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>We need to invest in growth sectors. It may not create a ton of jobs immediately, but the potential payoff could save us. If you're not growing, you're dying.
by stinkytaco 11y ago
>We need to invest in growth sectors. It may not create a ton of jobs immediately, but the potential payoff could save us. If you're not growing, you're dying.
I'm curious what these growth sectors are? Are you referring to software companies? Because though I agree that's a growth sector, it's hard for me to envision how many jobs that creates in the long run. Wouldn't it create the same problems as manufacturing, i.e. it's cheaper to outsource or automate so its job pool will shrink over time? Resources and manufacturing are real, tangible things that have real tangible value. Services, though the natural growth of an economy it seems, are fleeting and easy to do without when things go wrong.
I agree that we can't lean and need to encourage a diverse economy, but I would also argue that investment in any area is a gamble, and gambling is hard for a government to do when under constant public scrutiny.
- HorizonXP 11y agoPersonally, as invested as I am in the software space, I think Canada should not invest in software technology, at least not exclusively. It's cheap enough that we could still encourage it. I was doing my Masters in Medical Imaging at the University of Toronto (did not complete). The number of talented students and professors that I interacted with on a regular basis was astounding. And they were working on really amazing things. Here's a group of potentially 100s of well-educated students that came out of the Canadian education system, so our tax dollars went towards a lot of their training. And once they're done their PhD, they're stuck trying to compete for very limited faculty positions, or finding a post-doc program somewhere, usually abroad. The brain drain in biotechnology is the one we should be worrying about. We have fantastic resources available here in terms of teaching hospitals and facilities, but no one's taking advantage of it. And the space of biotechnology is so broad and unexplored, that we could be investing in a number of avenues to try to achieve something in the area. To quote the cliched Wayne Gretzky: Skate to where the puck is going, not where it is.
- patrick_99 11y agoTotally agree and government could have a big role here. A majority of government budget goes to healthcare; they need innovation to improve. Why not throw some money to Canadian biotech companies?
- eloff 11y agoI think this is short-sighted. Either way, the technology innovation will happen, and the jobs will be lost. The question is, does the innovation happen in your country, where some of the money sticks to your "fingers" through taxes and knock-on effects in the local economy? Or does it all go to SV.
- hluska 11y agoCanada already has a strong software sector and programs to support all sorts of research and development (ie - SR&ED). I can't imagine where Canada fails to nurture a software industry...
- eloff 11y agoI'm a Canadian software engineer. I moved away long ago, as does anyone in the industry who realizes your pay can easily jump 50-100% just by crossing the border. Most with the talent who can leave do so, or work for a US company remotely. Very few talented engineers stay, because frankly it makes no economic sense. So I think Canada has a long way to go before it can stop or reverse the brain drain in the software industry.
- justinhj 11y agoThis is true and as a software developer that has made a living in Vancouver for many years I appreciate it. But when the loonie drops 30% on the usd I can understand why companies here in Canada find it harder to get graduates