All Publications
March 2024 newsletter
For the latest research, analysis and perspective on business and policy in Canada, sign up for our newsletter today. Dear friends, On Saturday we said goodbye to Canada’s 18th Prime Minister – the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney. I’m struggling to imagine where we […]
North America needs USMCA now more than ever
As published in The Brookings Institution When the text of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) was finalized in December 2019, no one could have predicted that there would soon follow both a global pandemic and a dramatic geopolitical shift back […]
Higher corporate taxes will ultimately hurt Canadians
As published in The Hub The federal government has a spending problem. Not only has it proven unable to reign in current spending, it appears poised to announce new spending in next month’s budget. This raises the perennial question of […]
Government should celebrate, not attack Canadian companies’ success
As published in The Financial Post It is politically expedient in Ottawa these days for the federal government to express disappointment that Canadian companies don’t invest more in Canada. Ottawa says it wants Canadian businesses to invest in Canada, but in […]
Spy business: Why CSIS and corporate Canada must join forces in the war against cyberattacks
As published in the Toronto Star Spies don’t often speak publicly. So, when they do, it’s important to listen. It’s even more important when they are leaders of the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence partnership, who gathered for their first-ever public meeting […]
Improving Canada’s Competitiveness
As published in the C.D. Howe Institute From: Michael Gullo and Heather Exner-PirotTo: Ministerial Working Group on Regulatory Efficiency for Clean Growth ProjectsDate: January 25, 2024 Re: Improving Canada’s competitiveness Canadian workers, industry and the federal government share a common goal of a strong economy and […]
The limits of the economic model of public subsidies
As published in La Presse The Canadian and Quebec governments have issued a flurry of headline-grabbing announcements to attract foreign companies to the battery industry. We’ve lost count of the billions of dollars in direct subsidies paid. Speaking before the […]
Don’t buy the government’s rosy projections—Canada’s fiscal outlook is not a pretty picture
As published in The Hub After a challenging 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland head into the new year facing significant pressure to test further the reach of the federal government’s balance sheet. Just to stay […]
It’s time for Canadians to get over our collective aversion to the word ‘productivity’
As published in the Toronto Star It’s time for Canadians to get over our collective aversion to the word ‘productivity.’ For a couple of decades now, any mention of the concept has been met with disdain, mainly because the conventional […]
Strengthening the economy in 2024
For the latest research, analysis and perspective on business and policy in Canada, sign up for our newsletter today. Dear Friends, When I wrote to you in September, this newsletter included a short survey. We asked you to tell us what you […]