Posted on 04/23/2010 11:44:13 AM PDT by FormerACLUmember
Ian Lee is very blunt about what Ottawa should be doing to grow its economy. He wants us to take advantage of the struggling American economy and get companies to move here from the U.S.
"We have the opportunity," says Lee, "to steal some of their businesses."
Lee, the outspoken director of the MBA program at Carleton University's Sprott School of Business, says for the first time ever, Canada is a much more attractive place to do business than the U.S.
"Never in the history of our country have we been ahead of the United States," he says. "The United States has always been richer, more powerful, more aggressive, more dynamic, more successful, more entrepreneurship. And right now they're going off of the cliff.
"Their banking is a mess. Their real estate is a mess. Their tax system is a mess. The place is going bankrupt before your eyes."
Lee remembers when the Wall Street Journal portrayed Canada's economy as Third World. Now Canada has become a model of stability and it's the fundamentals in the U.S., he says, that are in terrible shape. And we should capitalize. "Without celebrating the mess they're in, at the same time, we have to be hard-nosed and strategic," he says. And we shouldn't feel bad, Lee says, because "the Americans have been doing this for years."
Lee remembers talking to an Ottawa business owner several years ago who was being recruited to move his company to Ogdensburg, New York. He was invited to a meeting with all three levels of government, plus some economic development agencies, all of whom were encouraging him to relocate.
"They were all together in one room on one day in one meeting with one Canadian businessman with one purpose: bring that Canadian business stateside," Lee says. "They sat in front of him and negotiated how much each could bring to the table to get him to move his business to the States. They were very market-driven and very entrepreneurial.
"We've got to do something like that here, where OCRI and the Chamber of Commerce and the economic development ministries federally and provincially jump in like that."
Lee says Canada has several advantages over the U.S. right now.
Corporate taxes are already lower, and that's before anticipated hikes to deal with record budget deficits south of the border.
"The hook is that it's going to be cheaper to do business in Canada than in the United States and it's going to be more stable," he says. "We have a trained, stable workforce with a low cost of doing business. And no looming tax hikes."
To succeed in growing our economy by importing American businesses, Lee says all three levels of government would have to work together and get aggressive, and the city would need to cut red tape and make the process simple.
But no matter how bad the economic fundamentals in the U.S., how realistic is it for an American business owner to simply pull up stakes from his or her homeland and move across the border to the land of Timbits and maple syrup? Isn't that the equivalent of trying to get Sidney Crosby to quit the Penguins for the Senators?
"I'm not talking about companies from Virginia or Alabama or Mississippi who don't even know where Canada is," he says.
"I'm talking about businesses within 300 miles of the Canadian border. Especially those in states that are going through a living hell right now.
"There have to be some businesses that are taxed up the wazoo who must be looking at Canada because they're so close. The idea must have crossed their minds to look at the possibility of shifting into Canada."
Erin Kelly, the executive director of the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, says there's nothing wrong with trying to woo American businesses. But she says that's a small part of the equation.
The bulk of the growth in Ottawa's economy, she says, will come from the expansion of existing companies, especially established mid-size firms. Kelly says with facilities like the Entrepreneurship Centre, the city puts a lot of emphasis on helping start-ups get off the ground, but not a lot of thought into helping mid-size companies expand.
And she says the city should look closely at the model of Invest Toronto, an agency that attracts foreign investment and expansion rather than just recruiting companies to relocate.
Borrowing a phrase from U.S. president Barack Obama's campaign, however, Lee says there is no harm in trying to get American companies to uproot and relocate to Canada's capital.
"Maybe it will turn out that it's not viable. But I think if they can do it," he says, "yes we can, too."
So the Canadians are plotting to draw American businesses out of America during our time of economic hardship? This calls for a careful, deliberative, well-reasoned response.
Let’s nuke ‘em. That’ll put a crimp in their plans.
First of all, that is not what you said, is it? Second, the US GDP is almost 10 times bigger than ours because your population is 10 times bigger.
Also Canada is a socialist welfare state
Hmmm. Seems to me that 47% of Americans pay no income tax, and 32% of Canadians pay no income tax, but you figure we are more socialist? Right.
Are you telling me that Canada has a more free market economy than ours? How much taxes do you pay if you make $ 80,000 in Canada?
If you earn 80k canadian per year, which now equals about 81K american you pay between 12k to 14k of that in taxes, which you can try and claim back at tax time based on rrsp contributions.
We have such a good Prime Minister now jim, a real Conservative, an Economist by trade, and a very honorable man. He has introduced legislation to SCRAP the gun registry, an absolute boondoggle brought in by the pure red Liberal Chretien and his minions. The Liberals will fight it yes, but then they are in big trouble as party anyway. Harper is a very good man and he’s changed a lot of things. If we can get him in in a Majority he will make huge Conservative changes. And just so you know, they are a LOT of us Canadian Conservatives. Not a liberal or Socialist bone in our bodies. Never broad brush an entire country. CO
Glad to see that you guys are going in the right direction. I am sorry about what is happening in the US.
So am I sorry about what is going on in the United States. My sister and I have approximately 30 American born relatives and many friends that we are sincerely concerned about. I can’t believe this has happened to America and I’m even more surprised that American folk are not doing anything about it. You have an administration that is the most wicked ever, likely the President is not eligible to hold the office, and they are literally steamrolling over the country, ruining everything in their path. Very sad indeed. CO
It seems to me something interesting is being developed in Canada. The other day I also read a news that Canada is pondering whether to restore the title “Canadian Navy” and even “Royal Canadian Navy” to the Canadian Forces Maritime Command, which was originally changed in 1968 under Saint Trudeau.
Other developments like about a possible move to abolish gun registry, and even calls to allow private elective surgery, and a reading about Conservatives’ advances in rural Quebec, all point to a gradual de-Trudeauization of Canada. I wonder whether it has something to do with Obama becoming the US president? Or because Saint Trudeau has been dead for a while now? Or some otehr factors?
“de-Trudeauization of Canada” ... The sun will shine once again. LOL
I welcome the change in names from “Canadian Forces” to “Canadian Armed Forces” ... from “Canadian Navy” to “Royal Canadian Navy” ... from “Canadian Air Force” to “Royal Canadian Air Force”. Bring it on!
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