Bombardier, Technological Unemployment and OMNI TV - A Busy Week for Northern Economist

It was a busy week for me as there was the release of a report by the Fraser Institute I contributed to as well as the Bombardier story that announced 550 layoffs in Thunder Bay that generated some media activity for me.  The Bombardier story is in many respects not a surprise given that the talk over the last year was that the contracts were ending and in the absence of substantial new contracts, there were gong to be layoffs.  The real question is if these layoffs are temporary until a major new contract comes online as has often been the case in the past or whether there is going to be a permanent downsizing of Bombardier's Canadian rail operations given that they are expanding their US presence as a result of Buy America provisions.  Of course, more Canadian contracts would be a solution but Canada compared to Europe or the US is still not an urban rail transit country as its cities are not as large or as dense and there is a preference for driving.  Moreover, even if new contracts come along, there is going to be more international competition for the contracts and Bombardier needs to up its game in terms of meeting its delivery obligations as well as being more price competitive.

The Fraser Institute released a report this week on the impact of artificial intelligence and technology on employment and my contribution was an essay showing that historically in Canada, technological change - like in many other countries - is accompanied by short term employment disruption but in the long run employment has grown.  This also generated for me an oped in the Full Comment Section of the National Post and several media mentions as well as a number of comments and emails from interested readers assuring me that I was wrong and we are all headed for an apocalypse of mass unemployment notwithstanding the evidence of the last 150 years.  No doubt, the view of many is as in mutual fund returns, past performance is no guarantee of future performance.  Such is life.

The Bomdardier story also generated coverage by the Globe and Mail,  the Financial Post, Radio-Canada and an opportunity for an oped with the Globe and Mail which incidentally also contained a nice plug for Lakehead University and its efforts to recruit international students.  The material for Radio-Canada included a television interview and a quote about how the layoffs represented a blow to the heart of Thunder Bay.  Interestingly enough, the best editorial cartoon I have seen on this point of a blow to the heart was in Corriere Canadese with La Vignetta di Ynot and I have the link right here.  And Corriere Canadese also ran a story on the return of OMNI programming back to cable in Thunder Bay.  I should note that OMNI Senior Manager Charmaine Khan did contact Corriere Canadese and assured them the disruption was temporary and also did eventually email me with an explanation so all is well!

It has been a busy week.  A veritable symphony of media activity from start to finish! Now it is time to enjoy what looks like a glorious summer weather weekend here in Thunder Bay. Have a great weekend.