Op-Eds
Posted in the Globe & Mail on June 6, 2013
By Peter Howitt
Canada’s federal government, pursuing a growth and innovation agenda aimed at a lingering productivity problem, seems to think the solution lies in turning researchers into entrepreneurs – recent changes to the National Research Council’s mandate are the latest example. But the greatest commercial successes come from top scientists who are left free to pursue their own curiosity-driven research.
The architecture of digital computers was first laid out by the great mathematician John von Neumann. The basic protocols of the Internet were laid out by professors at a handful of top U.S. schools. Almost all modern pharmaceuticals and surgical…
Published in the Globe and Mail on September 4, 2012
By William Robson
Are Canadian businesses spending on new plant and equipment, spurring growth and future prosperity? Or are they unimaginatively hoarding cash? Early in August, a C.D. Howe Institute report announced that new capital investment per Canadian worker in 2012 will likely surpass other developed countries – our best performance for decades. But toward month-end, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney and federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty accentuated the negative. Mr. Carney talked about “dead money” that managers at a loss for opportunities should return to shareholders.
Good – we agree that more capital investment would be better. As for getting…
Publié dans le journal Les Affaires sur Septembre 1, 2012
Par Philippe Bergevin et Alexandre Laurin
L'offre d'achat de la multinationale Lowe's du détaillant québécois Rona a créé de grands remous dans le milieu des affaires du pays. Elle a aussi créé de vives réactions au sein des milieux politiques québécois, notamment celle du ministre des Finances, Raymond Bachand, qui a déclaré que cette acquisition va probablement à l'encontre des intérêts du Québec. Depuis, les partis politiques se bousculent afin de mettre en avant des propositions qui visent à rendre plus ardu l'achat d'entreprises québécoises par des intérêts étrangers. Au-delà des considérations politiques, le jugement final sur le bien-fondé de cette offre - ou…
Published in the Financial Post on March 22, 2012
By Philip Cross
Recently, the CBC released a DVD set featuring all its televised work of Glenn Gould. One of the interesting non-musical items was his hour-long film calledThe Idea of North, a reminder of the recurring if intermittent Canadian infatuation with our Northern frontier. We seem to be in one of those moods these days, with annual photo-ops of Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the Arctic and an array of investments to increase our presence in the North. Will this latest spike of interest in the North fare better than past episodes?
History is littered with the wreckage of past plans to develop Canada’s North. Diefenbaker’s 1958 election platform envisioning…
Published in the Toronto Star on Feb. 9, 2012
By Daniel Schwanen
The closing of Caterpillar-owned Electro-Motive Diesel’s London, Ont., plant, and the loss of some 500 jobs that came with it, is one of many such disruptive events that have befallen Canadian manufacturing in the past five years. The closing earlier this year of Mabe’s household appliance plant in Montreal, putting more than 600 employees out of work, is another example.
In both cases, the inability of the plant to compete on labour costs with other North American facilities and workers were key factors in the decisions. Canadian dollar wages have in many cases become uncompetitive with those set in the United States, notably because of the loonie’s…
