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Ontario Chamber Business Priorities – Economic Renewal & Business Competiveness 

Business leaders from across the province, including our Sarnia Lambton Chamber Vice Chair Kathy Walker, President Garry McDonald and myself, discussed key steps to achieving economic renewal and business competitiveness in Ontario at the recent Annual General Meeting of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. “A competitive tax and regulatory regime, modern energy and infrastructure foundations, and a skilled workforce are key to Ontario overcoming the current malaise affecting our economy and regaining its competitive edge in the world,” says Len Crispino, President & CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. “The status quo is not an option. We must continue to take bold steps to ensure that our province provides the best possible environment in order for businesses to invest and create jobs for all Ontarians.”

Seventeen policy priorities were approved, bringing to 102 the total number of policies supported by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce network representing roughly 60,000 businesses in every community of the province. Some of the key priorities identified were:

• A commitment to reducing Ontario’s regulatory burden on business through annual benchmarks, sustainability targets, a mandatory five year review of all regulations, and a statutory requirement for broad-based business review of any new regulation
• Modernized infrastructure with an efficient approval process which contains planning that is consistent, long-term and includes sustainable funding
• Skills development for new and current workforce participants that encourages education and training partners to focus the proper resources on the skills and areas most needed in the transitioning economy, as well as an expansion of the Second Career strategy which expands the skills that qualify and allows more time to earn accreditation
• A nuclear strategy in Canada, developed by the provincial and federal governments in consultation with all stakeholders, that ensures jobs, investment and economic strength are retained in Ontario and Canada
• Fairness for Ontario workers in terms of Employment Insurance benefits and training

The most controversial subject of course was the harmonization of sales tax in Ontario. A presentation on the single sales tax was made by University of Toronto Professor, Michael Smart. Other leading economists including Finn Poschmann of the C.D. Howe Institute and Derek Burleton of TD Bank Financial Group, reinforced the importance of sales tax harmonization as one of the important steps to a more robust Ontario economy and improving investment in Ontario.

A full listing of the approved policy resolutions can be found at www.occ.on.ca.

Les McDermott
2009 Board Chairman

Buy Canadian Policies come at a Cost

A perspective from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce:

With the serious toll the recession continues to take on our economy and particularly given the reports that many American states and municipalities are denying Canadian companies a chance to bid on infrastructure projects, it’s not surprising to increasingly hear of calls for our provinces, territories and municipalities to discriminate against foreign suppliers. In particular, the Canadian Auto Workers Union is mounting a concerted campaign to have local councils adopt “Buy Canadian” policies that would limit the ability of foreign suppliers to compete for contracts.

President’s Note: In Sarnia Lambton, the Sarnia and District Labour Council has recently asked City of Sarnia Council to consider a Buy Canadian procurement policy that favours Canadian goods or goods with a specific amount of Canadian content.

Many chambers of commerce across the country have long encouraged both organizations and individuals to purchase locally-made products whenever it made sense to do so. After all, the companies that produce those products pay taxes locally and create jobs for local people. We hold our members' goods and services in extremely high regard. The quality of the goods and services produced in Canada is recognized throughout the world, so making sure that local suppliers are fairly considered and chosen when their price and quality are competitive is only logical.

The problem comes when we go beyond promoting these products and services to writing laws that discriminate against suppliers from other provinces, territories or countries.

When applied between regions, these policies balkanize Canada. An example was the costly and destructive “construction war” between Ontario and Quebec, but there are plenty of other examples that prevent out-of-province/territory companies from operating in other jurisdictions or make it hard for individuals to offer their services in other regions. For some time now, resolutions passed at the Canadian Chamber’s Annual General Meeting have supported eliminating those internal barriers to trade and mobility.

The CAW’s call to discriminate against foreign suppliers is in many ways a tougher challenge because it is much easier to argue for excluding companies from other countries, particularly when Canadian firms often have to deal with discrimination like U.S. “Buy American” laws.

When Canada objected to the “Buy American” provisions in the U.S. stimulus package, Congress amended the legislation to say that the United States would respect its trade obligations under international law. That amendment meant that Canadian companies would not be shut out of contracts at the federal level. In return we must “walk the walk” and not just “talk the talk” and continue an open procurement policy.

‘Buy Local’ policies are designed to discriminate against companies that would otherwise win competitions because either their products or their prices are better – there is no need to shut out companies that cannot compete. The net effect is that taxpayers get less for their money.

According to the OECD, protectionist policies such as ‘Buy Local’ don’t pay. A recent OECD report stated that “retaliation will spread these risks like a virus and, as a result, governments wishing to protect the weakest firms will end up punishing the strongest”. Keeping markets open benefits the entire economy with a 10 percent increase in trade associated with a 4 percent rise in per capita income.

There is no question that we are in difficult economic times and the status of jobs within our own towns and cities is uncertain. The reaction to “protect our own” is only natural, but it can also be self-defeating in the long run. Canadian companies in all communities – large and small - rely on both domestic and global markets to create and grow jobs for Canadians. By seeking to shut our markets, we put at risk the very businesses and jobs in our communities that depend upon global access. Our community and country’s future prosperity will depend on staying open to the world and keeping the world open to us.

We thank the Canadian Chamber of Commerce for their hard work on this matter with the federal government.