GHY Tradelines

span style=”font-size:85%;”(CTV.ca – The Canadian Press)/spanbr /br /Canada’s recession was short – and in some regions brutish – but the aftermath will be almost as challenging, three new separate reports on the economy suggest. The reports from the country’s budget watchdog, Statistics Canada and one of the leading economic think tanks, the Conference Board, are remarkably similar in detailing what Canada lost during the recession and the problems it faces in recovery.br /br /Putting it in economic terms, Statistics Canada concludes the country’s gross domestic product shrank 2.9% last year, slightly more than its original estimate. But not all regions experienced the recession in the same way. Newfoundland’s economy fell back a massive 10.2%, while two tiny economies, Prince Edward Island and the Yukon, did not contract at all. Among the bigger provinces, Ontario’s economy shrank 3.1% and Quebec’s by a relatively modest one per cent. […]br /br /By 2014, a different set of challenges will be facing Canadians and their governments, says the Conference Board’s Pedro Antunes. In a far-reaching outlook, Antunes says 2014 is when the real impact of the retiring baby boom generation will start being felt in Canada’s labour market, economy and government budgets. Read more a href=”http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100428/conference_board_100428/20100428?hub=Canada”here/a.

span style=”font-size:85%;”(Minister of International Trade)br //spanbr /The Honourable Peter Van Loan, Minister of International Trade, and the Honourable Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture, met with Viktor Alekseyevich Zubkov, First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, today [Wednesday] in Ottawa to discuss deepening the commercial relationship between Canada and Russia.br /br /“Our countries have seen increasing trade, investment and cooperation in science and technology and in agriculture,” said Minister Van Loan. “As a leading economy, Canada offers first-rate business conditions: the lowest taxes on new business investment in the G7, the fastest economic growth in the G7 for 2010, 2011 and 2012, the world’s soundest banking system and a high quality of life.”br /br /“Russia’s growth in agricultural trade is creating tremendous opportunities for our farmers,” said Minister Ritz. “Just as my last mission to Moscow in October led to a number of important wins both for Canadian producers and their Russian partners, meetings like today’s continue to help us strengthen our cooperation.”br /br /Russia is an emerging market and remains a destination for Canadian companies specializing in technology, agriculture and infrastructure. The value of the stock of Canadian foreign direct investment in Russia was approximately $725 million at the end of 2009.br /br /In 1993, Canada and Russia created the Canada-Russia Intergovernmental Economic Commission (IEC) to promote economic relations between the two countries. The commission holds regular meetings to address issues affecting bilateral trade, highlight success stories and encourage business development. Minister Van Loan and First Deputy Prime Minister Zubkov co-chair the commission.br /br /The last full session of the Canada-Russia IEC took place in Moscow in June 2009. The next session is scheduled to take place in Canada in 2011.

span style=”font-size:85%;”(CIFFA eBulletin)/spanbr /br /The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday released to Congress a comprehensive report on agricultural transportation in the United States, the first ever of this magnitude.br /br /The report, emStudy of Rural Transportation Issues/em, was mandated by the 2008 Farm Bill and covers the four major modes of transportation commonly used by agriculture in the United States-truck, rail, barge, and ocean vessel.br /br /The report examines some of the major issues facing agricultural transportation, including: the dramatic effect of deregulation on the rail industry, a growing gap for funding the inland waterways and highway systems, availability of containers and ocean vessel capacity, and the infrastructure that may be needed to support a projected increase in bio-fuel transportation.br /br /The report also discusses the current approach to transportation policy in the United States, in which each mode of transportation is often considered separately without an overarching view of the flow of freight through all the modes. emStudy of Rural Transportation Issues/em may be found on the Agricultural Marketing Service website a href=”http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/RuralTransportationStudy” target=”_blank”here/a.