"New West" Does Not Include Manitoba; Province Seen as an Economic Weakling

[Boreal]

I can't speak for anything I do not know, but I can say with great assurance that many small to mid-sized manufacturing firms (high end manufacturing firms - dealing multi-component products that sell for $300 on up) are in the midst of purchasing expensive machinery at a rate much greater than in the recollectable past (mostly driven by a valuable loonie) and these machines all require skilled operators (Red River or other like college grads). So, this is all to say that in medium and heavy industrial-Winniper, there is I suppose what we would recognize as desirable economic growth.

On the note of retail growth though, I must ask, who's buying? Seriously. Shindico now wants to develop that huge parcel near Regent (as read in the Free Press a few weeks ago). Who is supporting this eruption in retail? Credit is being levelled off, and disposable income certainly isn't growing. I'm not an economist, but I'm definitely perplexed.

[Tower Crane]

Originally Posted by trueviking

dont think that is true at all actually....manitoba's job growth is far more diverse than it is in any other western province....particularily alberta and saskatchewan....practicaly every sector is starving for qualified employees.

btw, how is the construction industry temporary?

Wipe the oil out of your eye's man, between these comments and TSN's I'm not sure you realize that yeah there's the oil sector and over and above that a diversified engine next to none in this country including Manitoba. This includes all areas of non oil related manufacturing, ag, medical technology centre, IT, etc. etc.
Your dreaming if you think somehow Manitoba is far more diverse then Alberta. I'm not saying Alberta is more diverse, just as diverse.

[CCF]

In case anyone is actually interested, the industrial profile is as follows.

Saskatchewan is at 15.39
Alberta is at 9.75
Manitoba 8.98

Manitoba has the 5th most diversified economy, Alberta 7th and Saskatchewan 9th.

Source: Saskatchewan: Geographic Perspectives

[Pootkao]

Originally Posted by Greco Roman

The real question is: who is right and who is lying?
All I want is the truth: no bullshit bias from one side or another.

The last news I trust is corporate news. Always read between the lines, because CTV and Global never give you the complete story. CBC gets you a little closer, but extensive cutbacks have most staffers at CBC doing the jobs of 2 people.

I've never understood the oh-so-Western hate-on for CBC. Its a great service.

[socialisthorde]

Originally Posted by Pootkao

The last news I trust is corporate news. Always read between the lines, because CTV and Global never give you the complete story. CBC gets you a little closer, but extensive cutbacks have most staffers at CBC doing the jobs of 2 people.

I've never understood the oh-so-Western hate-on for CBC. Its a great service.

+1

The more points of view we get, the better, and I would argue that the corporate media presents a less nuanced and more consistent (therefore more biased) point of view than the CBC does. As said above, wherever we get the news, we have to read between the lines.

[socialisthorde]

Originally Posted by CCF

In case anyone is actually interested, the industrial profile is as follows.

Saskatchewan is at 15.39
Alberta is at 9.75
Manitoba 8.98

Manitoba has the 5th most diversified economy, Alberta 7th and Saskatchewan 9th.

Source: Saskatchewan: Geographic Perspectives

Don't go bringing facts into this

[Beltliner]

Originally Posted by Pootkao

I've never understood the oh-so-Western hate-on for CBC. Its a great service.

Western Canadians are inherently suspicious, for historical reasons, of any enterprise based in Toronto, broadcast media or otherwise. Not that our favourite made-in-Winnipeg television network is any better at disguising its editorial biases:

CBC News: "Tonight, on The National: Gridlocked! Why won't people just move to Toronto to make world-class public transport a reality?"
Global News: "Tonight, on Global National: Gridlocked! Why won't people just buy more beaters and move to Winnipeg to improve the roads?"
CTV News: "Tonight, on CTV National News: Gridlocked! Why won't people wait to find out about Canada's most traffic-jammed city until after we show the rest of the news, sports, weather, and E-Talk?"
SRC Nouvelles: "Ce soir: Embouteillage! Quand est-ce que Montréal en matière de transport et d'équipe de grèves jamais fin?"
Novosti Pyervovo Kanala: "Syevodnya: Dorozhnyy zator! Kto byl oobit, i imenno poetomoo byl Dom Knigi podarok priznak nyedostatochno, shtoby spasti svoyu zhizn'?"
CITY-TV News: "Tonight, on CITY-TV News: Gridlocked! Why won't people download porn and Ed the Sock podcasts when they're stuck in traffic?"

