Canada is in a sorry state after eight-and-a-half years of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Pictured: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Photo Credit: Justin Trudeau/X.
Here are 24 facts for 2024 that reflect the state of the country, that is Canada after eight-and-a-half years of Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister.
15. Bankruptcies Up: Business insolvencies are spiking at a rate not seen in four decades – increasing 87 per cent between the first quarter of 2023 and 2024, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy. The recorded 2,000 insolvencies are a fraction of the actual number; a Canadian Federation of Independent Business survey suggests only 10 per cent of businesses consider officially filing for bankruptcy. To this point, Statistics Canada data shows 43,121 businesses “closed” in January 2024.
16. Lowered Living Standards: The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has forecasted that Canada will be the worst performing economy through to 2060. The OECD projects growth in Canadian living standards will be the worst of all developed member-countries.
17. Negative Economic Growth: Statistics Canada reports that the annual productivity figure for 2023 decreased by 1.8 per cent (Canada’s productivity rate had fallen for six straight quarters through this time). Canada’s (negative) productivity rate is now at the very bottom of the G7 Nations (2019-2024) and it has fallen behind countries like Austria, Ireland, Australia, and Finland.
18. Canadians Falling Behind: Canadian productivity is dropping fast, decreasing income and living standards. If the economy had advanced at the trend it was in 2015, Canadians would be earning an extra $4,200 per year (Statistics Canada). In 1984, the Canadian economy was producing 88 per cent of the value generated by the American economy per hour and, in 2022, this productivity rate had fallen to just 71 per cent of that of the U.S. (Trevor Tombe of the University of Calgary). Ontario now has a per-person level of economic output that is similar to Alabama… the Maritimes are below Mississippi.
19. Canadian Resource Development Drying Up: Natural Resources Canada had an inventory of 88 major resource projects at a value of $711 billion in the country in 2015. In 2023, this has dropped to 56 projects at a value of $572 billion. Investment in Canada’s oil and gas, electricity, and mining sectors are down 43 – 55 per cent. If Canada had retained 2015 levels of planned investment and kept pace with inflation, the figure in 2023 should be $886 billion.
20. A Population Surge: As of March 27, Statistics Canada reports the country’s population topped 41 million people – and this is just nine months after Canada’s population surpassed the 40 million mark on June 16, 2023. In 2023, Canada added 1,271,872 people to our land and this represents a growth rate of 3.2 per cent, the highest rate of the world’s developed countries. When the Trudeau government took office in 2015, Canada’s estimated population was below 36 million (35,851,800 on July 1, 2015).
21. An Immigration Surge: Since the pandemic years, Canada has taken in over a million foreigners per year (permanent, non-permanent and asylum seekers). Canada has taken in the greatest number of third-world migrants in the world, resulting in the greatest population growth rate of any G7 country – and greater than China and India. Almost all (98 per cent) of scheduled immigrants come from India, China, Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria, and other African countries (only two per cent will come from UK/Europe). The 2021 census reveals that first- and second-generation immigrants now account for 44 per cent of Canada’s population.
22. High Costs of Asylum Seekers: Blacklock’s Reporter reports “room and board for illegal immigrants is costing an average $224 per day” according to a government’s official response to an MP inquiry. The news source also states, “By comparison the federal minimum wage pays $138 per day, Employment Insurance a maximum $95 per day and Old Age Security $26 daily.” (This news drew lively debate on X, with residents of Niagara commenting that this does not factor for translation services, health care, day care, social services mentoring, transportation, cell phone and internet, and the bureaucrat costs to manage the Nigerians currently in Niagara.)
23 Increasing Need for Food Banks: Food Banks Canada reports there were 1.9 million visits to food banks in March 2023 – a 32 per cent increase year-over-year. Demand for food banks across Canada will increase by 18 percent in 2024 and one in three (36 per cent) will be forced to turn hungry Canadians away, according to Second Harvest. More than one on four (27 per cent) of food bank clients nationwide are newcomers to Canada (10 years or less), but one Scarborough food bank reports 72 per cent of its clients had only been in Canada less than a year.
24 State-Sponsored Euthanasia is Up: Canada has the fastest growing rate of state-sponsored euthanasia deaths in the world. People choosing Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) increased by 31.2 per cent in 2022 and the 13,241 euthanized Canadians account for 4.1 per cent of all deaths in Canada. With an expanded criteria to be considered for the MAiD procedure, it has been reported in media some Canadians have sought euthanasia for intolerable living conditions.
There is a familiar quip about life’s two certainties being death and taxes. In Canada, this is quite apparent, and after eight-and-a-half years of the Trudeau Liberals, it has become increasingly so.
Chris George is an advocate, government relations advisor, and writer/copy editor. As president of a public relations firm established in 1994, Chris provides discreet counsel, tactical advice and management skills to CEOs/Presidents, Boards of Directors and senior executive teams in executing public and government relations campaigns and managing issues. Prior to this PR/GR career, Chris spent seven years on Parliament Hill on staffs of Cabinet Ministers and MPs. He has served in senior campaign positions for electoral and advocacy campaigns at every level of government. Today, Chris resides in Almonte, Ontario where he and his wife manage www.cgacommunications.com. Contact Chris at chrisg.george@gmail.com.
