Canadian domestic car sales are increasing, however their manufacturing output has been steadily decreasing, and southern states in America as well as Mexico have been advancing towards the level of output that Canada produces.

This decline in the Canadian Auto industry are partially due to labor costs. Due to the high canadian dollar, labour costs in Canada are more expensive. Thus it is easier to produce more in a cheaper country such as Mexico or move (outsource) manufacturing operations to a less expensive area. NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and then-Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty suggested last year that “a high Canadian dollar, fueled by Canada’s oil exports, was hurting central Canadian manufacturing … they see a threat to their economy”.

This increase in the cost of Canadian labor not only affects Canadian outputs but also the global market.  Thus the increase of Chinese automobile manufacturing has rapidly increased due to cheap cost of labor, thus Canada’s economy, specifically automobile manufacturing, is becoming a smaller part of global trade.

A suggestion on how to improve Canada’s manufacturing industry is to become strategic about “where future growth will be and aim for those markets” as well as position themselves in the global economy so that they are essential.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/10/07/auto-manufacturing-canada-collapse_n_4059489.html

The camera company Olympus has been under fire recently for covering up a $1.7 billion loss in their company that had accumulated since the 1990’s. This money lost had been covered up by using outsized consulting fees and buying unrelated companies. This report of improper accounting was filed nearly two years ago by an investor who claimed “a loss cover-up by Olympus executives was responsible for its plunging stock price”.

Olympus, in order to settle this lawsuit with the US based investor who filed the claim, agreed to pay $2.6 million. When the accounting scandal first broke in the media, the share price of Olympic stock decreased dramatically, but now that Olympus has agreed to reconcile their improper accounting, their share price has gone up slightly, “now about 25 percent higher than before the loss cover-up was exposed”.

In addition to paying the lawsuit, Olympus has also been issued millions of dollars in penalties by courts and regulators. If Olympus had initially tried to deal with any problems or properly accounted their losses instead of covering up their mistakes, Olympus would most likely be successful instead of a disgrace and would not have to go through all the trouble of paying additional fees and being looked down upon.

http://www.france24.com/en/20130927-olympus-pays-us-investors-26-mn-over-accounting-scandal

Allegations of bullying and sexual harassment in one of the top news companies, BCC, have circulated the media recently. BCC is currently under investigation of these claims. A dossier of complaints and evidence this unprofessional behavior has been written by staff members at BBC.

This dossier supports the allegation of sexual harassment, as one BBC staff member was targeted based on his sexuality and a coworker told him “‘Your lifestyle sickens me but it’s your choice'” These types of remarks are not only unacceptable in general, but especially in the workplace where colleagues should get along with everybody no matter their sexual orientation and not discriminate.  Another instance of sexual harassment noted at BBC was by one woman who said “she was offered ‘any promotion I liked’ if she agreed to dinners and drinks at her manager’s cottage on Tuesday evenings”.  This blatant demoralizing and sexualization of women has prompted BBC to initiate a “Respect at Work” review to prevent more cases of bullying and ensure that staff members are being treated fairly.

I think in addition to the “Respect at Work” review, BBC should compensate the victims of the bullying and make sure the necessary steps are taken to the members accused of harassment and bullying their fellow colleagues.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/oct/07/bbc-claims-bullying-sexual-harassment