To fix the economy, Canada needs partnership, not populism

Canada’s next election is a year away, or perhaps less now that the federal New Democratic Party has withdrawn its support from the governing Liberals.
In announcing the split, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh took aim not just at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau but also at his alleged shadowy supporters, charging that the Liberal leader is “too beholden to corporate interests.”
It was like watching satire, except that good satire requires a grain of truth. Here there was none.
In recent years, the Liberal government has received little applause from business. It hiked taxes on banks, insurance companies and tech companies. It banned the use of replacement workers during strikes in regulated industries, stoking business concern that labour disruptions would become both more likely and more costly. And business leaders raised alarms when this year’s federal budget both increased the effective tax rate on capital gains and phased out some tax breaks for new business investment.
These policies came at a time when Canada desperately needs more entrepreneurship and more investment to reverse its declining productivity.
While the prime minister is usually respectful in conversations with business leaders, he’s also no stranger to populism. He regularly invokes “fairness” – the idea that businesses and individuals should “pay a little more” to enable spending on housing and other priorities.
There are two problems with this reasoning.
First, he presents a false choice. There is no indication the government has carefully and comprehensively reviewed its spending priorities and its tax policies, and then made strategic choices to incentivize business investment and job creation while maximizing value for taxpayer dollars.
Second, while the government offers good programs to help small businesses grow, there’s an attitude among many politicians that small businesses stop being worthy when they become too successful. Canada must make it easier, not harder, for businesses of all sizes to grow by attracting investment and retaining capital and talent.
Across the aisle, the Conservative party enjoys a commanding lead in the polls. Its leader, Pierre Poilievre, has shown a refreshing focus on engaging working-class voters, an area of historic weakness for his party. On business, however, he has played the populist card as aggressively as the NDP. He argues corporate Canada has been too collegial in pursuing dialogue with government, rather than being more aggressively hostile or running national public relations and advertising campaigns.
It’s time for all political leaders to recognize a reality: when it comes to fixing Canada’s productivity crisis, we need more partnership and less populism.
The NDP should emulate its provincial cousins, who are far more open to dialogue with business. They have stronger economic policy platforms, which correlate with better electoral track records.
The Liberals badly need a fresh message that will win votes back from the Conservatives. How about a vision of rewarding risk-taking rather than punishing it? How about leaning into free trade and supporting Canada’s exporters? How about a comprehensive review of all government spending and taxes to ensure a laser-like focus on investing in people and technology, while attracting and rewarding investment and the productivity, jobs and growth that come with it?
The Conservatives seem poised to form the next government, and they need a governing agenda. While of course Poilievre can keep hammering away at his political rivals, with everyone else he has an opportunity to shift from the clenched fist of opposition to the open hand of a prime minister in waiting. That’s where he and his team will find a rich vein of ideas.
At a time when many Canadians are either anxious, angry or both, we need leaders who can calm things down. Listen with empathy. Understand the complexity of our challenges. Act with urgency. Unite us, rather than divide us.
That means working with the nation’s business leaders, entrepreneurs, job creators and investors. They are the ones who will create the inclusive, sustainable growth Canadians want, need and deserve.