Canada should already be an economic superpower. Why is Canada not doing better?

Tej Parikh of the Financial Times‘s says Canada has the minerals but not the plan

Tej Parikh is the economics editorial writer for The Financial Times, a British daily newspaper. He joins our Stewart Muir for a Power Struggle interview. And we include in the following report some points from a guest column by Parikh in Canada’s National Post, which carried the headline ‘How Canada can unlock its economic superpower potential.’

Parikh begins the Power Struggle interview with this: “There’s an enormous economic potential here, very much the same geographic advantages that have underpinned America’s economic emergence over the last 100 years. . . . Given everything we understand about the advantages that countries need to grow, why is Canada not doing better economically?” He added: “When you break it down and you look at why income per capita in Canada has perhaps not increased as fast as we might expect on the basis of those advantages, it really kind of breaks down to three components. One is investment, so how much capital goes into the country?

The second is labour, and not just the amount, the size of the workforce you have, but how well you utilize the workforce. And then the third component is something that economists like to call a total-factor productivity, which is essentially your innovative ability and your ability to bring together capital and people. “And when you look at Canada as opposed to other large economies . . . you begin to see that actually there are a lot of restrictions in Canada, not just because of its vast geography but because of regulation, that it actually can’t combine its capital and labour as productively as it could.

“It’s about creating those supply chains and critical minerals that the Western world is currently short of. Given it (Canada) has these vast raw material resources, there is a massive scope for it to become even more integrated into Western supply chains in particular and to become a supplier of these things.” From Parikh’s National Post column: “The country is energy independent, with the world’s largest deposits of high-grade uranium and the third-largest proven oil reserves. It is also the fifth-largest producer of natural gas.Canada boasts a huge supply of other commodities too, including the largest potash reserves (used to make fertilizer), over one-third of the world’s certified forests and a fifth of the planet’s surface freshwater. Plus, it has an abundance of cobalt, graphite, lithium and other rare earth elements, which are used in renewable technologies. “But the nation has lacked the visionary leadership and policy framework to capitalize on its advantages.”

Watch the full interview here:

Baçk to Power Struggle: “Investors right now will know that Canada has all of this latent potential, they will know that there are resources there, they will know that there are talented workers in Canada. But (they need) the answers to what barriers there are to business and how they can be reduced, and I think that’s the piece that Canada and its provinces can do a better job on. “That’s the thing that I think Canada would benefit from, showing how it is a kind of a more unified country and showing how that it is a unified marketplace where investors and businesses can develop expansive supply chains.”

In the National Post: “A country with its geography could clearly generate higher output. To do so, the Canadian economy needs to become more efficient, raise investment and attract more high-skilled workers. Here’s how. “Canada places significant bureaucratic burdens on the movement of people and goods too. This includes restrictions on the sale of certain goods across provincial borders, and variations in licences and technical standards that hinder scaling, competition and efficient resource allocation across the country.

“A 2022 study by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute found that Canada’s economy could grow by 4.4 to 7.9 per cent in the long term — up to $200 billion a year — if it eliminated internal trade barriers via mutual recognition policies. Similar reforms in Australia in the 1990s helped to boost productivity there. “Simplifying its complex tax system, expediting planning processes, easing red tape for foreign direct investment and developing economic partnership mechanisms for Indigenous populations, in tandem with internal trade reforms, would help businesses across the industrial supply chain tap into the nation’s vast energy and mineral resources.”

On Power Struggle: “You can be rich in oil and natural gas. But obviously over the last 10, 15 years the global economy has been thinking about alternatives. In Europe and in the UK and in some states in the US, there’s a concerted effort to shift to cleaner energy sources. Canada has vast access to the critical minerals that underpin a lot of renewable energy sources. And then you can go further than that. “This isn’t just about having access to those, you know, old world energy sources. This is access to the type of energy sources that the world is looking for. So Canada is aligned to the renewable transition and I was quite surprised, actually, that in the last 10 to 15 years you haven’t really heard Canada’s name in that. I thought it was about time that Canada plays that up a bit more and the opportunities it has there.”

Tej Parikh continued: “This isn’t about just digging up Canada and exploiting its raw materials. It’s about finding ways in which you can create economic compacts with Indigenous communities, create economic compacts with Indigenous communities. “It’s a way in which you can sustainably mine parts of the country and ensure that, as you are developing underground resources in Canada, you are also developing local economies. Developing an industry means you develop jobs.

“Once you start developing factories and industries in certain areas, then financial services, commercial roles, all of these things build up, and that’s how I think the debate needs to be kind of pushed forward a little bit. “Once you start developing finance around these industries, you can also find ways to make these industries even more sustainable and environmentally friendly.”

