Fiscal Prudence and Sound Economic Policies Must Be Top Priorities of Canada’s New Parliament, Business Leaders Say

June 29, 2004

Canada’s most influential business organization, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE), said this morning that fiscal prudence and sound economic policies must be the top priorities of Canada’s new parliament.

This message was accompanied by a six-page memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Paul Martin and the three other leaders of the major political parties.

“Canada’s economic record of the past decade has been the envy of the world,” says Thomas d’Aquino, the CCCE’s President and Chief Executive. “Strong economic growth, low inflation, robust job creation and steadily improving productivity have generated back-to-back federal surpluses and ever-rising tax revenues. These in turn have financed improvements in healthcare, social spending, defence and security.”

The London-based magazine The Economist recently referred to Canada as “an unfinished masterpiece,” Mr. d’Aquino noted. “Irresponsible spending and policies that would hurt investment and entrepreneurship will guarantee that the masterpiece will not be finished,” he said.

He added that Canadians of all walks of life have the most to lose if Canada’s new parliament fails to adhere to a responsible program of spending restraint, competitive tax rates, smarter regulation, improved Canada-United States relations and sound trade and investment policies that promote economic growth and job creation.

Referring to the CCCE’s memorandum addressed to federal party leaders, Mr. d’Aquino emphasized the need to restore trust and confidence in the country’s political institutions. “Trust, transparency and good governance are the bedrock of Canada’s strength and every effort must be made to re-establish these public virtues,” he said.

The CCCE president said that a top priority of his organization in the months ahead will be to promote co-operation and understanding across Canada at a time when regional fissures have deepened. “As business leaders and proud Canadians we have fought long and hard to cement the unity and integrity of Canada and we will not cease in our efforts.”

Mr. d’Aquino also issued a challenge to Canada’s business community. “Since the early 1990s, businessmen and businesswomen in enterprises large and small have worked hard to improve Canada’s economic foundations, which in turn has added immeasurably to the quality of life of all Canadians. In the face of a minority parliament with some parties openly advocating policies that would inhibit investment and growth, our duty is to make a convincing case to Canadians that smart economic policies are in Canada’s best interest.”

Composed of the chief executives of 150 leading Canadian corporations, the CCCE is a non-partisan organization with an outstanding record of achievement in matching entrepreneurial initiative with sound public policy choices. Over the past two decades, the Council has played a private sector leadership role in shaping fiscal, taxation, trade, competition, energy, environmental, education and corporate governance policies. Member CEOs lead companies that collectively administer more than $2.3 trillion in assets, have annual revenues of close to $600 billion and account for a significant majority of Canada’s private sector investment, exports, training and research and development.

In addition to Mr. d’Aquino, the members of the CCCE’s Executive Committee are: Chairman Richard L. George, President and Chief Executive Officer of Suncor Energy Inc.; Honorary Chairman A. Charles Baillie; and Vice-Chairmen Derek H. Burney, Dominic D’Alessandro, Paul Desmarais, Jr., Jacques Lamarre, Gwyn Morgan and Gordon Nixon, the chief executives respectively of CAE, Manulife Financial, Power Corporation of Canada, SNC-LAVALIN Group Inc., EnCana Corporation and Royal Bank of Canada.