Wednesday, May 31, 2023
No Result
View All Result
  • Media
Support Us
Macdonald-Laurier Institute
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
    • Dragon at the Door
    • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Justice Report Card
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Provincial COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
      • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Past Projects
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Online
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
    • Papers
    • Commentary
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Video
    • Podcasts
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
    • Dragon at the Door
    • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Justice Report Card
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Provincial COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
      • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Past Projects
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Online
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
    • Papers
    • Commentary
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Video
    • Podcasts
No Result
View All Result
Macdonald-Laurier Institute

Canada’s pandemic-related job losses and debt accumulation the worst among peers, in exchange we got only middling results combatting COVID: MLI’s COVID Misery Index

September 17, 2021
in A Mandate for Recovery, COVID-19, Domestic Policy Program, Economic policy, Health, Latest News, Multimedia, Releases, Richard Audas
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A

OTTAWA, ON (September 17, 2021): As Canada votes Monday in an election that will be pivotal for a return to health and prosperity for Canadians, MLI’s work shows higher spending has not proven the solution to COVID’s challenges; the major political parties, however, do not seem to have got the memo.  All of them propose even higher levels of spending and debt. Our review of Canada’s COVID pandemic performance compared to 14 peer countries reveals that:

  • The impact on Canadian jobs has been severe, with increased unemployment and far less progress towards returning to pre-pandemic levels when compared with other countries. Canada’s unemployment rate is 7.5 percent, still nearly 2 percent above the pre-pandemic level.  Only the US has had a more persistent increase in unemployment; however, their joblessness was much lower to begin with.
  • While the election platforms of the leading federal parties promise tens of billions of dollars in new spending, compared to our peer countries Canada has already taken on enormous amounts of public debt to fight the pandemic that will likely take generations to repay.
  • Comparable figures for peer countries are not yet available for new rankings on GDP growth, but the second quarter of 2021 saw a 1.1 percent contraction of GDP in Canada and estimates for the remainder of the year are being revised downwards. An area of particularly poor performance for Canada seems likely to get worse.
  • Despite these high spending levels, when compared with peers, Canada has been slow to bring waves of the virus under control quickly, while restricting access to care for non-COVID-related illness, resulting in high levels of excess deaths.
  • The United States, which enjoyed early vaccine successes but plateaued at low vaccination rates, is now the worst performer overall. Canada’s vaccination rates have been at or near the top of the index in recent months but seem to be levelling off. Canada will need to sustain its performance on vaccinations to avoid the worst of a fourth wave of the pandemic.

The MLI COVID Misery Index, updated today, is the only comprehensive tool available to Canadians to monitor the impact of the virus and government pandemic measures on the country. It compares 15 peer nations by capturing the effects on human health (Disease Misery), the efficiency of governments’ responses (Response Misery) and the economic costs associated with each country’s approaches (Economic Misery). Canada remains in 9th place out of 15 peer countries, scoring a C+ overall.

Economic Misery

Canada maintains an F grade on the economic impact of the pandemic, worst of all peer countries. While we are still awaiting figures to compare all countries on measures for GDP growth and public debt, updated figures on unemployment have again lowered Canada’s ranking. Only the US has had a more persistent increase in unemployment; however, they started from a much lower rate.

“With all major political parties insisting on continued high spending, the CMI suggests that this is not the correct path forward to protect human health and wellbeing,” notes Richard Audas, MLI Senior Fellow and creator of the CMI. “The costs associated with this strategy will clearly be a burden for future generations, and the benefits at best have been uncertain.”

Disease Misery

Canada’s Disease Misery score remains relatively unchanged with Canada remaining in 5th place in this category, receiving a B+. Though Canada has kept cases and deaths officially attributed to COVID-19 low, Canada’s reproduction rate score – that is, the measure of how many new people each person with COVID-19 infects – has worsened somewhat. This indicates that, when compared with peers, Canada has been slower in terms of bringing waves of the virus under control quickly.

The one blemish on Canada’s record for managing Disease Misery is a persistently high rate of excess deaths for the population aged 15 and older. Canada shifted gears quickly to prepare the health system for an onslaught of COVID cases but, in so doing, restricted access to care for just about everything else. According to Audas, “we anticipate that these delays to access and treatment will have long-term implications and will disproportionately affect those already experiencing other health disadvantages.”

Response Misery

On Response Misery, Canada has slid from 2nd to 4th place and again receives a B+ grade. Canada’s drop is mostly attributable to other countries catching up to Canada on vaccinations. Canada’s score in this category is most negatively impacted by our public health restrictions which have been significantly more burdensome than those of our peers on average over the past year and a half.

With Canada’s rate of vaccine uptake slowing, there remains a risk associated with variants of concern, such as the Delta variant. Though the United States and United Kingdom were once leaders on vaccinations earlier this year, their plateauing occurred with far too few Americans and Britons vaccinated, meaning that the costs to human health and prosperity are continuing to drag on as the virus spreads.

“Canada cannot afford to be complacent. Already, a heavy price has been paid, and to stave off additional misery, continuing to improve our vaccinations is absolutely essential,” argues Audas. “If we fail in this task, the fourth wave and our reaction to it could further damage human wellbeing.”

For more information, consult the links below.

  • Check out the COVID Misery Index here.
  • Read the update briefing here.
  • Read the written analysis and full methodology here.
  • Download the data for yourself using this link.

Additionally, media are invited to contact:

Brett Byers
Communications and Digital Media Manager
613-482-8327 x105
brett.byers@macdonaldlaurier.ca

Tags: COVID-19economic policyeconomyHealthRichard Audas
Previous Post

MLI COVID Misery Index Update – Election Edition Analysis

Next Post

The persistent threat of foreign interference in Canada’s democracy: Marcus Kolga in the Toronto Star

Related Posts

Taiwan is at the ‘top of the agenda’ for Biden administration: Stephen Nagy on CNBC
Video

Taiwan is at the ‘top of the agenda’ for Biden administration: Stephen Nagy on CNBC

May 30, 2023
Tokyo and Seoul’s on alert as North Korea prepares to launch satellite: Stephen Nagy on ABC News
Video

Tokyo and Seoul’s on alert as North Korea prepares to launch satellite: Stephen Nagy on ABC News

May 30, 2023
To maintain western support, Ukraine must carefully manage its anti-Kremlin Russian allies: Matthew Bondy for Inside Policy
Inside Policy

To maintain western support, Ukraine must carefully manage its anti-Kremlin Russian allies: Matthew Bondy for Inside Policy

May 29, 2023
Next Post
The persistent threat of foreign interference in Canada’s democracy: Marcus Kolga in the Toronto Star

The persistent threat of foreign interference in Canada’s democracy: Marcus Kolga in the Toronto Star

Newsletter Signup

Follow us on

Macdonald-Laurier Institute

323 Chapel Street, Suite #300
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 7Z2 Canada

613.482.8327

info@macdonaldlaurier.ca
MLI directory

Support Us

Support the Macdonald-Laurier Institute to help ensure that Canada is one of the best governed countries in the world. Click below to learn more or become a sponsor.

Support Us

  • Inside Policy Magazine
  • Annual Reports
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy

© 2021 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
    • Dragon at the Door
    • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Justice Report Card
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Provincial COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
      • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Past Projects
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Online
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
    • Papers
    • Commentary
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Video
    • Podcasts

© 2021 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.