“I think there are very clever ways in which Canada and all Canadians can see that actually these natural resources that the country has is actually an asset that everyone has a share in.” Stewart Muir then raised the Donald Trump issue: “Where have you landed on what Trump is all about? I mean, is this a poker game? Is it a chess match? Is it a street fight?”

Tej Parikh: “He likes negotiating and I think, from what we can understand from his tariff policy, he takes things to extremes and then he rows things back and he tries to gain concessions where he can. And I think he will take the same approach on most policy he has. I mean, he sees the world through a transactional lens. It’s ‘what can the other people offer me and how can we do a deal to ensure that I can gain that?’ “And I think in some sense, you know, yes, he is unpredictable, above and beyond that. But I think if you know that that's his framing, then I think it means that you know others just need to adjust to it and be pragmatic in it. And that is essentially what we have seen from the way the Canadian prime minister has been interacting with Donald Trump. You have to be pragmatic if you know what the threat could be.”

Parikh added: “I think the first thing is (Prime Minister Mark Carney) should build on the momentum that he has, the political momentum he has on reducing internal trade barriers in Canada. You then create the groundwork in order to start taking advantage of the mineral resources and the natural resources.” “Once Canadians start to feel that everyone is benefiting from the natural resources in the country and there are avenues to recycle the revenues from those sectors into the country, whether that’s through housing or developing infrastructure, improving public services, you then have this kind of reinforcement effect between the country and its natural resources and its assets and the development of peoples, and I think working on that will kind of provide the groundwork for Canada’s emergence.”

In the National Post: “The Canadian economy is at a crossroads. The belligerence of its main trading partner is driving consensus around boosting the national economy. The world needs what Canada has in abundance. The nation has a unique chance to reach its potential. If it wants to.”

Up Next

‘They Don’t Know What The F*ck They’re Doing’: Trump Unloads On Iran, Israel

Don't Miss

While China Hacks Canada, B.C. Sends Them a Billion-Dollar Ship Building Contract

Todayville

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

The richest man alive just got a whole lot richer

Crime / 3 hours ago

Drug trafficker says Trump battle with the cartels is making an impact

Automotive / 3 hours ago

America’s Troubled EV Industry Loses Its Subsidized Advantage – Now What?

Business

The richest man alive just got a whole lot richer

Published on October 2, 2025

Todayville

MxM News

Quick Hit:

Elon Musk on Wednesday became the first person in history to hit a $500 billion net worth, according to Forbes. The Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI founder’s fortune now sits roughly $150 billion ahead of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, with Tesla’s surging stock and SpaceX’s record valuation driving the leap.

Key Details:

Forbes reported Musk’s net worth crossed the $500 billion mark around 3:30 p.m. ET, fueled by Tesla’s nearly 4% stock gain Wednesday — adding roughly $9.3 billion to his wealth.
Musk’s fortune has grown from $24.6 billion in March 2020 to $100 billion by late 2020, $200 billion in 2021, $400 billion in 2024, and now $500 billion.
Tesla shares have nearly doubled since April, when Musk said he would step back from his role leading President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to focus on Tesla. The EV maker’s market cap is now within 10% of its all-time high, with Musk’s 12% stake worth about $191 billion.

Elon Musk achieved yet another major milestone Wednesday, becoming the first ever person worth $500 billion. Musk, who became the first person ever worth $400 billion or more in December, is $150 billion ahead of runner-up Larry Ellison—and half-way to becoming the world’s first… pic.twitter.com/h9LJmAvT7F

— Forbes (@Forbes) October 1, 2025

Diving Deeper:

Elon Musk made history Wednesday as the first individual ever to surpass a $500 billion personal net worth, according to a report from Forbes. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s fortune crossed the milestone in mid-afternoon trading, following another surge in Tesla’s share price and continuing investor confidence in Musk’s technology empire.

Tesla stock jumped nearly 4% Wednesday, pushing the company’s valuation closer to its all-time high. Forbes estimates Musk’s 12% stake in Tesla alone is worth about $191 billion. The remainder of his wealth comes from SpaceX — currently valued at around $400 billion — and his artificial intelligence firm xAI, worth roughly $60 billion.

Musk’s rise in wealth has been staggering. In March 2020, he was worth $24.6 billion. By late 2020, he had crossed the $100 billion threshold, reaching $200 billion in 2021 and $400 billion last year. His $500 billion milestone now puts him more than $150 billion ahead of the world’s second-richest person, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.

