Article 1

Author: Sandro Contenta

Title: Made in Canada: How globalization has hit the Canadian apparel industry
Source: Toronto Start (News Paper)
Year of publication: May 27 2013
Place of publication: N/A
Page Numbers: N/A
MLA Citation:
Contenta, Sandro. "Made in Canada: How Globalization Has Hit the Canadian
Apparel Industry." Toronto Star 27 May 2013: n. pag. Print.
Questions:
1. The purpose of the article was to highlight how the policy of globalization has
resulted in local businesses at best being left financially crippled or at worst
bankrupt. The cause being the result of them being unable to compete with
foreign companies that can sell their product for a far cheaper rate. Foreign
companies are able to sell their products at such a bargain rate as a result of
them not being forced to comply with the fairly strict levels of regulations
that we see in the developed world.
2. The purposed was achieved by highlighting how one Canadian business was
driven to the point of bankruptcy whereas other were forced to only be able
to hire workers to work for a few cents over the minimum wage.
3. One piece of information that stood out the most to me was the cost
difference in producing a shirt in Canada versus the cost of producing it in a
third world nation like Bangladesh. In Canada the cost of a shirt when it
reaches retail is roughly $70 to $125 as opposed to an imported shirt that can
sell for as low as $10
4. I found this fact to be really interesting as it highlighted the absurdity that is
the notion that on the free market Canadian businesses stand a chance
against multinational corporations.
5. The most important piece of information that I took from this article was the
fact that even though the Canadian government tried to make selling
Canadian made products more financially viable through the use of remission
programs, quotas limiting the amount of textile products that could be
imported from other nations and even making production equipment cheaper.
None of those decisions were enough to make the Canadian businesses
competitive.
6. This is the most important piece of information because it makes it
abundantly clear that Canadian businesses that by virtue of operating in
Canada are held to fairly strict regulation regarding the use of children as
workers, health and safety regulations and whom are obligated to pay their
workers a respectable wage are no match for foreign corporations who are

not held to any of those standards. The very few Canadian businesses that
are not driven to bankruptcy are forced to survive of the charity of other
Canadian businesses many of whom are becoming less and less Canadian.
URL:
http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2013/05/27/made_in_canada_how_globalizatio
n_has_hit_the_canadian_apparel_industry.html
Article Summary:
This Article takes a look at two Canadian companies who as a result of foreign
companies that can operate for a much cheaper rate were almost driven to the
point of Bankruptcy. Although the Canadian companies that were barely able to stay
afloat as a result of what can only be described as brand loyalty or charity by
companies that are viewed as being Canadian companies like Tim Hortons for
example. Those Canadian companies were still obligated to cut the wages of their
employees to a rate barely above the minimum wage. This article highlights the
incredibly difficult situation that Canadian companies are put in where they are
forced to either greatly cut their employees wages close their doors or do what
many other companies have done and move their production to third world nations
where they can take advantage of the lack of regulation.
Article 2
Author: Luz Estella Nagle
Title: Selling Souls: The Effect of Globalization on Human Trafficking and Forced
Servitude
Source: Wisconsin International Law Journal
Year of Publication: 2008
Place of Publication: Wisconsin
MLA Citation:
Nagle, Luz Estella. "Selling Souls: The Effect of Globalization on Human Trafficking
and Forced Servitude." Wisconsin International Law Journal 26.1 (2008): 131-62.
Web.
Questions:
1. The purpose of this article was to show how the policies of globalization have
resulted in the rise of slavery, forced servitude and human trafficking not only
internationally but also domestically.
2. The purpose was achieved by showing the constant push to raise profit and
lower expenses for any business that deals with the free market has driven
corporations to directly or indirectly rely on the use of human trafficking and
in some cases slavery as a way to reduce expenses.
3. One of the most interesting pieces of information that I took from this article
was the fact that one billion people living industrialized nations own 80

percent of the worlds domestic product. All while the other 5 billion fight over
the remaining 20 percent
4. I found this to be the most interesting bit of information because it showed
the fantasy that led to the creation of the Globalized economy as nothing
more than a simple fantasy. The idea that the through globalization security,
prosperity, and parity would all someday become synonymous with third
world nations while not having them keep up with the regulation and the laws
of the first world was on its face absurd.
5. The most important piece of information I was able to take from this article
was the fact that the use of human trafficking was not something that was
reserved to the darkest corners of the third world but rather something that
was also happening in developed nations like the United States of America.
6. I found that to be one of the most important pieces of information because it
showed how globalization was not only having catastrophic effects in the
third world when it comes to workers wellbeing but it was also eroding the
moral principles that the first world was built upon. Instead of building up our
society it was taking us back to the time when slavery was an acceptable
practice.
URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Papers.cfm?abstract_id=1823718
This article highlights one of the unintended consequences of globalization
that being the rise of human trafficking and in some cases slavery. As globalization
has become more and more commonplace foreign companies have been put into a
situation where they must compete with each other to reduce cost as much as
possible. While generally that would be viewed as a sign of a healthy economy in
the third world and to a certain degree in the first world it was resulted in
companies engaging in illegal and what would generally be regarded as deplorable
practice of slavery. While in some countries slavery might exist regardless of
globalization, globalization has led to first world countries enabling the practice.
Article 3
Author: Tavia Grant and Janet McFarland
Title: How globalization has left the 1 per cent even further ahead
Source: News Paper
Year of Publication: 2013
Place of Publication: The Globe and Mail
Page numbers: N/A
MLA Citation:
Grant, Tavia, and Janet McFarland. "How Globalization Has Left the 1 per Cent Even
Further Ahead." The Globe and Mail 14 Nov. 2013: n. pag. Print.
Question:

1. The purpose of this article as to highlight the rate at which the amount of
money earned by the so called 1% has increased in recent times while the
rest of the country has not been able to keep up with the same rate of
growth.
2. The purpose was achieved through the use of showing how the policies of
globalization have outsourced jobs that would have been fulfilled by the lower
and the middle class whereas jobs that are generally filled by those in the
upper class have not been outsourced as most of them require a high degree
of skill. Something that is not easily found in third world nations.
3. What I found to be the most interesting thing from this article was who
formed part of the upper class. This article showed that the upper class is not
just the executives and bankers but rather its a group that encompasses
engineers and people who have very specific skills that are generally very
highly valued.
4. I found that to be interesting because it demonstrated the growing gap
between the upper class and the lower class. Where the lower class is having
their jobs shipped off to other third world nations whereas the jobs of the
upper class are still staying in Canada.
5. The most important piece of information that I was able to take from this
article was why so called income inequality is better in Canada as opposed to
the united states. The article demonstrates that as a result of the superior
social programs available in Canada it has prevented the lower class from
falling too far behind.
6. The reason that I found that fact interesting was because as the article
mentioned Canadas policy of mass immigration has made those social
programs less sustainable. If those social programs are to fail in the future,
then the growing lower class in Canada could face the same future as the
lower class in the United States.
URL: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/howglobalization-has-left-the-1-per-cent-even-further-ahead/article15433419/?page=all
Summary:
This article takes a very in-depth look at how the policies of Globalization that
have been so prevalent in the first world has resulted in an increase in what is
known as income inequality where the upper class is earning an ever increasing
amount of wealth as opposed to the lower class. This article points out how the
demand for people who can work in industries that generally require a higher skill
set is growing. As opposed to jobs in what are generally considered low skill job
markets are being moved to other nations where the jobs can be done at a cheaper
rate and under more laxed health and safety regulations. That has resulted in the
lower class being forced to rely on government programs to support them.
Government programs that are under an increasing amount of stress due to
Canadas policy of mass immigration.