How bad is the economy going to hit the fan

I have to redo my mortgage in June. An economic downturn would help me as well but I'm definitely one of those people that worries about the greater good.

My moms family is from Kitchener. We drove by that Toyota plant this spring when we visited them. We need to start providing incentives for the large North American companies to put there plants in Canada again and penalize the ones who move there support or manufacturing overseas.

Saying that, it's easier said then done. Companies are so good at getting through and creating loopholes I'm not sure if it can be done.

*Edit* I'm also not sure if stealing manufacturing from the USA is always a good idea either, since that seems to be a self destructive cycle and I'd like to see more finished goods leaving the port of Vancouver.

 

For sure, we're a Canadian based company, never had any relation to the states besides some of the parts that are on the machines come up from there and that they are the majority of our market. But all the management, manufacuturing, engineering, and staff in general are in Canada.

The thing Toyota has going for them is that their auto workers aren't unionized, so there isn't lazy work and the people there isn't time wasted with contract no-go-tiations. So they have the upper hand on the big 3 that way here because of that.

I also viewed the housing market a bit there before Christmas and there really wasn't anything worth while on the market. If we hit another recession more properties will become available and the prices will be less expensive, so it will basically do good for the younger folks like myself when we need to get out of our parents basements.

 

I would also like to see more finished goods leaving BC , watching freighter after freighter load up to the crane cabs with raw logs and ship out every couple days is pretty depressing

 

You should see the amount of Potash trains that go by my house. I realize you can do a lot more with wood than Potash, but Potash isn't a renewable resource and right now half of ours is going to China on soil that can't produce worth two shites.

 

Using the term " renewable " with the coastal logging can be a misnomer , when you harvest 300-800 year old trees , you aren't going to replace that volume , quality or bio-diversity again by waiting 80 years . It's a shame that the only economic benefit to those logs is in a small stumpage fee and a few direct jobs in the mostly foreign owned forestry companies that dropped the trees and transported them to the salt chuck .

I would like to see a far larger benefit for the local economy for the removal of these forests that are the property of the BC taxpayer

 

Agreed on all points. Only thing is that when North America runs out of Potash and Phosphorus then there's no more high yield farming... not without major changes in the way we do things anyways that will waste a ton of energy.

 

There are some major layoffs taking place in the oil business right now. Saudi Arabia is loving every bit of it. I also heard a so called expert on the radio that by late summer we are going to have a major stock market drop. In the mean time it's nice to see gas prices where they are.I wonder when a quart of oil at napa will go down.

 

Never. Just like a bread company, they only increase the price a dollar when the price of wheat goes up by a few cents a loaf. They don't believe in price decreases because of cost increases and stuff yeah know .

 

Watched an interesting piece on the news about how car manufactures have come out saying that they will be forced to raise prices of vehicles in Canada due to the Canadian dollar being at 85 cents US , the report went on to show how a few years back when the Canadian dollar was above the US greenback in value , the same manufacturers felt no need to lower prices

 

Its the same idea for food prices at the grocery store. When the cost of gasoline goes north, so do the local food prices - always get the same story about how it costs more to get the food from the producers to the consumers (which makes sense, I do get that).

But with gas being as cheap as it is, why on earth has a head of lettuce at the grocery store stayed the same? It is easy to justify raising the costs of products when oil goes up, but god forbid they return the favor instead of keeping major profit.

 

I work in Agriculture. Trust me, all the money is made by transport companies and processors. Your local independent grocer and the farmer get pennies on the dollar.

For example, Sunflower Seed is worth between $.25-$.44 a pound. To turn it into something you'd eat you roast it in a coffee roaster, flavour it, than bag it. It's literally a short process and it doesn't cost $.10 per pound to do. Finished Sunflower Seeds sell for about $6 a pound with a $5.50 DRP (dealer retail price). Who do you think made all the money .

 

I am glad that there is some like thinking between us Canadian Taco owners. I have been barking about the "all the eggs in one basket" economic theory for some time.

Does anyone know where I can get some good Canadian made parts for my Taco? I would sure like to support Canadians when I buy stuff even if I have to pay more. (although it will probably be less as I won't have to pay currency exchange.

 

Look into Cruising Offroad. Great guy to deal with and he's in BC. OZ will also vouch for him.

 

Price is always a function of offer and demand - in the short run it might be off - but in the long run it will all fall into place

 

True, but in between the short and long run it's going to get ugly.

The construciton industry is booming here in Colorado, but I fear the coming energy bust may push us into another recession by 2016.

 

Yep

 

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. . . ^ ^ ^ . . . This would help all of Canada, not just BC. For many years, I was based mainly out of Canada (based some out of Finland & German too) and Canada will get it right after this small bump in the road, but Alberta will take a harder hit.

We built "mostly finished goods" (fire trucks and specialized vehicles & military equipment) in Canada (imported parts & materials from outside for Thibault & Bombardier). Thibault is long gone and Bombardier got too ambitious in the aircraft division and needs to reorganize. Oshkosh, Bronto Skylift, E-1 & Pierce got some of the bones of Thibault.

I have a lot of respect for the common sense of Canadians and they will do well after this world wide economic problem. This is a global problem in oil, with lower demand, higher production & the Saudis' want to run everybody else out of the oil business with their production costs (lowest in the world) at maybe $18.00 - $19.00 USD per barrel.
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Transportation costs will rise again as the trucking industry is realizing they have to pay drivers more money and benefits to entice them to stay and or start a driving career. There are around 200,000 unfilled driving jobs in the industry.

 

I'm guessing that's a union fueled number. I hire drivers in Alberta. We don't have THAT much of a problem finding people even for temp positions.

Food prices on the shelf are driven by the need to satisfy the shareholders of large processors with larger and larger profits. Under 10 percent of there value comes from the farmer. It's sick.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/can...nt-ahead-of-bank-of-canada-decision-1.2919540