Canada: Power and Class Issues
This is an excerpt from the paper...
While Canada is the smallest economy in the Group of 7/8 (G7/8), it is nevertheless a major player in the globalization enterprise currently underway and undergoing transformation from its previous status as what Clarkson (2001) characterized as a semi-peripheral state. At issue herein is an analysis of issues related to the nexus of power and class in Canada. Specific topics for analysis include: corporate concentration, government involvement and foreign ownership in Canada's economy; globalization and neo-liberal democracy; working class formation in Canada; and affluence, power and strikes in Canada. It will be argued that Canada's transition to neoliberalism was facilitated by its free trade agreements with the United States and, later, Mexico, as well as by lower restrictions on foreign investments, leading to a minimization of the influence of labor union strikes on the national economy. Concentration, Foreign Ownership, Government Involvement According to the Central intelligence Agency (CIA) (2009), Canada faces the political challenges of meeting public demands for improvements in health and education, responding to ongoing calls for separatism in francophone Quebec, and managing a market-oriented economic system characterized as affluent, high-tech and urban. The 1989 US-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) established a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with Canada'
. . .
economy, strengthening North-South ties.
The neo-liberal transformation of Canada has led to tax reforms that cut federal corporate tax rates and federal income tax rates for high income earners (Carroll & Little, 2001). Similarly, the neo-liberal transition has been associated with a state-led assault on free collective bargaining as well as changes to labor codes and limits on the right to strike. Carroll and Little (2001, p. 35) contend that "the consolidation of neoliberalism in Canada has in many ways followed trends observable in most advanced capitalist democracies." For example, the Keynesian policy agenda in the post-World War II era of class compromise has given way to a market oriented governance strategy in which international competition for
investment capital takes priority.
Working Class Formation in Canada
Robinson (2003) noted that majorities in Canada tend to refer to them of themselves as belonging to the middle class while only about 30 percent consider themselves to be members of the working class and 4 percent identify themselves as belonging to the lower class. These figures are based on self-reports in national surveys with relatively few individuals in Canada claiming that their income pla
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Strikes Canada, Carroll Little, European Union, World Factbook, Deblij Muller, Agreement NAFTA, Investment Canada, Canada Robinson, Relations Act, Canada Specific, little 2001, savage 2009, carroll little 2001, carroll little, walsh 2006, clarkson 2001, free trade, taylor 2001, strikes canada, canadian unions, muller 2003, deblij muller 2003, free trade agreements, free trade agreement, neo-liberal regime canada,
Approximate Word count = 1902
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
More Essays on Canada: Power and Class Issues
|
Customer Service
to Over
32,000 Professionally Written Papers!!!
