Ken Carty

The elephant in the room in Canada is that after nearly 2 years of trade wars, our provincial governments have still largely done nothing in terms of reform to strengthen economic competitiveness. We can’t keep ignoring all the opportunities we have that don’t have anything to do with the US. - There has never been a better moment to fix broken housing systems in BC and Ontario (land use, permitting, and taxes) for the long haul. - The cost of building infrastructure is 3-5x similarly wealthy places in Europe and Asia. We will simply not be advanced in the future if we keep wasting so much $ on broken processes, we know what has to change. - Most interprovincial trade barriers have been unaddressed, and very little progress has been made despite all the MOUs. - Tax reform has been a clear topic where the Feds and Provinces should work together to make the system more competitive especially for IP and entrepreneurship. - Many governing programs do get abused, we see increasing skimming off the top, and regulatory capture that has become problematic. - We know obvious reforms to raise standards in health and education are needed, many of them are free in the long term. There has never been a moment like this one to do hard things, the public I think, is ready. Our provinces need to come to terms with their obligation to strengthen the country by taking responsibility. It can’t all be on the Feds.