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OTTAWA — There was a time, and not too long ago, when Canada was the envy of the post-recession world.

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The oil- and gas-rich western province of Alberta was responsible for all of Canada’s net employment growth over the past 12 months, adding 81,800 jobs while the rest of Canada lost 9,500. Alberta’s trade surplus, $7.4 billion in May, almost matched the deficit rung up everywhere else.





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Remember the quick-out-of-gate economic recovery, and all those lost jobs that were recouped in its wake?

Our big, bruised neighbour to the south could only gaze up with envy.

Not any more.

The United States is on a roll, maybe not a steep one. But there is movement, nonetheless, and American consumers appear to be getting behind it.

They are growing optimistic and gaining confidence that much of the residue from the 2008-09 downturn has been swept aside.

In fact, the pulse of American consumers has quickened over the past three months, while Canadians, overall, look to be increasingly blasé as we now are left to keep watch on our biggest trading partner, eagerly awaiting that their buoyant mood eventually turns into meaningful economic spillover.