Well that is the problem, we have a disagreement if growth is necessary for a vibrant economy. There are clearly examples that don't depend on growth like Germany.
Germany? Whaaa? Germany is taking in huge numbers of newcomers, to the point that it's becoming a major political conflict.
We have many in Canada who believe that growth is unnecessary for the economy, and many that argue that growth hurts us and want to stop it. My argument is simply that where possible, growth should pay its own way.
For the record, I'm with you... I'm not convinced that we really need to keep growing the population. Replacement-level immigration would be fine, I believe.
People say "we need more people working so that we have enough tax payers to pay for everything." (what they really mean is that the government needs revenue.)
People say "we need workers to do all these jobs because there's a shortage of workers in some industries, and Canadian kids don't even want to do low-paying jobs anyway..." (labor market issues are a whole 'nother thread, but a shortage in certain areas of the market (like skilled trades at the moment) isn't addressed by large scale immigration but rather by training and by specifically bringing in immigrants with the specific skills desired. A shortage of teenagers willing to pour coffee at Tim's shouldn't be addressed by the government, it should be addressed by Tim's.)
I don't think population growth is actually a good thing. I think many of the problems we're facing-- skyrocketing housing costs in Canada's biggest cities, transportation, pollution and environmental problems, providing services and infrastructure for more and more people-- are made worse by growing the population. So I'm completely with you on the idea that just growing and growing isn't the answer.
-k
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