Published in the Financial Post
Though only Canada’s tiny interprovincial trade community noticed, in last month’s budget the federal government committed to working on reducing internal trade barriers and outlined concrete next steps that could make a tangible impact.
Provincial protectionism, regulatory capture by interest groups, intra-governmental turf wars, collective action problems, and humankind’s general default to inertia have plagued domestic trade liberalization since Confederation. Strong central leadership has always been key to reform, and Ottawa finally seems to be rolling up its sleeves on one of the most intractable issues facing our economic union.
New vocabulary in what has become an obligatory…
Bob Baldwin - A proposal to encourage more pension fund investing at home is wrong for Canada
Published in the Globe and Mail
Last month’s budget unveiled a working group led by former Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz to collaborate with pension fund leaders to encourage funds to invest more of their assets in Canada.
This initiative is not consistent with the proper management of pension fund assets. It also lacks proper supporting evidence, is unlikely to be effective in achieving its objective except under one unacceptable condition and ignores the use of alternative tools to achieve its stated goals.
The legislation creating the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board includes a statement of “Objects and Powers” that summarizes the approach to investing consistent with fulfilling the fiduciary duty of the…
Published in the Financial Post
The prevailing discussion about Canadian energy use and production and climate initiatives omits some key considerations.
Canada is energy rich, well-endowed with oil, natural gas, hydro generation capacity and nuclear technology. Add in our substantial mineral, forestry, agriculture and fishery resources, and you could say that natural resources constitute Canada’s family business. For some reason, we seem to have forgotten, never knew, or have become embarrassed by this, despite the fact that natural resources, and energy in particular, anchor our economy, our prosperity, and to some degree, our geopolitical relevance in the world.
Natural resources account for 14.9 per cent of…
