Jeffrey Simpson, writing in the Globe and Mail, sometimes surprises me. He hits the nail on the head that Canadian businesses need to look beyond the US market and find more customers overseas – even if that is hard.
Mr. Simpson wrote a good book review a couple of years ago, on the same subject. But my question is, does he now accept and understand that the government is a big part of the problem – coddling local industries and throwing wrenches in trying to pick winners – that he tried to pass off as the lesser of the complaints in the book. While I agree that Ms. Mandel-Campbell’s book pointed out the failings of Canadian business people on the international stage, I can understand if one company is badly run – it really only affects that one company. But when the government gets involved it screws up everyone. Be it the wheat board, the dairy marketing system and tariffs, the way EDC is structured or government intervention in international trade in an attempt to protect/help a single “national champion”, the government isn’t helping. They are part of the problem.
We need to get rid of marketing boards, cultural protections for bookstores and broadcasters, restrictions on foreign investment and foreign competition and put the EDC on the footing to HELP Canadian businesses export – and not by demanding domestic borrowers or foreign buyers be restricted to EDC financing or other Canadian suppliers who may not be competitive.