MARCH 1995 Edition
TECHNOLOGY
The Chairman of Computer Technology Corporation once
predicted that General Motors would be selling more computing power than IBM by
the turn of the century. It remains a reasonable forecast. In 1970 a typical
car contained about $75 worth of electronics, mostly in the radio. The average
today is almost $3,000. And on cars such as the Lincoln Continental, laden with
gadgets such as automatic seat-tilters, radio tuners and suspension adjusters,
all triggered by a transmitter in the driver's key ring, the figure tops
$4,000. All 2,000 Greyhound buses in America already carry radar that alerts
the driver, and passengers, if the bus is too close to the vehicle in front.
INVESTMENT
A year ago, shares of Toronto based Canadian Tire Corp.
and Hudson's Bay Co. took a beating as Wal-Mart Stores, the giant U.S.
discounter entered Canada. But it is becoming clear that both are holding their
ground in the battle for market share. Recently, investors drove up Canadian
Tire shares by 75 cents to a 52 week high of $13.50 while sending Hudson's Bay
stock up an equal amount to $26.50.
NEWSPAPERS
In March, the Vancouver Sun and Province become the first
large daily newspapers in North America to have their photographers switch to
all-electronic digital cameras and eliminate film. Each photographer will have
a News Camera 2000 digital camera and a colour portable Macintosh 540K
PowerBook computer. The equipment will be used to process and transmit pictures
to the newsroom. Cost of the cameras is around $16,000 (US) and photographers
can see their news shots right away and transmit them quickly via a modem built
into the computer.
IMMIGRATION
Nearly 25 per cent of immigrants to Canada in 1994 came
to British Columbia. During the first nine months a total of 38,947 immigrants
entered B.C., 11.5 per cent more than in the same period a year earlier. The
B.C. share of all immigrant arrivals in Canada was 23 per cent up from 17.4 per
cent. The top five sources of immigrants have remained the same since
1989--Hong Kong, India, Taiwan, the Philippines and China. These five sources
constitute 65 per cent of all immigrants to B.C.
PROFITS
Profits at Canada's biggest corporations climbed at a
spectacular pace in 1994 and promise good results in 1995. According to a Report on Business survey of Canada's 122
largest companies, aggregate aftertax profits grew 140 per cent with profits of
over $18 billion compared with $7.7 billion a year earlier. This is the
strongest growth since 1986. These gains came against a backdrop of a booming
North American economic growth, a weak Canadian dollar and higher commodity
prices which helped to offset higher interest rates. Over all, the
manufacturing sector, led by automotive companies, posted the biggest gains
with after tax profits of 394 per cent. Service company profits were up by 143
per cent and resource company profits were up 92 per cent.
VISEGRAD
The Visegrad agreement brings together the countries of
Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia and offers Canadian exporters
opportunities worth exploring. These countries have a combined population of 75
million and have more than doubled their imports of Canadian agri-food products
in the last year to a total of $70 million. Visegrad nations extend most
favoured nation tariff treatment to other GATT members, including Canada.
Exporters interested in technology transfer, joint ventures and commodity
exports to the region are likely to find opportunities. These Central European
nations can also offer a gateway for Canadian commodities and value-added food
products into the European Union, the Middle East and other European nations.
Joint ventures could include meat packing, canning and distribution. Technology
transfer opportunities include animal genetics in beef, dairy, poultry and
swine. Commodity markets could include wheat, corn, barley, beans, peas,
lentils, animal feed, alpha cubes and tobacco. Also, seed potatoes and semi-
processed food, such as meat, fruit, vegetables and dairy products are in
demand. More information may be obtained from John Smiley at Agri-Food Canada
at 613-995-9554.
CANADA
A recent Decima Research poll shows that over 91 per cent
of Canadians believe that Canada is the best place in the world in which to
live. In Quebec, 83 per cent agreed, compared to 90 per cent in 1985.
Unemployment and the economy were cited as the most pressing issues facing
Canada by 36 per cent of those surveyed, followed by government deficits at 26
per cent and crime at 6 per cent. Thirty-one per cent said their financial
situation had worsened in the past 10 years, while 33 per cent said it had
improved. 44 per cent believe the health-care system has deteriorated in the
past 10 years and 65 per cent said having a home computer will be important or
essential in the next few years.
VISA
U.S. consumers charged more on their Visa cards during
the third quarter of 1994 than at any time in Visa's history. Charges totalled
$74.7 billion--up 28 per cent from the same period in 1993. Canadians rang up a
record $43.5 billion in purchases on their Visa cards in 1994, up more than 20
per cent from 1993, a reflection of re-emerging consumer confidence. Despite a
sharp rise in interest rates, Visa is predicting a 13 per cent growth in dollar
volume in Canada for 1995. The increase in dollar volume boosted Visa's share
of total Canadian consumer spending on goods and services from 8.2 to 9.5 per
cent and the number of Visa accounts grew almost 11 per cent to 13 million.
