Op-Eds
The House of Commons’ Industry, Science and Technology committee has been examining recent changes to the administration of the Investment Canada Act, the federal regime for reviewing foreign acquisitions of Canadian businesses. The changes are intended to respond to likely merger and acquisition activity as the economy recovers from the pandemic. We believe that although the changes are well intended, some elements need further consideration. Our main concern is that economic factors will be given short shrift in the more opaque national security review process — this at a time when efficiency and timeliness will be crucially important.
Under the act, the federal government can conduct a “net benefit” review when foreign…
Nos choix de placements peuvent accélérer les changements exigés par l’urgence climatique. Heureusement, les institutions financières développent des produits plus amicaux pour la planète. La finance durable s’impose comme nouvelle norme.
Les entreprises qui composent les grands indices boursiers génèrent des gaz à effet de serre (GES) cadrant avec un réchauffement climatique de 3,5 à 5 degrés. L’indice du marché canadien TSX60, où le secteur pétrolier est fortement représenté, correspond à un scénario de 4,6 degrés, estime Mirova, filiale de la banque d’investissement Natixis.
Que faire alors ? Le réflexe de larguer les actions des pétrolières réussit davantage à nous donner bonne conscience qu’à réduire les GES.…
Canada’s declining position in the Global Competitiveness Index, the lower productivity of Canadian companies compared to U.S. firms, and the low ranking of Canadian companies in the Global Innovation Index despite the strengths of our scientific community and the quality of its research suggest that Canadians are adroit in transforming “money into knowledge,” but have difficulty mastering the alchemy of transforming “knowledge into money."
It is well established that high-growth small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) contribute disproportionally to innovation, productivity improvement, competitiveness and economic growth. Increasing the number of high-growth SMEs is a major focus of industrial policy worldwide. But in Canada…
A key element in every quarter’s release of numbers for the national economy is business investment. When capital spending on non-residential structures, machinery and equipment (M&E) and intellectual property products is strong, GDP and jobs get a boost in the short run — and, more important, workers get the tools they need to produce more, compete abroad, and earn higher incomes. When capital spending is weak, the reverse is true: the economy takes a near-term hit…
The Draft Master Innovation and Development Plan released by Sidewalk Labs in late June could breathe life into Toronto’s comatose plans for a light rail line to the city’s eastern waterfront.
Waterfront Toronto’s 2017 request for proposals, which brought Sidewalk Labs onto the local scene as the developer of the eastern waterfront property, sought help in planning and funding an LRT from Union Station along Queens Quay East. Sidewalk Lab’s draft plan proposes to invest $100 million in the project, to be repaid from higher property tax revenues that the LRT will help create.
If Waterfront Toronto and the city can agree on the terms, a growth-spurring LRT could be an early and critical benefit from the entire…
