Assignment Sample on C11IB International Business Context
Introduction
Canada is one of the countries that is a part of the North American continent and the country is known to be one of the most culturally diverse and inclusive countries, since people from several cultural ethnicities reside in Canada. Moreover, the country is one of the most powerful economies of the world and also one of the largest countries in terms of area and along with that the country is home to people from several cultural backgrounds as well. Additionally, Canada is one of the leading economies of the world as well and in this report the Political, economic, social and operational issues will be discussed critically.
Political issues in Canada
The political framework of Canada is based on the concept of parliamentary democracy and a parliamentary government that relies upon significant traditions of a democracy. The electoral and political approaches in Canada are fundamentally based upon the basis of several existing political parties and groups and each of these parties represents its own group and candidates to the electorate. The concept of political parties had been introduced in Canada a long time ago and all the groups registered themselves with the Canadian election. The political parties play a significant role in the process of parliament in case each group has the required number of members in the senate or House of Commons. It needs to be mentioned that the Canadian House of Commons consists of over 338 members and all the members are elected through the votes of Canadian voters in a democratic manner (Akram and Azhar, 2020). The political government system has been considered to be a stable one, however, there have been few scandals and controversies over the years that have drawn attention to the political issues of the country.
In an unfortunate turn of events Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau’s name was somehow involved in a scandal which stated that the Canadian prime minister was interfering in a case against a renowned engineering company that was involved in corruption. This scandal had raised questions regarding Trudeau’s leadership and it had become uncertain whether or not the prime minister will keep a seat in the following election and have control over the Canadian parliament anymore. It needs to be mentioned that the engineering company named SNC-Lavalin was trying to influence the officials of the Canadian government for negotiating a deal to alternate criminal charges against the organization (Marland, 2020). Moreover, there are multiple issues regarding corruption in Canada that have also been reported, since there were several cases of money laundering that came to light by Canada’s liberal as well as other political parties. Therefore, the country has been talked about by significant international peers including the OECD that the country was not doing enough to handle overseas bribery and money laundering as well (Transparency.org. 2021). The Canadian government was in another controversy that had addressed that a pattern of data breach was seen at the Immigrant, Refugees and Citizens Canada (IRCC) and this action had put the lives of several Afghan refugees in danger (Immigration, R., 2021).
The data leak came into the news after the Canadian government under the leadership of Justin Trudeau had made a commitment that Canada would accept a significant number of Afghans by taking risks. It needs to be mentioned that the decision was made as the Afghans had previously worked as advocates, journalists or for belonging to the religious and minority group that has been targeted by the Taliban. The government of Canada has not discarded the country’s commitment to welcome Afghan refugees and has been making attempts to increase the number to a whooping 40,000 eligible immigrants (Immigration, R. 2021). It needs to be stated that the Canadian government may need to take significant steps to mitigate the issues regarding the above-mentioned controversies in order to have a political foundation without any errors and controversies. Several government agencies need to be monitored more cautiously for the purpose of avoiding such data breach and data leaks in the future as that may have severe consequences regarding several aspects of human lives and the Canadian government as well.
Economic issues in Canada
Canada is one of the largest economies in the world and the country still continues to dominate the world economy at a large scale, however, along with all other nations Canada has also faced economic issues as a result of the pandemic. It needs to be established that the pandemic had severe negative effects on the labour market of the country as the workers were more exposed to the disease than most of the residents of the country. On the other hand, the country also had to face relevant economic challenges as several lockdowns had to be imposed in order to flatten the curve of Covid-19. Therefore, businesses were shut down for a significant period of time and the taxes received by the government had also decreased, since many businesses were even shut down for the sudden arrival of the pandemic. The Bank of Canada had also reduced interest rates as the income of many citizens were affected and some were even not earning any money during the pinnacle of the pandemic. In order to handle the impact of Covid-19 the Bank of Canada had lowered interest rates to ¼ percent and this action was taken to decrease the payments of business and customers on existing and newly taken loans (Bankofcanada.ca. 2021).
Moreover, the tax system in Canada is quite complicated and the country needs an immediate review on the Canadian tax system to follow the footsteps of the international peers the country has. It needs to be mentioned that a country’s tax system is known for supporting important sectors of the society, such as education and health-care systems and an exceptionally built tax system creates employment and develops a fair community. The Canadian tax system was reviewed a long time ago and the majority of the countries around the world are changing the way of collecting tax to be prepared for dealing with the digital world in a more efficient way. However, Canada is being left behind in that department, since a complicated tax system increases cost for taxpayers, creates significant inconvenience or may sometimes lead to invasion of tax and avoidance of the same as well. However, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has found out that the ratio of tax to Gross Domestic Products (GDP) in Canada has increased by 0.2% from 2018 to 2019 (Oecd.org. 2021).
