Is the Canadian media hiding the real economic story?

Or are some reporters just too optimistic for their own good. And ours?

You might not have read the full story in a recent copy of The London Free Press, just glanced at the headline [‘Auto sales lead recovery’] and said, “Finally, some good news. Now, how about them Yankees?”

You might have thought the subheading [Canadian Economy: Sales in June reached the highest level on record since last July] told enough of the story so moved on to the baseball scores and were delighted to find that the Yanks were still ahead in the East by a game and a half.

Had you read the story re auto sales you would have discovered the subhead was a lie.


Higher sales in June related to global auto sales, high sales in China and Germany, and had nothing to do with our own country.

Here’s what the article actually said re any economic recovery in Canada.

“new data showed output shrank more than expected”

“the gross domestic product fell 0.5% in May, pulled down by a battered manufacturing sector”

“It marked the 10th straight month of economic decline”

“Plant shutdowns in the manufacturing sectors accounted for much of the decline”

“About half the decrease was due to a plunge in motor vehicle manufacturing”

"Part of it was obviously related to the auto sector shutdowns"

“that was the biggest component explaining an acceleration of the weakness"

So, how’s that for a recovery, Canada?

Maybe we could come up with a truthful headline after reading the sports page, eh?

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