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by Tower Crane

Wipe the oil out of your eye's man, between these comments and TSN's I'm not sure you realize that yeah there's the oil sector and over and above that a diversified engine next to none in this country including Manitoba. This includes all areas of non oil related manufacturing, ag, medical technology centre, IT, etc. etc.
Your dreaming if you think somehow Manitoba is far more diverse then Alberta. I'm not saying Alberta is more diverse, just as diverse.

...yeah, uh ...ok.

[Tower Crane]

Originally Posted by trueviking

...yeah, uh ...ok.

Just like I thought, nothing there......because essentially both provinces are as diverse as each other.

[Boreal]

Alberta has moved a little bit towards massaging non-oil related enterprises, but the reality is, it is without question an oil dominated province. Alberta is Alberta because of and only because of the brothel of black gold that it rests on.

Manitoba simply does not have a single dominant sector, like the petrol industry. There is a lot going on in Alberta, but I don't think anybody can really put up an arguement that doesn't centre around the petrol-sun.

Lets put it this way. Alberta isn't an economic darling because of a good heart clinic in Edmonton or a ballooning IT sector in Calgary.

Although, perhaps, the people really are moving to Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie because Google is establishing a northern campus.

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by Tower Crane

Just like I thought, nothing there......because essentially both provinces are as diverse as each other.

no, they dont actually....edmonton and winnipeg have similar levels of economic diversity (both the highest in canada), calgary is far lower and provincially, manitoba has a greater level of economic diversity by a reasonable margin.

[Tower Crane]

Originally Posted by trueviking

no, they dont actually....edmonton and winnipeg have similar levels of economic diversity (both the highest in canada), calgary is far lower and provincially, manitoba has a greater level of economic diversity by a reasonable margin.

Well you've gone from"far more" to "similar and reasonable margin". You've made progress, you should feel good about that. No need to reply.

[TSN]

Originally Posted by Tower Crane

Well you've gone from"far more" to "similar and reasonable margin". You've made progress, you should feel good about that. No need to reply.

We should probably close this chapter. It's been proven over and over many times in past economic studies that Manitoba is more economically diverse than Alberta. Alberta may have diversified somewhat over the past couple decades (eg. Calgary has become a major transportation/distribution hub), the fact of the matter is that oil and gas has been and still is the driver. The whole royalty review captivated the province last fall and the refusal of the province to even consider carbon taxes/cap and trade systems/other climate change initiatives are proof of how much carbon resources mean to the life of the province. Any denier has their head buried in the 'sand' (oil).

Bottom line, look before you leap. The comments from Stelmach regarding Manitoba are either based on political arrogance or just ignorance, neither of which help perceptions.

[Greco Roman]

Originally Posted by TSN

We should probably close this chapter. It's been proven over and over many times in past economic studies that Manitoba is more economically diverse than Alberta. Alberta may have diversified somewhat over the past couple decades (eg. Calgary has become a major transportation/distribution hub), the fact of the matter is that oil and gas has been and still is the driver.The whole royalty review captivated the province last fall and the refusal of the province to even consider carbon taxes/cap and trade systems/other climate change initiatives are proof of how much carbon resources mean to the life of the province. Any denier has their head buried in the 'sand' (oil).

Bottom line, look before you leap. The comments from Stelmach regarding Manitoba are either based on political arrogance or just ignorance, neither of which help perceptions.

We all know the truth, but some will never truly get it.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by TSN

We should probably close this chapter. It's been proven over and over many times in past economic studies that Manitoba is more economically diverse than Alberta.

So what? If Manitoba had some industry that suddenly became hugely successful, reducing its "diversity", would it be worse off? Manitoba's diversity makes it a centre of excellence at nothing. There's no concentration of anything except government workers. It's nice to be a head office of Great-West Life or Can-West but why are there so few spin-off industries related to any of these? The economy seems to lack a certain dynamism. It's all big institutional companies, government and relatively low-wage manufacturing. They need more Wellington Wests and Assantes.

