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Economic strategy table reports a call to action for Ottawa: FPAC
Sept. 25, 2018 - The release of a federal government competitiveness report is an important call to action requiring a commitment from Ottawa that it is prepared to improve Canada’s global competitiveness by delivering more agile regulations, improved infrastructure, and continuing to develop a workforce for the future while accelerating innovation, say leaders from Canada’s forest products sector.
September 25, 2018 By Forest Products Association of Canada
The report released on Monday by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains entitled, “The Innovation and Competitiveness Imperative: Seizing Opportunities for Growth,” contains recommendations from six sectors with high growth potential, including Resources of the Future, which includes Canada’s forest products sector and its workers.
“In the face of an uncertain global trading environment and when competing countries are lowering tax rates and streamlining regulations, the release of today’s report couldn’t come at a more critical time,” said Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) chief executive officer Derek Nighbor. “We must maintain the Canadian advantage that includes securing our position as an environmental leader and supporting important social programs. In order to do so, we need the federal government to make a clear commitment to global investors that it is serious about addressing some of the things that are holding us back,” Nighbor added.
The innovation agenda represents a huge opportunity for Canadian forestry to do more to support our move to a lower carbon economy. The report calls for the strengthening of an innovation ecosystem that fosters public-private partnerships, accelerates deployment and adoption of advanced technologies, supports skills training, integrates innovators with the mainstream supply chain, and showcases Canadian innovations.
“The Economic Strategy Tables outline a made-in-Canada roadmap for competitiveness. By recognizing innovation ecosystems and public-private partnerships, such as FPInnovations, as being critical to increasing competitiveness, the Economic Strategy Tables have the potential to set the foundation for the country’s future prosperity,” said Stéphane Renou, president and chief executive officer of FPInnovations.
Canada’s forest products sector looks forward to working with the federal government in the weeks and months ahead to advance this long-term vision for sector competitiveness as we work towards our shared goals of increasing strategic investments in Canadian forestry businesses, our workforce, and our communities.
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