Former Cabinet Ministers Call For A Unified Vision Of Canada’s New Economy
FREDERICTON — Canada needs a plan to create long-term, sustainable, economic growth that lifts up everyone. That’s according to former federal cabinet ministers Anne McLellan and Lisa Raitt.
“It’s about, number one, ensuring that people know that [Canada’s] long-term economic growth needs to be different,” says Raitt who, with McLellan, is in Fredericton for the Coalition for a Better Future’s ‘Shaping the Debate: Defining a decade of inclusive and sustainable growth for New Brunswick’ event.
“The reality is that we’re not growing as we should — and we need to grow. But the second part of that is the growth … can’t just be the normal old growth that we’ve always done. It’s got to be sustainable. It’s got to be inclusive.”
The event, which takes place on January 25 at UNB’s Richard J Currie Centre, is the first in a four-part series hosted by the Coalition, in partnership with universities across the country and supported by Shell Canada. The series aims to engage with youth and young leaders about strengthening Canada’s economy.
McLellan and Raitt co-chair the organization, which was created in August 2021 with the goal of prioritizing Canada’s economic growth and creating a path to do it in a responsible way.
The Coalition, which is made up of 142 members, including politicians, professional organizations, non-profits, and think tanks, has created a scorecard measuring 21 metrics categorized under “Growing Sustainably,” “Living Better,” and “Winning Globally.” It includes measurements like “greenhouse gas emissions per unit of GDP,” “share of indigenous people in senior management positions,” and “investment in intellectual property per worker.”
The metrics were developed in consultation with the Business Council of Canada, outside consultants, and the organization’s own advisory board, with the intention of measuring them annually until 2030.
Raitt, who served in Conservative leader Stephen Harper’s cabinet, says the metrics will not change as time goes on, providing a true line of continuity that Canadians can look to to determine how the country is faring. Raitt says she hopes that by providing a consistent measurement over time, Canadians will trust the results the Coalition provides, and that the numbers will give a “really good idea of how we’re doing overall.”
“One of the challenges has been in Canada that we haven’t always been able to collect the data that we need to make comparisons and to understand what’s happening on a national basis,” says McLellan. “You hear this now in the healthcare situation, that there’s a demand for greater data sharing across provincial boundaries. That’s important as we learn from each other and see what’s working and what isn’t.”
Importance of interprovincial cooperation
In addition to sharing data, McLellan says Coalition members have identified interprovincial trade barriers as hindering Canada’s growth.
“Our members want to see a higher degree of collaboration and cooperation among and between governments,” the former Liberal cabinet minister says. “So that you can be a doctor in Alberta, move to Ontario and quickly be certified to be able to practice medicine in Ontario.”
Each province can maintain control over the qualifications and other designations of their professionals, the goal is just to ease the “rules and regulations have really been non-tariff barriers to the movement of people across the country.”
“Those barriers need to be reduced because we are limiting our country’s productive capacity,” she says.
Decarbonization
Another major challenge facing Canadian businesses is addressing climate change. McLellan says that’s where the sustainability aspect of the equation comes into imagining Canada’s new economy.
“All our members support net-zero, 2050-2030 targets,” she says. “Sustainable economic growth, it’s not just about climate change but I think it’s fair to say that the largest focus right now for our members, is on how they in whatever business they’re in, is… the necessity to decarbonize the Canadian economy.”
That sustainable, long-term view towards the economy is crucial to shift Canada to the path of being competitive on the global scale, as well as maintaining our way of life.
“We need economic growth. We’ve lagged other G7 and some other OECD countries over this past decade. We need to ensure strong economic growth, but the right growth,” she says. “Without that growth, it’s going to be hard for us to sustain our health care system, and enhancing our education systems, address all the infrastructure demands that we will need to meet over the coming years.”
A sustainable, inclusive, and growing economy may be ideas that in some ways seem to be in opposition to each other, but McLellan says they are complimentary ideas that are necessary to move forward.
“What’s inclusion about? It’s ensuring that everybody gets to their productive capacity. That’s the talent that we need, in this province of New Brunswick and across the country,” she says. “Number one issue for [our members] is: where do I find the talent, the people I need to drive my business and grow in the future? We have to start including people and not leaving them behind.”
Clean air and water are essential for Canadians and must be prioritized to strengthen the country and support the economy.
“All those clean tech innovations that decarbonize are also job creators and will help grow the economy, and make it more efficient.”
International competition
Raitt says that time is of the essence for Canada to make strides on attracting and retaining businesses, and acting to strengthen the economy.
“We do not have time to waste, given the Inflation Reduction Act with President Biden, is already moving capital to the south,” she says. “We now have the Europeans saying: we’re going to have our response to the Inflation Reduction Act in March. There’s another one we have to deal with.”
Raitt and McLellan say acting together with purpose, and with a plan, is the key to securing Canada’s long and short-term economic future.
“One size does not fit all across the country. However, the desire for a sustainable, inclusive economy is something that does resonate,” Raitt says. “How you get there is up to local communities. The fact that you need to get there, is something that is the national thread binding us all.”
Alex Graham is a Huddle reporter in Saint John. Send her your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].