Unifor Report Slams Harper’s Economic Performance
2008 downturn no excuse for harmful policy, says union economist.
A new report from Canada’s largest private sector union says Stephen Harper and his Conservatives are running the most poorly performing economy the country has seen since the end of the Second World War.
Unifor economists Jim Stanford and Jordan Brennan compared economic data from nine governments of Canada (excluding short terms like Kim Campbell and John Turner) since World War II. They found Harper’s performance is the most dismal, with Brian Mulroney in a distant second.
The report examined 16 indicators of economic progress, including job creation, real GDP growth, export growth, household debt and real personal incomes.
“The Harper government ranked last or second last in 13 of the 16 indicators,” Stanford said.
He said when all the categories are added up to give a cumulative score, Harper grabbed an 8.05 out of nine. Nine is the worst possible score.
Brennan and Stanford included extensive lists of data used for their rankings, so skeptics can see the information for themselves.
Economist Mike Moffatt of Ontario’s Mowat Centre, an independent think tank, reviewed the report and said it holds up to scrutiny.
Moffatt said the figures in the report are accurate, but more context would help explain why the economy has performed poorly.
“They were kind of selective in what they chose to report,” Moffatt said, suggesting the authors could have analyzed more categories favourable towards the government, like household wealth. “That’s a mild issue with it, but overall a lot of the more obvious economic indicators have been rather poor over the last eight or nine years, which this report points out.”
Moffatt added the number crunching and raw data in the report was “fantastic.”
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