RETAIL
Canadian retailers spend more money on information
technology than their U.S. counterparts, but end up knowing less about their
customers according to an Ernst & Young survey. Retailers surveyed--including
department stores, mass merchants and food, drug and specialty stores--invest
an average of 1 per cent of sales on technology, compared with 0.83 per cent
for those in the U.S. But U.S. retailers are learning more about their
customers for future marketing. Nearly 70 per cent of owners, compared to 55
per cent in Canada, collect computerized data on their customer. They are
looking for insight into their customers' occupations, hobbies, and social
events, as well as tracking preferences in products, vendors and colours.
OVERTIME
Canadians are racking up too much paid overtime--as much
as 6.4 million hours every week--at a time when too many people are unemployed
or working at part-time jobs, a federal advisory committee says. To combat
that, the Advisory Group on Working Time and the Distribution of Work wants to
standardize the work week at 40 hours and limit paid overtime to 100 hours a
year. The number of Canadians working 50 hours a week or more has jumped to 22
per cent in 1994 from 17 per cent in 1976. A decade ago, 14 per cent of all
jobs were part-time; last year 23 per cent were part-time.
TOP OF THE POPS
Japanese shopkeepers are playing CDs with subliminal
messages to curb the impulses of shoplifters. The Mind Control CDs have
soundtracks of popular music or ocean waves, with encoded voices in seven
languages, including Japanese, English, Thai and Chinese warning that anyone
caught stealing will be prosecuted. Punctuated by the sound of police sirens,
this subliminal message is recorded at 20,000 hertz--the highest frequency that
can be heard by humans. About 12,000 of the CDs were bought by book, music and
department stores in the first month of release. Stores that admit to using
them have reported a decline in shoplifting but the manufacturer states that
the warnings would only be effective against "impulse" shoplifters,
not premeditated thieves.
HIGH-TECH
High personal and corporate taxes are cited as reasons
that B.C. compares poorly with some of its rivals in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.
One study completed last year reported that B.C., with a population of 3.3
million, was home to only 25 high-technology companies with more than 100
employees each. Oregon, with a population of 2.9 million, had 142 such
companies and Washington state with five million people had 158. The Business
Council and other economists are calling on the B.C. government to take steps
in the March budget to truly make the province more attractive to job-creating
investment.
POTATOES
Growers in Ontario and B.C. are threatening to sue the
federal government over a proposal they say will flood Canada with cheaper U.S.
potatoes. The problem has been caused by P.E.I. and New Brunswick, two of the
largest potato-growing provinces, which want Ottawa to create a Canada No. 1
grade for smaller-sized potatoes. Eight of 10 provinces oppose the move. Most
provinces already have a small potato grade, but the absence of a national
grade means the smaller potatoes can't be sold between provinces, exported or
imported. A recent economic impact study suggests that while the move might
gain $14 million for Maritime potato growers, it would cost growers in the rest
of the country $57 million. It is alleged that a national grade for small
potatoes would open the market to a flood of lower-priced potatoes from
Florida, Washington and California. However, Canada would have the option of
imposing anti-dumping duties against the U.S.
PORTS
According to a KPMG Peat Marwick report for Transport
Canada on behalf of Canadian ports, lack of government support puts them at a
disadvantage to U.S. ports. For instance, the Port of Seattle relies more on
taxpayers money to keep its marine division running than other large North
American container ports. King County taxpayers pay $35.6 (US) million each
year and without it, the marine division could not do business, the study
concludes. By contrast, the west coast ports of Vancouver, Los Angeles and Long
Beach make payments of millions of dollars to their respective governments each
year. The study examined 13 major ports in North America to compare the amount
of government support each receives.
ENERGY
Vancouver's Westin Bayshore is planning to become the
first hotel in Canada to generate its own electricity. A natural gas-fired
co-generation plant, designed in Austria, will be installed. The unit will
displace about half a megawatt of electricity currently bought from B.C. Hydro.
Co-generation is the simultaneous production of electricity and heat, usually
in the form of steam. The unit is about the size of a 12-metre container and
costs about $500,000.
SAFETY
A recent study suggests that having a car with air bags
makes some drivers more accident prone because it emboldens them to take more
risks. It looked at 206 fatal crashes in Virginia during 1993. In crashes where
one car had an air bag and one did not, the driver with the bag was responsible
73 per cent of the time, and in 13 single-car mishaps in which passengers died but not the driver, nine of
the drivers had air bags.
QUOTES
"That's an amazing invention, but who would ever
want to use one of them"--U.S. President Rutherford Hayes in 1876 after
participating in a trial telephone conversation between Washington and
Philadelphia.
TRIVIA
* By mistake, the U.S.
Postal Service designed a stamp for St. Valentine's Day with a wistful-looking
cherub that is actually a Renaissance angel of death.
* The latest Swedish
export is synthetic wolf urine. It keeps its odour for more than nine months
and will be sprinkled in Kuwait to keep camels from colliding with cars.
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