Canada's Ability to Upgrade in the 21st Century with Respect to the Staple Theory
Gibril Sallah ? 100283064
Abstract
Canada is a extremely resourceful country and one of the largest exporters of natural resources worldwide. With the increase in technology and the increase in the depletion of natural resources and uncertain demand fluctuations in the economic world, natural resource based economies will need to find solutions to upgrading their economies with or without staple product dependency. This essay will investigate the staple theory and whether or not it is recommendable for Canada to depend on its staple for further economic development. Reasons to why or why not Canada should rely on its natural resources will be analysed and a conclusion provided.
1. Introduction
Canada is indeed a blessed land with a diverse and highly multicultural society and a vast treasure of natural resources. Mother nature has particularly endowed Canada's soil with a wide range of highly demanded natural resources in the world market thereby giving it a competitive edge over other countries; The World Bank rated Canada fourth among 92 countries in the world in 1997 with respect to its stock of natural resources(subsoil assets and timber
Resources)falling behind only to oil giants Saudia Arabia, Norway and Venezuela(see fig 1.1).[1]. Canada also boasts a large variety of minerals and is a large exporter both forestry related and subsoil assets a such as uranium, potash, gold, oil, softwood lumber, and even platinum to mention a few(see fig 1.2 & 1.3).[1]. Further more, it is worthy to note that Canada's huge pool of energy resources and their respective exports have resulted in Canada being a large producer ...