TORONTO (CP) - Canada continues to slide down the ranks of the world's top economies and is a "chronic laggard in key areas, notably productivity and investment," according to the Conference Board of Canada's latest global report.

Dropping investment spending and sub-par productivity growth pulled Canada down to the No.12 spot from sixth place last year and third in 2003, the board said Tuesday.
 
"Canada runs the risk of squandering its abundant endowments and opportunities," Conference Board CEO Anne Golden said in a release.

"Our report card shows that Canada's relative performance continues to slip, and other countries are not standing still."

Canada earned top 12 rankings in all six categories of the board's global survey, but lost ground in four, including a decline to 12th from sixth in the economy category.
 
"Even in areas such as health and society, where we believe that we have created a strong social fabric, our public record does not measure up to our international brand," Golden said.
 
In its annual Performance and Potential report, the board rates the world's 24 richest economies using a wide variety of indicators.

Norway and Ireland led the economy rankings while Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom failed to crack the top 12.
 
Canada's most glaring - and consistent - failure is its inability to increase productivity. Its 1.1 per cent increase in labour productivity in 2004 puts it at the tail end of the top 12 economies, with Iceland, Sweden and Norway all posting better than four per cent gains.
 
"Increasing productivity - a theme explored in previous reports - is central to our future well-being," the report said.
 
An overriding message in this year's report is Canada's need to invest in research and development to make the economy more innovative. It ranked fifth in the innovation component, down from fourth last year.

Canada strongest performance is in education, a third-place ranking, bolstered by the fact 43 per cent of adults completed a college diploma or university degree, the best rate among all countries.

This comes despite a decade of falling public spending.

Ten years ago, Canada spent 6.2 per cent of its gross domestic product on education, just behind Norway. It now sits in the 14th spot at 4.9 per cent of GDP.

"Although more spending may not necessarily produce better outcomes, the other countries in the overall top five - Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark - all invest more in education," the report notes.

The report also said that organizational policies and practices must change now to offset economic and social repercussions of an aging society.

"Keeping older workers in the workforce is one effective way of dealing with labour shortages," the report said.

Some countries - like France - are subsidizing women to have more babies, but the cost of raising and educating a child in a developed country far exceeds such subsidies, Golden said.

The answer is later retirement, the Conference Board concluded.

The board is a non-profit business body. The report is its 10th annual Canadian performance review aimed at identifying what the country can be doing to increase productivity.

 Tourists Stranded By Wilma's Wrath
Oct. 22, 2005. 01:00 AM ?
"Our priority is safety," said Errol Francis, president of Conquest Vacations and chairman of the Canadian Association of Tour Operators.
Toronto Star JOHN GODDARD STAFF REPORTER

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Telephone service cut out as Hurricane Wilma bore down on a Toronto family of three yesterday at a beach resort in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

"I last spoke to my daughter at 3 p.m. Thursday," Mary Ann Gallacher said from Toronto, clearly worried for her daughter, son-in-law and their year-old child stranded in the path of the storm generating winds of more than 200 km/h.
 
"They're huddled in the bathroom. They said it would be the last call for 30 hours."

The hurricane tore into Mexico's Mayan Riviera yesterday with torrential rains and winds, filling the streets with water, shattered glass and debris. The storm shattered windows and downed trees on the island of Cozumel, a popular cruise-ship stop.

"Tin roofing is flying through the air everywhere. Palm trees are falling down. Signs are in the air and cables are snapping,'' Julio Torres told Associated Press by telephone from the Red Cross office in Cozumel.

Officials didn't expect to be able to reach Cozumel until late today to assess damage.

The Category 4 storm, which killed 13 people in Haiti and Jamaica, was expected to pummel the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula for two days. It is forecast to sideswipe Cuba before bearing down on Florida on Monday.

Mexico has evacuated tourists and residents along the coast, set up shelters and put the army on alert, Interior Minister Carlos Abascal said yesterday.

Yucatan and Quintana Roo states closed ports and evacuated about 20,000 people, including 10,000 from Cancun, one of Canada's most popular travel destinations.

Power was cut early yesterday to most parts of Cancun — a standard safety precaution.
In Toronto, tour operators were weighing whether to cancel flights to western Cuba this weekend, depending on the course Wilma takes.

"Our priority is safety," said Errol Francis, president of Conquest Vacations and chairman of the Canadian Association of Tour Operators.

"We don't want to cancel, but we might have to. We're monitoring the situation."
Wilma's outer bands pounded western Cuba late yesterday, where the government has evacuated nearly 500,000 people.

Forecasters said Wilma could bring more than 100 centimetres of rain to parts of the island.
Waves of up to six metres crashed on the extreme westernmost tip of Cuba and heavy rains cut off several small communities.