Stronger national security leads to a stronger economy

The Business Council of Canada’s latest report National Security is Economic Security calls on the government to create a robust national security strategy with economic security at its core. The report’s content and recommendations were featured by multiple news outlets.

“Canadian companies of all sizes are increasingly finding themselves in the crosshairs of strategic threat actors seeking to advance their national interests in ways that can, and do, undermine Canada’s national and economic security,”

“Open and collaborative research is indispensable to pushing the boundaries of Canadian science and technology. However, strategic threat actors exploit this feature of our academic institutions to advance their priorities at our expense.”

“[To defend ourselves, we need] “a latticework of new and interconnected laws, policies, and programs”

“For decades now, successive Canadian governments have overlooked, taken for granted, or simply ignored the principle that economic security is national security,”

« Le moment est venu pour les décideurs politiques canadiens de reconnaître cette réalité et de s’unir aux entreprises canadiennes pour protéger la vitalité économique et la résilience de notre pays »

“Canadian companies, in almost every region and sector of our economy, now face unprecedented dangers. They are operating on an increasingly skewed playing field in which traditional private commerce is always at a disadvantage.”

“Many of Canada’s closest allies recognize this “mutually reinforcing link” and have developed integrated approaches to economic and national security that seek to enhance their prosperity, safety, and sovereignty in a period of heightened geopolitical risk. Canada has not. For decades, successive Canadian governments have overlooked, taken for granted, or ignored the principle that economic security is national security.”

“This approach stems largely from a mode of governance that responds to immediate and pressing issues that arise without sufficient long-term planning for dealing with strategic threat actors which think well beyond the length of an average Canadian political cycle.”

“Canadian companies of all sizes are increasingly finding themselves in the crosshairs of strategic threat actors seeking to advance their national interests in ways that can, and do, undermine Canada’s national and economic security,”