On the other hand, it also needs to be established that inequality in terms of economic status and lifestyle has been on the rise in Canada. On a broader note, the rich continue to live a fuss free life and earn money efficiently, while the lives of the common people have been uprooted by the pandemic in Canada. The wealthy families control a significant amount of Canadian economy and collectively these families have relevantly more wealth than the common households in Canada. Therefore, a wealth tax for the wealthiest needs to be introduced in the country as that may potentially bridge the gap between the economic deficiency the country is currently facing under the governance of the liberal party. In addition to that, as a result of the pandemic the prices of products and services have also increased in the country and citizens are experiencing significant challenges in running a household after the pandemic. Therefore, the Canadian government may need to implement strong policies or introduce changes in the national government that would help Canada to bounce back from the economic instability caused by the pandemic.
Social issues in Canada
Along with political and economic challenges, the Canadian government has also been facing challenges regarding several social issues and therefore, prime minister Trudeau has been attempting to enhance human rights in Canada. Most of the social issues the country faces are associated with the rights of indigenous people living in Canada, which includes violation of the indigenous people’s right to have safe drinking water (Human Rights Watch. 2021). The issues also include violence and mistreatment against the women and girls belonging to this community, violating the rights of indigenous people’s right to food within this community as a consequence of failing to mitigate the effects of climate change. Canada also deals with human rights issues abroad too due to abuses conducted by mining companies of Canada and the government’s failed attempt at suspending arms sales to Yemen even after the United Nations (UN) forbade such actions (Human Rights Watch. 2021). Moreover, the Canadian government has also failed to bring back the Canadians who are being illegally detained in extreme adverse conditions for several years in prison or detention camps in Northeast Syria (Human Rights Watch. 2021).
It also needs to be mentioned that despite being host to multiple mining companies of the world, the Trudeau government has had consecutive failed attempts to hold these organizations accountable for the mistreatment these companies conduct abroad. Furthermore, the supreme court of Canada had refused to hear the appeal of a civil rights group that was trying to restrict the implementation of a certain bill that prevented specific civil servants from wearing symbols of their religion at work. A new Quebec law prohibits Canadian civil servants working as lawyers, teachers, police officers from wearing symbols that represent the individual’s respective religions, such as hijabs, turbans and more (Ccla.org. 2021). In addition to that, family violence in Canadian households has seen a significant surge and the matter has become a relevant social issue for the Canadian government as well. Family violence may lead to individuals facing several health challenges regarding mental, physical health issues with even changes in behaviours too which may become a contributing factor of unstable housing, failure of school and more. It has been reported that in the year of 2016, 26% individuals who were a victim of heinous crime and violence have been victimized by one’s family member and 67% females were subjected to family violence (Family Service Canada. 2021).
Besides the above-mentioned facts the government of Canada has also had failed attempt at eradicating racial discrimination completely from the country, since many ethnic groups are still being subjected to racial abuse in Canada. Especially, after the pandemic many Asians were being victimized and sometimes had even been physically abused or racial slurs have been thrown at the Asian minorities by the Canadian residents under several circumstances. In addition to that, several hate crimes have also been reported by the police as well and these incidents are contributing to the country having multiple social issues even after several steps taken by the government of Canada. Furthermore, a great portion of the Canadian residents have been involved in substance abuse and consuming toxic drugs and alcohol and more importantly, the number of young individuals involved in such action is even more. The UN has stated that Canada is one such country that produces more Ecstasy and Methamphetamines than any other county in the world (Refer to Appendix 1). It needs to be mentioned that Ecstasy is one of the illicit drugs available in the market and the drug is consumed and abused by mostly individuals belonging to a relevantly young age group (Biancardi et al., 2019).
Operational issues in Canada
Despite having a strong government and parliamentary system, Canada still faces several operational issues that work as quite an obstacle sometimes for the Canadian government. It needs to be mentioned that especially after the pandemic the country has been hit with several challenges that have caused disruptions in the operations carried out by the Canadian government. The supply chain system of the country has also suffered a lot as a result of the outbreak of Covid-19 virus and following that, businesses have had to suffer great loss, which the country is still trying to compensate for. Moreover, as a result of globalization the country has been welcoming immigrants from several countries and therefore, the population of the country is also increasing as a consequence of that (Refer to Appendix 2). The rise in population also suggests that there is a significantly higher level of competition in the job market and the Canadian government has failed to create sufficient job opportunities for every individual. The estimation of population is generally relied upon the national population census and an estimation of the previous and later years of the explorations of the censuses based on a demographic model (Data.worldbank.org. 2021).