In a post on X last month, Musk said his compensation and influence over Tesla were not about money, but control over the company’s direction: “It’s not about ‘compensation,’ but about me having enough influence over Tesla to ensure safety if we build millions of robots,” he wrote. “If I can just get kicked out in the future by activist shareholder advisory firms who don’t even own Tesla shares themselves, I’m not comfortable with that future.”

According to Forbes, Tesla’s board recently proposed a new compensation plan for Musk worth as much as $1 trillion — the largest package ever offered to a corporate executive. The plan would grant Musk up to 12% of Tesla’s stock if the company hits a $8.5 trillion market cap and other performance milestones over a decade.

At his current trajectory, analysts suggest Musk could become the world’s first trillionaire by 2033 — an outcome that seemed unthinkable just five years ago. As Musk continues to balance his leadership at Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, his financial empire appears to be expanding as rapidly as the industries he dominates.

Automotive

America’s Troubled EV Industry Loses Its Subsidized Advantage – Now What?

Published on October 1, 2025

Todayville

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By David Blackmon

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday that it has assumed responsibility for what it says is the “Largest Lithium-Ion Battery Cleanup in Agency History” at the Moss Landing facility outside San Francisco.

Crews supervised by the EPA entered the facility this week to begin cleaning out the remains of the fire damaged batteries, which the agency says will be recycled at EPA-approved recycling facilities.

As has happened far too frequently, the retired batteries erupted spontaneously in January, leading authors of MIT’s weekly climate newsletter to speculate about what this latest conflagration would mean for the future of the electric vehicle and stationary battery storage industries going forward.

Dear Readers:

As a nonprofit, we are dependent on the generosity of our readers.

Please consider making a small donation of any amount here.

Thank you!

“With the growing number of electric vehicles and batteries for energy storage on the grid,” the authors wrote, “more high-profile fires have hit the news, like last year’s truck fire in LA, the spate of e-bike battery fires in New York City, or one at a French recycling plant last year.”

The parade of troubling incidents related to these batteries has continued throughout 2025. In June, for example, a large container ship called the Morning Midas, operated by Zodiac Maritime, sank into the Pacific Ocean after batteries in EVs it was carrying to Alaska spontaneously combusted, forcing the crew to abandon ship. A month later, U.S.-based shipper Matson announced it would no longer transport EV cargoes due to the obvious dangers involved. Three weeks later, Alaska Marine Lines put a similar policy in place.

All of these inconvenient news stories come at an already troubling time for the U.S. EV industry, given that its huge $7,500 per car federal subsidy expired at midnight, Sept. 30. That subsidy was enacted in the Orwellian-named Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and subsequently repealed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4 of this year.

Sales have spiked in the run-up to the subsidy expiration, to no one’s real surprise. But EV makers now face the troubling prospect of having to compete in the U.S. market absent that significant price advantage, leading many to anticipate a significant drop-off in sales.

Some carmakers have already begun to scale back operations. Stellantis announced the cancellation of a planned all-electric Dodge Ram pickup model on Sept.12, citing slowing demand for such trucks in a field already dominated by the Ford F-150 Lightning and the Tesla Cyber Truck. The fact that sales of those competing models are already coming in well below projections this year was another obvious motivating factor.

Ford, meanwhile, said in August it would delay the introduction of what it refers to as “next generation” updates to its Lightning pickup and full-sized electric van for two years due to the same challenging market conditions. “F-150 Lightning, America’s best-selling electric truck, and E-Transit continue to meet today’s customer needs,” the company said in what can only be described as an understatement.

Competitor GM announced it would take similar action on Sept. 4, saying it was suspending production of a pair of Cadillac SUVs – the mid-size Lyriq and the full-size Vistiq – at its assembly plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., effective in December. The company also said it would indefinitely delay the start of a second shift at an assembly plant near Kansas City.

Amid the frequent big fire events involving EV batteries and the industry’s fallout from the loss of a federal subsidy, it must be repeated here that the electric vehicle industry is not “new” or even a young one. It is in fact well over a century old, with the first electric cars introduced in the U.S. in the 1890s, during the same period when gas-powered cars started to come onto the market. In those early years, in fact, many experts insisted that electric cars would ultimately render gas-powered cars obsolete and become the dominant force in American transportation.

But makers of EVs then found themselves suffering from the same set of limitations that plague the industry well over a century later: Range anxiety, lack of infrastructure, and persistent unreliability.

The fact that an industry this old has still not solved for the same set of issues after so much time makes it reasonable to question whether it ever will.

David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications.