On June 5, the Rotman School of Management saw a distinguished panel of speakers from Atlantic Canada come together to bring attention to a changing Atlantic Canadian economy. The 2nd Annual Atlantic Business Summit was host to what Macleans National Editor and moderator Andrew Coyne called a “tag-team” panel discussion, where a speaker from each Atlantic Canadian province brought an “industry guest” of their own. This format gave the conversation great depth, with each representative of the various governments able to provide successful examples of adaptation. The dialogue and questions were wide-ranging, and focused mostly on several topics: tax reform, access to information networks, global market positioning, educational opportunities, adaptability to market changes, transformation of industry, and the need for long-term vision.

ABS 2009 Session: What is your plan for prosperity in this tough economic climate? from Gregory Lam on Vimeo.

Victor Boudreau, MLA for Shediac-Cap Pelé, started by proclaiming that the New Brunswick economy was holding strong despite the though economic climate. That government’s recent tax reform fashioned a large part of Boudreau’s presentation. He eagerly claimed that with this package, the savings in personal and corporate income taxes amounted to over $380 million by 2012, “the most significant one-time lower tax package ever delivered in the history of the province.” As he was the “only elected official” on the stage, Boudreau joked that “if everyone in New Brunswick enjoyed our budget as much as people outside of New Brunswick, well, as a politician, it would be a little easier.” Touting the lowest tax rate for new business in the G7 nations, Boudreau also mentioned that the small business income limit in Canada was higher than anywhere else in the country. “In New Brunswick, we don’t have the rich natural resources other provinces enjoy,” said Boudreau. “We don’t have oil and gas offshore, or diamonds in the ground. What we do have is a plan...to reduce taxes, make government more efficient, and make New Brunswick a magnet for investment.” Part of this plan for growth also involved the creation of a Population Growth Secretariat, something he claimed would help bolster New Brunswick’s traditionally-stagnant population numbers.

New Brunswick’s “business example” was Barrett Xplore, and the audience heard Chair Bill Barrett speak about how bringing high-speed internet to 100% of the province would help its development. Referencing opening speaker John Risley, Barrett noted that “stimulus spending is more than just roads and sewers.” With 10-15% of the country without access to high speed internet – which translates to about 2 million households – Barrett called attention to the importance of access. Elements of access – whether internet or health care – are something that “most of us take for granted.” Rural communities have not traditionally had high levels of access, and bringing that “last 10% to a community” would be hugely important to the long-term development of the Atlantic region. To that end, Barrett Xplore has entered into a number of public-private partnerships with municipalities towards providing infrastructure and access.

Nova Scotia’s speaker was Ian Thompson, Deputy Minister, Department of Economic and Rural Development. Thompson’s talk was wide-ranging and exciting, and helped put the issues Atlantic Canada faces into a global perspective. Claiming that, historically, the audience probably thought of Nova Scotia as being geographically “a hostage to the rest of the country,” Thompson noted that “That paradigm has all changed....We no longer exist at the extremity of a country...we now exist at the corner of Main and Main, between the richest economies in the world.” Geographical access to these economies “is of commercial importance” to both Atlantic Canada and Canada at large: with Halifax closer to Mumbai than Vancouver, Thompson stressed the renewed significance of the Atlantic Gateway. But global positioning was more than shipping lanes. “Do we understand how the world has evolved? Do we understand how to do business in Mumbai or Dubai?” he asked. Citing successful examples of commercial exploration in Abu Dhabi and the Caribbean, he reiterated the mantra that “To prosper and create opportunities we’ve got to look beyond our modestly sized market.” Furthermore, education would play a central role in creating these opportunities. In Nova Scotia, as well as the rest of the country, “we have too many people working without the skills necessary to cope with what’s coming.” “In Nova Scotia we have 240,000 people with inadequate numeracy and literacy skills....Are they equipped for what’s coming?...What is our capacity to adapt? Do we have the skills necessary to do the emerging jobs...that don’t even exist yet?” Addressing a question on immigration, Thompson took an opposing view to the idea that foreign countries held the people needed to supply Atlantic Canadian jobs. “Do we recruit immigrants from Mumbai or Mississauga?” With the federal government at the reins of immigration, Thompson wondered that, once they were here, why not take the initiative and bring them from Canadian population centres where they already congregate?

Peter Conlon, President and CEO of Nautel, spoke briefly, but had a crucial contribution to the discussion. Claiming that Nautel has “just spent 40 years climbing to the peak...and we’re now looking ahead to what the opportunities could be,” it was clear that Conlon believed that the region’s greatest resource was its people, its talent. In this sense, Conlon gave a contrarian angle to a question about the need for Atlantic Canadian productivity. Conlon noted that “flexibility and adaptability are the antithesis of productivity” – that reactions were most important in a volatile global market. “For a little while, we may have to put productivity aside, and get from A to B.” With people of different backgrounds forming a central part of this flexibility, Conlon offered the examples of immigrant workforces as providing different perspectives to old problems.

“An islander...from the wrong side of the pond” was how Prince Edward Island’s Dr. Jason Cleaversmith humorously characterised himself. A transplanted Englishman, Cleaversmith brought a different perspective to Atlantic Canada’s capacity to act “on a global stage.” PEI’s presentation focused largely on bioscience, one of four pillars in the Island Prosperity Strategy. This resolution, designed to diversify PEI’s economy away from traditional industries, also brings focus to IT and finance, renewables, and aerospace. PEI’s investments into bioscience infrastructure were wideranging, but a 600% increase in R&D spending was of central importance to the province’s transformation into a knowledge hub. Part of this transformative strategy involved a change in mindset. Cleaversmith spoke about how the traditional concerns in the region were about “job shortages,” whereas the true need was to bring attention to “skill shortages.” He projected that within this newly projected economy, PEI’s requirements for university graduation would be above 70%, thus emphasizing the need for greater involvement between industry and universities.

Rory Francis, Executive Director of the PEI Bioalliance, gave an impassioned speech about the need to “shrug off some of the cultural baggage we’ve carried in Atlantic Canada that has hampered our progress.” The transformative mindset mentioned by Cleaversmith was of key importance to how the Bioalliance fit into a changing economic landscape. This organization, while not a trade organization, was nonetheless a “true partnership of businesses, research and academic organizations, and government agencies.” Francis mentioned the importance of universities to the PEI plan, something that wasn’t necessarily the case in other parts of the country. Looking beyond this inter-sector cooperation, however, Francis had this to say: “We’ve had a habit over the last number of years of waiting for government to take the lead in economic development...it’s not good for government, and it’s not good for Atlantic Canada. The private sector has to step up and be the leaders.” Part of that “stepping up” was the need to give attention to companies that “are global from day one.” Overall, however, the challenge for Atlantic Canada was one of attitude: “You have to be a community that wants to grow, and is willing to change...We have to be a somewhere.”

It was clear from these conversations between industry and government leaders that “thinking globally” will be of central significance to the economic future of the region. Furthermore, the need for a workforce that has the diverse skillset and adaptability for a changeable global market was a common theme. To that end, offering incentives for immigration, repatriation and investment would play a key role, supplementing a necessary change in attitude across the region that favoured openness and educational opportunity.