As we head into November many of us will have our eyes on the federal budget and its contents. Well in advance of its release, we have been prepared for increased military spending and deep cuts and austerity measures. Is that Plan Canada?
Perhaps we should look further south, into Latin America, for inspiration and leadership.
How about spending some time with Plan México!! And having conversations with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum!
Earlier this year, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum laid out the ambitious way forward for Mexico and its people. That plan lays out an economic and social agenda that takes into account job creation, increased wages for workers, food sovereignty, agricultural sustainability, seed saving strategies, climate change and Mexico’s continuing commitment to the Paris agreement and reductions in emissions to 2030, and much more.
Despite the kind of pressure that Canada is facing from the United States, Mexico is advancing its own agenda and only looking north when doing so favours Mexico. Smart, strong, clear, action oriented and people-centred— such is the agenda of President Claudia Sheinbaum and her team.
Below are a few of the measures in Plan México that our federal government might well consider for its Canada Plan. Canada’s future by necessity should be far less dependent on the United States in terms of imports and exports, closed door pressures to amp-up our military spending and also in terms of general direction and alignment with the US.
Please take note – nowhere in Plan México does increased spending on defence and the military appear. There is a budget line for internal measures to deal with the on-going issue of drug cartels and measures to stem corruption, but that is a different issue from the purchase and build-up of defense and military spending. Instead what Plan México includes are substantial goals to reduce poverty and inequality and a portfolio of $277 billion in state-led national and foreign investment and programs to make it happen!
Key Plan México Objectives
- Move from the 12th to the 10th largest economy in the world
- Raise the ratio of investment to GDP to over 25 percent
- Generate 1.5 million jobs
- Increase manufacturing in Mexico and ensure that50 percent of domestic supply and consumption will be “Made in Mexico,” relaunching this brand by focusing on strategic sectors such as textiles, footwear, furniture, and toys
- Increase Mexico’s share in global exports to 15 percent
- Ensure that local governments buy at least50 percent of their acquisitions from the domestic market
- Manufacture vaccines in the country using advanced biotechnology
- Reduce from 2.5 years to one year, the requirements, processing time, and bureaucracy for investments and new businesses in Mexico
- Train 150,000 professionals and technicians and educate at least the same number annually in “strategic sectors,” in addition to those already graduating, to meet the growing demand for skilled workers in key industries.
- Ensure environmental sustainability of businesses and industry by encouraging policies for reuse, clean energy and waste processing
- Finance 30 percent of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises)
- Become one of the top five most visited countries in the world
- Decrease poverty and inequality
Within each general category are the details related to concrete actions to implement the objectives. These range from ensuring income supports for women in their 60s to percentage increases to minimum wages until the target of at least 2.5X the basic food basket is reached. The plan also includes programs for small and medium sized businesses, supports and programs to encourage small farmers and their production, stimulating the purchase of Mexican goods, educational programs and training, and investment in new technologies.
Agricultural initiatives
Plan Mexico includes objectives to increase the country’s food self-sufficiency and sovereignty in basic foods. To that end actions are being taken to increase production in maize (corn), beans, rice and milk, prioritizing fair prices for both producers and consumers. The program also includes programs to provide resources such as fertilizer for small farmers, as well as production loans, and regulations that prevent genetically modified crops, such as corn, from being used in the country and contaminating the current seed stock. And this despite the CUSMA free trade deal and unfair trade rulings from the United States that, if adhered to, would have seen genetically modified corn varieties enter Mexico (see ‘A matter of maize and not so free trade agreements‘ ). As part of its commitment to maintaining control over basic foods and genetic stock, Plan México also includes investment in seed banks as a priority to preserve genetic material of native crops.
Economic and social well-being
Plan México also calls for increased production and purchase of everyday goods required by Mexican citizens. For example, everything from shoes, clothing, and even children’s toys, is included in a national production plan. Alongside this plan are also measures to encourage the purchase of Mexican goods by regulating government procurement practices and the prioritizing of “Made in Mexico” purchases.
As you go through the list of goals included in Plan México, it is clear that the plan is well-thought through and coordinated to support Mexican sovereignty in all sectors of its economy.
There are major investments in infrastructure, with several water projects underway that include renewing infrastructure, investing in sanitation projects, irrigation projects, and the creation of projects to ensure access to clean water, recognizing that clean water as a basic human right.
There are also investments in roads, a new passenger railway system, and in airports and ports.
Whether it is the energy sector, public programs to create vaccines, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, new schools and educational programs, job creation, including for its young people, President Sheinbaum and her team appear not to have left out any aspects of Mexican society in Plan México/ The objectives and goals are detailed, right down to the number of kilometres of road to be improved or built, or the number of students to be enrolled and granted an education. Dates and timelines, costs, populations impacted, environmental requirements, and maps where projects will take place are all included in Plan México.
I never thought reading a national economic and social plan could be exciting – but Plan México is just such a document. It oozes ideas of how to improve the lives of the average Mexican.
The goal is better wages and increased employment, fair trade for farmers, fair prices for consumers, buying Mexican products first and increasing the production of Mexican products. The plan also includes building affordable housing, and increasing the amount of energy created in Mexico.
Food production, housing construction, energy production, fair wages, access to education, investment in technology, environmental regulations and sustainability – all are outlined in detail and clearly, for all to see.
None of this means that Mexico will not continue its trading relationships with other countries, including the United States. But what is clear is that Mexico wants to produce more of what is essential to the survival and prosperity of its people. Its sovereignty and sustainability is based on ensuring healthy food, a healthy environment, and solid public services. What it cannot produce on its own, it will import, but from a position of strength and from friendly countries and counterparts.
By 2030, the plan is that Mexico will no longer operate from a position of dependence and weakness. Mexico is moving away from dependence on its trading relationship with the United States and also from dependence on Chinese imports. The plan is to ensure it can maximize production within its borders and ensure its people have a decent standard of living.
President Sheinbaum is continuing to advance the direction taken by the previous President Andrés Manuel López Obrador aka AMLO, the founder of MORENA, the National Regeneration Movement (Spanish: Movimiento de Regeneración Nacional). Sheinbaum also represents the left-wing progressive policies of MORENA and is quickly actioning its many of them. The goals and targets are ambitious, but between now and 2030, if Plan México meets even half of its targets, the country and the life of the average Mexican should be vastly improved. If it meets all of its targets, the lives of average Mexicans will be transformed.
Sheinbaum is moving quickly with a plan to leave a huge mark during her six-year term.
Mexico has long been considered a poor country. But President Sheinbaum is showing that in fact what it has lacked the most is not resources or the willingness of its people to work hard and advance – what it has lacked the most is honest, visionary, and committed leadership.
Unlike our Prime Minister, President Sheinbaum is advancing Plan México in full public view and transparently. The plan is multi-facetted, well-thought-through and coordinated, and workable – like a series of inter-related gears – as it should be. It is now known as the Fourth Transformation (following that of Mexican Independence, the Reform, and the Revolution)…the fourth historical transformation began in 2018 by AMLO, then President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and now continues with President Sheinbaum.
Read about Plan México in English here.
The Spanish version of Plan México is available here.
President Sheinbaum has not cowered in the face of US threats. She is not dwelling on cuts and austerity and telling her people to tighten their belts – she is building. Sheinbaum is not instilling fear for the future in her compatriots, but rather hope for a better future – one made in Mexico.
Will our November 4 budget take inspiration and strength from the lead provided by Mexico? Will it be as transparent and clearly enunciated with values that speak of people rather than just profit? Will the November 4 federal budget not just be words, but also sustainable action?
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