Additionally, it needs to be mentioned that Canada is involved in trading business with several emerging economies, however, this approach of the Canadian government has proven to be significantly harmful for a portion of Canadian citizens as well. According to research, the increased level of trading with emerging economies of the world in recent years has negatively impacted the economic stability of middle-class workers in countries, such as Canada (Murray, 2017). Moreover, it has also been established that the Canadian tax system needs a reform and reviewed significantly and a tax policy needs to be implemented on the wealthiest individuals of the country, which has not yet been conducted as of now. In addition to that the government of Canada has not been able to handle the matter of public transport quite efficiently and that has caused relevant inconvenience in the lives of people who belong to the low- income household. Millions of Canadian residents depend upon public transport for carrying out day to day activities, however, many households with low -income face disadvantages, since the public transport service does not provide these people with enough access to destinations (Allen and Farber, 2019).
In addition to that, the country has also not succeeded in completely eradicating the issues that cause environmental hazards, which further has negative impacts on climate change. The use of plastic bags and plastic products are largely evident in Canada till date and the country has not taken sufficient action in mitigating the issues. Furthermore, the emission of toxic gases, such as Carbon Dioxide is still visible in the country and the transportation system has also not been shifted to an electrical transportation system for the purpose of reducing adverse effects of climate change. Moreover, failing to protect the human rights of several indigenous groups has been one of the most significant operational issues that the Canadian government has faced till date. Along with that, not being able to act against counter terrorism and bringing back several Canadians from the captivity of the Syrian terrorist group continues to remain one of the most controversial aspect of the Canadian government.
Conclusion
Finally, it may be concluded that in order to run a country effectively and efficiently there are several issues that the government of a country comes across, however, the issues need to be mitigated with efficiency for creating proper governance. It needs to be mentioned that similar to several other countries, the Canadian government has also faced and continues to be exposed to several challenges in relation to running the country. Therefore, the Canadian government needs to take significant actions for resolving the issues that are causing challenges in several sectors, such as political, economic, social and operational aspects of the country.
References
Akram, S. and Azhar, M.M., 2020. Legislations in Parliament of Canada and Pakistan: A Comparative Study of House of Commons and National Assembly. Journal of Law & Social Studies (JLSS), 2(2), pp.58-65.
Allen, J. and Farber, S., 2019. Sizing up transport poverty: A national scale accounting of low-income households suffering from inaccessibility in Canada, and what to do about it. Transport policy, 74, pp.214-223.
Bankofcanada.ca. 2021. COVID-19: Actions to Support the Economy and Financial System. [online] Available at: <https://www.bankofcanada.ca/markets/market-operations-liquidity-provision/covid-19-actions-support-economy-financial-system/> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
Biancardi, M.R., Da Silveira, H.A., Fernandes, D., De Almeida, L.Y., Ortega, R.M., León, J.E. and Bufalino, A., 2019. Ecstasy abuse and its effects on the oral mucosa. Journal of Craniofacial Surgery, 30(3), pp.e189-e191.
Ccla.org. 2021. [online] Available at: <https://ccla.org/major-cases-and-reports/bill-21/> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
Data.worldbank.org. 2021. Canada | Data. [online] Available at: <https://data.worldbank.org/country/canada?view=chart> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
Family Service Canada. 2021. Social Issues Impacting Canadian Families – Family Service Canada. [online] Available at: <https://familyservicecanada.org/about-us/key-social-issues/> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
Human Rights Watch. 2021. World Report 2021: Rights Trends in Canada. [online] Available at: <https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country-chapters/canada> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
Immigration, R., 2021. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada – Canada.ca. [online] Canada.ca. Available at: <https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship.html> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
Immigration, R., 2021. Supporting Afghan nationals: About the special programs – Canada.ca. [online] Canada.ca. Available at: <https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/refugees/afghanistan/special-measures.html> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
Marland, A., 2020. The SNC-Lavalin Affair: Justin Trudeau, Ministerial Resignations and Party Discipline. Études canadiennes/Canadian Studies. Revue interdisciplinaire des études canadiennesen France, (89), pp.151-177.
Murray, A., 2017. The Effect of Import Competition on Employment in Canada: Evidence from the’China Shock’ (Vol. 3). Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
Oecd.org. 2021. Canada – OECD. [online] Available at: <https://www.oecd.org/tax/bycountry/canada/> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
Transparency.org. 2021. Canada Falls from its Anti-Corruption Perch – Blog. [online] Available at: <https://www.transparency.org/en/blog/canada-falls-from-its-anti-corruption-perch#> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
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