[Tower Crane]

Originally Posted by TSN

We should probably close this chapter. It's been proven over and over many times in past economic studies that Manitoba is more economically diverse than Alberta. Alberta may have diversified somewhat over the past couple decades (eg. Calgary has become a major transportation/distribution hub), the fact of the matter is that oil and gas has been and still is the driver. The whole royalty review captivated the province last fall and the refusal of the province to even consider carbon taxes/cap and trade systems/other climate change initiatives are proof of how much carbon resources mean to the life of the province. Any denier has their head buried in the 'sand' (oil).

Bottom line, look before you leap. The comments from Stelmach regarding Manitoba are either based on political arrogance or just ignorance, neither of which help perceptions.

Oil and gas make up a huge part however there is another economy as diversified as Manitoba's. I'm still not sure why some of you guys think that oil could be the only economy or to insecure to acknowledge it. Let's take a quick look at my immediate neighbours jobs a few doors down either side of my place, there probably are no different than yours. Geologist, Designer, CT Tech, Teacher, Engineer, Electrician, Lumber yard Mgr, Fireman, Bank Mgr, oh then there is one guy at Flint Energy ( Oil & Gas ), Nurse, University Construction Manager.
You actually have to pull your head out of the sand to see that Alberta ( I'll specifically reference the Edmonton region only as I know the economics of it well ) has built and is continuing to build an economy as diverse as Winnipeg's and beyond. Edmonton's becoming a medical centre with 1.5 million dollars worth of world class research and medical facilities being added to the U of A and other noticeable increases in all major trucking companies based in Manitoba setting up marshalling yards here that are larger than their Winnipeg yards, another 1 billion being spent at the airport to add another terminal wing and port alberta to move goods from the new shipping port in Prince George to edmonton then the rest of the country. This mentions only a few of the very noticeable sectors with very strong growth. And YES as an added bonus I know we got oil.

[Greco Roman]

I just love it when smug Albertans come here and feel the need to insist that their economic situation is due to diversity (or is the primary reason) and deny that the oil and gas sector have little to do with it. I also love it when Albertan's come here and try to stick it to the poor, pathetic Manitoban's by insisting that their economy is more diverse when clearly studies have proven otherwise. Absolutely love it.


Everyone with 1/10 of a brain knows that the only reason Alberta is doing strongly is because of the oil and gas sector and SOLEY because of the oil and gas sector. Perhaps their economy if finally diversifying, but that said, it still doesn't change the fact the CURRENT economic boom is due to the oil and gas sector. Period. Those who deny this factor are clearly delusional and insecure, perhaps this is why Stelmach made the comment in the first place.

[crooked rain]

A lot of Albertans forget that the extra capital we have to start up new businesses and ventures is due money generated in the oil and gas industry that is looking for a home. There seems to be an attitude here that we work harder than other Canadian or are somehoew more intelligent and a lot of people dismiss the source of their wealth, especially if they are not directly involved in oil and gas. Then they piss on the other provinces who don't have such a wealthy starting point, forgetting that the capital to invest in new businesses has to exist in those provinces in the first place.

[Tower Crane]

Originally Posted by Greco Roman

I just love it when smug Albertans come here and feel the need to insist that their economic situation is due to diversity (or is the primary reason) and deny that the oil and gas sector have little to do with it. I also love it when they come here and try to stick it to the poor, pathetic Manitoban's by insisting that their economy is more diverse when clearly studies have proven otherwise. Absolutely love it.


Everyone with 1/10 of a brain knows that the only reason Alberta is doing strongly is because of the oil and gas sector and SOLEY because of the oil and gas sector. Perhaps their economy if finally diversifying, but that said, it still doesn't change the fact the CURRENT economic boom is due to the oil and gas sector. Period. Those who deny this factor are clearly delusional and insecure, perhaps this is why Stelmach made the comment in the first place.

Yes oil is one economy with a massive monster spike right now however I believe the two provinces have similar economies outside of that, if you could provide a link to these studies you reference it would be appreciated as a number of posters seem to think that their province is far more diverse than the other.

[Greco Roman]

Originally Posted by CCF

In case anyone is actually interested, the industrial profile is as follows.

Saskatchewan is at 15.39
Alberta is at 9.75
Manitoba 8.98

Manitoba has the 5th most diversified economy, Alberta 7th and Saskatchewan 9th.

Source: Saskatchewan: Geographic Perspectives

What about this one? Does this count?

Regardless, it's good to see Alberta making an effort to diversify since relying only on one industry for your source of provincial income is not the best approach for a decent longterm economic future.