Globe and Mail: Can the federal budget really spur $500-billion in private-sector business investment?
Business and investment leaders welcomed Ottawa’s $500 billion private-investment target as a strong signal but cautioned that success will depend on execution and regulatory reform. Goldy Hyder, CEO of the Business Council of Canada, said the government’s direction is sound but incomplete: “It just didn’t go far enough,” he said. Jim Balsillie, chair of the Council of Canadian Innovators, warned that the government is still putting “a lot of money into 1970s thinking” and needs to ensure domestic ownership of intellectual property. Mark Podlasly of the First Nations Major Projects Coalition stressed that although the $10-billion loan-guarantee program is valuable, “you cannot loan-guarantee an entire economy” — private capital must “step in and also work with First Nations.”
