We released a new report today that measures the impact of economic slowdown on hiring demand in Ontario’s 905-communities surrounding the city of Toronto, and looks into what may be in store for the future. (more…)

This year’s G8 summit in Japan resulted in a commitment from the leaders of some of the world’s largest economies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050. It is ironically symbolic that this resolution was made in a place not far away from another Japanese city where a similar – but much stronger – commitment had been made a decade ago. If the Kyoto treaty failed to produce the results it was intended to produce, why should the G8 summit’s resolution be any better? (more…)

One opportunity to prevent environmental damage that has so far been widely overlooked is the opportunity to take actions that would simply eliminate the need for people to commute. As far as commuting goes, all efforts so far have been focused on accommodating it and reducing its impact, not on curbing it. Some say that commuting is not really preventable, but I would argue that this is exactly the sort of attitude that needs to change for people to really help the environment - and our communities.

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There has been much talk lately about introducing tolls on Toronto’s roads. The major arguments of those in favour are:

1. Tolls will help bring in much needed money to be invested in the GTA’s public transit.
2. Tolls will take some people off the roads by making it more expensive to make non-essential trips.
3. Tolls will encourage people to take public transit instead of driving, which will in turn help ease gridlock and protect the environment.

The problem with all these arguments is that they simply don’t apply in today’s Toronto: They would apply if we had an adequate, integrated, reliable public transit system. Until we do, road tolls will be just another way to tax working people.

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On May 27, 2008, CIBC released a report analyzing the impact that increasing oil prices will have on Canadian’s lives. The report comes to some interesting conclusions.

One of the conclusions is that higher oil prices will eventually reverse globalization, resulting in price increases for lower-value items across the board. At some point, transporting low-value items from East Asia will no longer be worthwhile as transportation cost will make them too expensive. But don’t hold your breath: The manufacturing of such items will not come back to Canada or the United States. It is more likely to go to other places with cheaper labour that are closer to our home markets, such as Mexico and other Latin American countries.

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