To The Outside World, Canada Now Irrelevant

by Judi McLeod at canadafreepress.com

It’s no longer just a Canadian complaint. “Canada’s decline into irrelevance” is now recognized by the outside world.

‘Philip Cross: From swaggering to staggering: Canada’s decline into irrelevance’-headline, Financial Post, Jan 31, 2024

No one articulates Canada’s decline better than Cross, a senior fellow at the highly respected Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

1. 1. 1. “It is remarkable how much attitudes about Canada have shifted, both here and abroad, over the past 10 years. A decade ago, riding the wave of a booming economy, Canada was widely admired for a banking system that had got through the 2008-2009 global financial crisis without government bailouts. Today the country’s global stature is much diminished and Canadians are rapidly losing confidence in their economic prospects.(Financial Post, Jan 31, 2024)
         1. “In the years leading up to 2016 Canadians grew accustomed to global accolades. In a 2003 cover story, The Economist touted the prospects for “cool Canada,” following up in 2006 that Canada’s relative economic performance made it a “superstar” as the “only country running both current-account and budget surpluses.” Steve Poloz, then chief economist at EDC, said in 2005 the stars were aligned for Canadian firms to achieve the “productivity miracle” already realized in the U.S. In 2012, the OECD secretariat forecast Canada’s economic growth would lead the G7 nations over the next 50 years. Our AAA credit rating, stable economy and resource riches prompted the IMF in 2012 to recommend central banks hold more currency reserves in Canadian dollars, leading to headlines about “loonie set to join global currency elite” as a safe haven in turbulent times.”

      But all of Canada’s star shine as a nation was back in the days when Stephen Harper was Canadian Prime Minister, where he led the Land of the Maple Leaf for almost ten years years, from February 2006, to November 2015.

      Canada started its deep downward trend with the 2015 election of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.