Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen,
and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God. Joshua 9:23
Through the decades I have listened to a fair amount of verbal hand-wringing (does that make sense?) about Canada's economy. While we are an advanced society in the global picture, constantly showing up in the top ten in virtually every category of prosperity, health, and security, economists sound the alarm that we are "hewers of wood and drawers of water." This is a phrase from the bible and as you can see that it suggests that it is isn't a good thing, that it is a form of servitude. In reference to the Canadian economy it is the reminder that while we are wealthy in natural resources it may not be wise to put too many resource eggs in the economic basket. Yes, we have lots of oil, minerals, wood, and water, but these are finite resources and a diversified economy is essential to maintaining our well-being.
We're back in hand-wringing mode as the price of oil continues to decline. The "wisemen" (and women) of the economic prognosticators are saying "my bad" when it comes to predictions about the value of a barrel of crude. Rather than $200 a barrel, as some were suggesting, we're heading toward $60, and the nearly $40 drop is an eight billion dollar hit to the Canadian economy over the course of a year.
There was also an article in the Globe and Mail on the weekend charting the decline of the pulp and paper and lumber industries.
What I find interesting is that so many of the environmental groups, along with the Green Party, have argued that an earth-care agenda can actually make economic sense. When we become overly dependent on one sector -- any sector -- in the economy it leaves the Canadian economy vulnerable.
Our current federal government has been determined to go "all in" on oil, putting pressure on the United States government to approve the Keystone pipeline. Even though the US and China made a recent announcement about reducing greenhouse emissions and addressing climate change Canada refuses to set targets or take any kind of a lead in this regard. We can be sure that the Lima Climate Change Conference in Peru will be pressing Canada to make changes as one of the wealthier nations of the world and our leaders will have their earplugs in.
I appreciate the wealth which can and will be generated through the resource sectors for this country, I certainly haven't complained as I pay less than a buck a litre for gas, although I probably shouldn't see this as a good thing. I do hope and pray we will wake up and decide that being "hewers of wood and drawers of water" --and oil --can be a curse as well as a blessing. We must use our ingenuity to look elsewhere for prosperity.
Thoughts?
The resource economy has always been the "quick fix" solution for politicians of all stripes. They want to reduce taxes to unsustainable levels (no badge of honour, or courage, there!), when applied to the cost of services for the rest of us. All that interests them is their next re-election bid and whatever it takes to make themselves look good. There is no vision to truly diversify our economy for the long run and to enhance good employment opportunities for our young people.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of us also have to get real and be prepared to pay more, especially for those who can afford to do so. (TANSTAAFL - There ain't no such thing as a free lunch!)