDP in the office.

Posted by: gus on August 29 2008 6:51 AM

reduce public sector employment = increase high cost contractors from outside

less prescriptive labour laws = more appeals and arbitration

avoid increasing minimum wages to improve the functioning of their labour markets = low paying jobs = less money returned to the economy = more need for social services

Pretty smart!

Posted by: ammonra on August 29 2008 7:31 AM

The trouble with the neo-fascist jackboot brigade in the Fraser Institute is that they have "no" vision for the province. They see everything throught the lenses of no unions, no taxes, no public services, no health care, etc, etc, etc. Just remember, in the past this self-styled policy making lobbyist group has been caught out twisting and distorting data in order to justify reaching the conclusions they wanted to reach before their "study".

Just a question, how much do you think Liberal Government policies on log exports, apputenance and other related matters has played in the destruction of our Lumber industry? I was under the impression Gordon Campbell and his Minister of Forests bragged about their competence in this area, but all I see is a complete fiasco.

I wonder, how many lumber industry workers have left the province? How many have lost their houses?

Posted by: HD on August 29 2008 7:33 AM

Quote:

�Canadian provinces should reduce public sector employment, pursue more balanced and less prescriptive labour laws, and avoid increasing minimum wages to improve the functioning of their labour markets,� Veldhuis said.
--------------------------

Veldhuis is right. We employ to many "power trip" civil servants doing nothing. Labour laws need a good overhaul. Increasing minimum wages would be nuts, it would costs 1000's of jobs all over the province.

Which small bus. can afford to pay a unexperienced worker over 10 dollars/hour?

Posted by: socredible on August 29 2008 8:31 AM

Why do you people, on both the 'left' and the 'right', never look at the most important aspect of the whole situation:- just WHAT those wages, whether they be high or low, will actually BUY?

Are they buying 'more' today than they were a decade ago, or 'less'? That's the true test of whether ANY government is doing a good job or not. Whether your standard of living is rising faster than your cost of living. And in BC, under the current regime, it certainly is NOT. The cost of living is rising faster, far faster, for most of us.

You focus on the ridiculous notion of 'full-employment' as if every advancement of modern science had no other purpose but to give someone a 'job'.

Forget about the stupid 'job', and focus on a way to distribute 'incomes' without mixing outdated moral ideas from the 1st century, ("let no man eat unless he has first worked"), with 21st century 'machine age' economic reality.

Labour is being displaced. Continually. That's a sign of progress, not something to wail about. We should be displacing even more of it. Who wants to be a drudge, or to take ten hours to turn out some product 'by hand' when a machine could do the same thing automatically in ten minutes?

But you need to distribute an 'income' to allow the consumption of whatever product that is, or its production is a complete waste of time, regardless of how its carried out.

Even if you had 100% 'full-employment', at high wages or low wages, you still could NOT SELL ALL YOU ARE PRODUCING FOR THE FULL COSTS OF ITS PRODUCTION.

WHY? Because current wages are only a PART, and a continually DECREASING PART, (even if in many individual instances they're increasing), of the OVERALL COSTS of that PRODUCTION.

Face the facts, people, don't waste your time rehashing old arguments of the 'left' vs. 'right' variety that have NO SOLUTION whatsoever within the context they've been limited to.

Posted by: realitysetsin on August 29 2008 10:06 AM

Fraser institute is what it is.... but this still surprised me...

Posted by: govsux on August 29 2008 10:08 AM

I think people are already losing their houses and the NDP aren't even in power yet! Poor forest policy under the current crooks in Victoria has resulted in the toughest times the industry has ever seen. Don't tell me its because of the U.S. housing, the dollar, etc. These issues have all reared their ugly heads before.
If the libs are our economic saviours, why has their been no major industry introduced under their watch. The boom is ending and the olympic construction is the only thing keeping our numbers up. Despite record prices for minerals, how many mines have been opened under Gordo's watch. I thought when the Libs took over, the capital strike that big business imposed on the province would end.......It didn't.
The NDP is ahead of the liberals in the latest poll!!! That tells me this party really sucks. I thought it would take longer than 8 years for people to wash the taste of the NDP outta their mouths.
The only thing this government has done is sell off our province's public resources to its corporate buddies.
Cheap power was one of the few things that would lure heavy industry to this province. Kiss that goodbye.
We need a party that doesn't cater to special interests, or follow a particular ideology.
I have never voted NDP before, but if it means keeping hydro and public forests they may just get my vote.

BAN LOG EXPORTS, FISH FARMS, THE SELL OFF OF PUBLIC POWER, AND DOUBLE DIGIT WAGE INCREASES FOR THE BIG WIGS IN VICTORIA!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on August 29 2008 10:33 AM

The trouble with the neo-communsit jackboot brigade in the Policy Alternative committee is that they have "no" vision for the province. They see everything throught the lenses of big unions, more taxes, lots of public services, limited health care, etc, etc, etc. Just remember, in the past this self-styled policy making lobbyist group has been caught out twisting and distorting data in order to justify reaching the conclusions they wanted to reach before their "study".

Heehee!

Posted by: I support the working class on August 29 2008 11:07 AM

YamaDooPolCat you stated

"The trouble with the neo-communsit jackboot brigade in the Policy Alternative committee is that they have "no" vision for the province. They see everything throught the lenses of big unions, more taxes, lots of public services, limited health care, etc, etc, etc. Just remember, in the past this self-styled policy making lobbyist group has been caught out twisting and distorting data in order to justify reaching the conclusions they wanted to reach before their "study"."

You might find this site interesting, maybe reviewing what the World Health Organization (WHO) report recommends.

http://www.who.int/social_determinants/final_report/en/index.html

I see big changes in our future, and the "WHO" has the evidence to support their recommendations.

The United Nations will be receiving these recommendations for implementation. The United Nations is made up of 193 members (states) from around the world.

Posted by: I support the working class on August 29 2008 11:15 AM

I stated " The United Nations is made up of 193 members (states) from around the world."

Here is the facts off the "WHO"

Countries

All countries which are Members of the United Nations may become members of WHO by accepting its Constitution. Other countries may be admitted as members when their application has been approved by a simple majority vote of the World Health Assembly. Territories which are not responsible for the conduct of their international relations may be admitted as Associate Members upon application made on their behalf by the Member or other authority responsible for their international relations. Members of WHO are grouped according to regional distribution (193 Member States).

http://www.who.int/countries/en/

Also here is some more info:

Inequities are killing people on a "grand scale"
28 August 2008 -- Differences in mortality between - and within - countries result from the social environment where people are born, live, grow, work and age. These "social determinants of health" have been the focus of a three-year investigation. The recommendations from this investigation, released today, focus on policies to redress social equalities globally, nationally and locally.

http://www.who.int/en/

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on August 29 2008 5:10 PM

The UN has slid into it's own pile of poopoo. The UN has become, as Stalin once said of western comunists, a bunch of useful idiots.

Posted by: Harbinger on August 29 2008 5:44 PM

Saw a bumper sticker that said, "Free enterprise is too expensive".