The federal campaign is over. Liberals won. They and we can forget about the promises to get elected, right? Not so fast.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has written each cabinet minister a mandate letter – essentially a point-form directive on portfolio priorities – and they comprise a road map for the new government in the first of what it hopes will be many terms.
As a blueprint for business, and specifically for business in and near Vancouver, there are some encouraging commitments and ambitions. Some we’ve heard about as electioneering elements, like legalizing marijuana, money for transit and figuring out if there is anything to be done about expensive houses. A few are bromides, like reviews of inefficiencies. But several are sleeping giants.
In the absence of a crisis, these letters are the clearest indication of how Ottawa will intersect with the Lower Mainland.
Here are 25 initiatives to be found by poring through the 30 letters:
1. A Building Canada Fund for roads, bridges, transportation corridors, ports and border gateways “helping Canada’s manufacturers get their goods to market.”
2. Significant investment in public transit and green infrastructure.
3. A Canada Infrastructure Bank to support municipalities with low-cost loans to build affordable rental housing.
4. A Social Innovation and Social Finance strategy to prioritize investments in affordable housing and seniors’ housing, including new construction and refurbishment.
5. Particular attention to trade with China and India, with a strategy to mobilize small- and medium-sized businesses “and the rich diversity of Canada’s population.”
6. A review of high-priced housing markets (read: ours) and “all policy tools that could keep home ownership within reach for more Canadians.”
7. A review of the grain transportation system because “Canadian farmers must be able to get their product to market.”
8. A “single online window” to gain access to all government services.
9. The removal of the GST on new capital investments in affordable rental housing.
10. A reduction in the small-business tax rate.
11. The medium-term elimination of fossil fuel subsidies.
12. Pursuit of the recent Cohen Commission’s recommendations to restore sockeye salmon stocks in the Fraser River.
13. Restoring funds for ocean science and monitoring to protect the health of fish stocks and monitor pollution.
14. A federal-provincial-territorial process (which suggests a slow process) to legalize and regulate marijuana.
15. A priority for shipbuilding to renew the coast guard and ensure the navy can “operate as a true blue-water maritime force.”
16. An Innovation Agenda to expand support for incubators and accelerators and new programs to make Canada a world leader in tax treatment of clean tech.
17. Easier financing and export support for small and medium-sized businesses.
18. Simpler access for foreign investors through a strengthened Invest in Canada office.
19. More generous and flexible leave for caregivers and more flexible parental leave.
20. A Fair Wages policy, a reduction in employment insurance premiums, and a 12-month break on employment insurance premiums when firms hire younger, permanent workers in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
21. Funds to municipalities to maintain rent-geared-to-income subsidies.
22. Canadian Exploration Expenses tax deductions only in cases of unsuccessful exploration, with a redirection of savings into new and clean technologies.
23. A broader commitment to high-quality mental health services to make them more available.
24. Providing funds for municipalities, “the money they need for Housing First initiatives that help homeless Canadians find stable housing.”
25. Significant new investments in cultural infrastructure (hello, art gallery).
Place your bets on how many of the 25 will be in place by decade’s end. I’m thinking about 18.
Kirk LaPointe is Business in Vancouver’s vice-president of audience and business development.
