Wednesday-Night July 14, #906 Brazil
Simone Spiller introduced her parents, Lala Spiller, a retired State English teacher who continues to teach in a private high school in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. She is also an artist. She sings in English and Portuguese, only jazz and bossa-nova tunes.
João Carlos Spiller retired from the Multinational Company BestFoods. João was also a teacher (accounting) for a few years (in the evenings). He now spends time reading, studying some French and English, travelling and having fun.
They are parents of two "children": Simone and Angelo, both call Montreal their home, both work in the Computer field.
In Simone's words:
"My brother and I grew up in a home where music, American movies, American stars and books were a lot more popular than TV soap operas (famous Brazilian well produced "novelas"). My parents were educated in the old school model in Brazil where Latin and French were part of the standard curricula. Education is a big thing chez nous."
The presence of these guests inspired the Nicholsons' choice of the fascinating topic of BRAZIL.
Background
Although this country occupies a land mass of over eight and a half million square kilometres, the fifth largest in the world after Russia, China, Canada and the United States, boasting the largest economy in South America; although it is extremely rich in natural resources, Brazil remained largely uninteresting to North Americans until it renewed active trade agreements with the Europeans in the 1920's.
In the 1940's, Canadian banks played an important role in the Brazilian economy, but as the situation in Brazil weakened, the Canadians pulled out and this is held against them now.
In the 1960's, the American government reasserted its traditional sphere of influence in Latin America, both in beneficent and distinctly ugly ways. While the Kennedy government conceived the Alliance for Progress as a means of assisting in the development of Latin American nations, interference by the CIA in internal politics was widespread and widely resented.
Military government lasted for 20 years in Brazil; only in 1992 did Brazil enjoy a free vote and the restoration of a fully democratic system.
The economy
Robert Stewart's
... stories great reading
'Duty of Civility' perhaps one of his best
[We are sorry to say that when we last viewed this Royal Bank site, only some of Robert Stewart's Letters are there]
So much for the this bank!! If you e-mail us we can retrieve any of the Letters back to 1997.
Please click here for more on Robert Stewart
To understand Brazil's situation today, it is necessary to go back to the days of the dictators. Large sums of oil money were recycled resulting in the world's largest foreign debt. Change was gradually brought about by President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who as Minister of finance implemented his Plan Real in 1994, bringing the annual inflation rate down from about a thousand percent to approximately twenty percent in the space of a year.
Since then, interest in Brazil has reawakened in the NAFTA group and especially in the United States. Canada is seen as a likely trading partner. Like ours, the country is rich in natural resources, is emerging as a modern country and views the Americans as exploitive rather than a source of help in development.
There are natural cultural ties between Canada and Brazil, especially between Québec and Brazil. We have succeeded in emerging from the position that they find themselves in today in terms of political evolution, education and cultural identity and can be of enormous assistance in developing their institutional problems, without being exploitive. We have been of service to the Brazilian government in the past in areas such as the management of hydro-electric power and of natural resources.
Since the 1992 election of an openly democratic government, old customs are slowly disappearing. There is still a layer of bureaucratic power and influence which means that foreigners need to have intermediaries or partners who know and understand the system. Much of the economy is open to privatization, providing excellent opportunity for Canadian investors notably in such fields as telecommunications, natural resource management and also delivery of basic services SNC Lavalin has been among the Canadian corporations taking advantage of this situation.
It should be remembered that Latin America has traditional economic and trading ties with Europe, going back to colonial days. (Brazil's emperor was of the ruling House of Bragança and in fact ruled Portugal from Brazil for some years in the 19th century). Latin American governments are actively seeking closer ties with the European community at the same time as the talks on the Free Trade Zone of the Americas appear to be treated as less urgent.
Social issues
One problem is the disparity between classes. There is little middle class. The disparities between rich and poor lead to a high crime rate, the creation of "gated" suburbs and the proliferation of the "donut effect" in the cities. Ultimately this situation will be resolved when entrepreneurial members of the less privileged classes reach the middle income class through relatively simple delivery of necessities such as bakeries and supermarkets.
Education remains the key to social development and the government has no programmes to establish uniform standards for the quality of education.
Conclusion:
Watch Brazil. In the words of at least one economist, "Brazil is a serious buy" It is coming alive and promises to be a trading partner for Canada of increasing excellence.
Québec Nursing Strike
The tasks relating to the Nursing profession have evolved, while their social and financial treatment on the job have not. This is not a new situation. Previous governments have established the relative value of nursing services, but Minister Rochon's policies have had a particularly bad influence.
The fundamental issue in the strike is the definition of tasks, i.e. who the nurses are and what they have to do, what is the status of half-time employees.
The Québec government has chosen the wrong time to draw the line on tasks, hours, job description and status. The government has unfortunately wrongly followed a haphazard pay policy and is now reaping the harvest of the seeds sown by its own policies.
These people deserve their increases. They have public support. The government will have to have the courage to settle with the nurses and allow the settlement to become a precedent for future public service negotiations. The solution must be for this particular problem. Such an attitude would gain popular respect and strengthen the government's hand in implementing other policies.
Our Economy
We are now nine months into the current market after a major bottoming out in October 1998. The major direction is upward, however, in the short term there is concern over serious corrections in September 1999. We are on the threshold of earnings expectations.
On the brighter side, resources are in general coming back into vogue, so that the Canadian market at this point appears more attractive than the U.S. Market. We Wednesday-Night Went long mid June.
Conclusion
The evening ended on a high note, as Lala Spiller offered a lovely a capella rendition of "The girl from Ipanema", a charming and fitting closing to this Brazilian evening.
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Notes by Herbert Bercovitz
Edited by Diana Thébaud Nicholson
Free Trade of the Americas movement. Please see NAFTA #843
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