Speaking Points for The Honourable Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board of Canada, at Mortgage Brokers Association of Atlantic Canada Conference

Check against delivery

September 26, 2016

Thank you for the invitation to speak with you this morning.

I am sorry that I could not be with you in person.

Last fall our government was elected with a mandate to grow the middle class and invest in jobs and growth.

There is no place in Canada where it’s more important to talk about economic growth than in Atlantic Canada.

We understand probably better than anyone the economic challenges that Canadians face across the country.

And we’ve dealt with those challenges for a lot longer.

Our Government inherited a slow-growth economy that left middle-class Canadian families struggling.

Canadians are working harder and longer as the cost of living continues to rise.

Middle-class families just don’t feel as though they are getting ahead – and the facts support that.

In the last 30 years, all incomes but those of the wealthiest 10 percent of Canadians have been stagnant or falling behind.

That’s why Budget 2016 focused on growing the middle class.

The middle class is not some sort of political construct.

It is an economic fact that you can’t have sustainable growth and a strong economy without a strong middle class.

Recently, International Monetary Fund managing director Chistine Lagarde said:

“I really very much hope that Canadian economic policies can actually go viral.”

She is talking about our tax cut for the middle class and our new Canada Child Benefit, both of which put more money into the pockets of middle class and low income families.

She was also referring to our plan to invest $120 billion in infrastructure.

When you put money into the pockets of families who really need it, they spend it on the things they really need.

And that helps create middle class growth.

This leads to a fairer and more prosperous Canadian economy.

That’s why we cut taxes for the middle class as one of our first acts in government.

That’s why we introduced the Canada Child Benefit which will put more money into the pockets of 9/10 Canadian families and help lift 350,000 kids out of poverty.

And, that’s why we have successfully negotiated with the provinces the expansion of the Canada Pension Plan to help more Canadians enjoy a dignified retirement.

I know that both more economic growth and fewer struggling families will be good for your industry, since a home purchase is the biggest financial decision a person makes.

Our government’s commitment to invest $120 billion dollars in infrastructure over the next 10 years will build more liveable communities, create jobs and growth, and build a more competitive economy that creates more jobs and growth in the future.

Along with investing in middle class families and infrastructure – immigration, trade, and innovation are key to growing our economy.

Our Government has forged a new partnership with Atlantic Canadians.

In July, the four Atlantic Premiers joined six federal Ministers, the four from the Atlantic provinces, along with Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains, and the Minister for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to launch the Atlantic Growth Strategy.

This strategy is designed specifically for Atlantic Canada, and focuses on 5 key priorities to create jobs and economic opportunities: innovation, infrastructure, investment, trade, and immigration.

I’d like to spend a few minutes to discuss the importance of immigration to our region.

It’s a national issue that we have an aging population, and that represents real problems in terms of long-term economic growth.

In Atlantic Canada, we’re dealing not just with an aging population, but a declining population as well.

You can’t grow an economy with an aging population teetering on decline.

Atlantic Canada has had a 0.1% increase in population compared to a 4.4% increase in the Canadian population over the last 4 years.

And the average age of our population is increasing.

An aging demographic ultimately means fewer people of working age who are supporting more people who require more benefits.

Not only is this bad for growth, it means fewer services and higher taxes in a weaker fiscal environment.

That’s why the introduction of an Atlantic Immigration Pilot was the first action taken in our government’s Atlantic Growth Strategy.

The Strategy was launched earlier this summer with the four premiers and our federal government.

The pilot will use innovative approaches that actively engage employers in the recruitment and support of immigrants and their families.

It will focus on people who have the skills and experience to meet unique labour market shortages in the region and grow our economy.

And, it will provide more pathways to permanent residency and citizenship for international students studying here.

Through this initiative, in 2017 our government will increase the federal stream of immigration to Atlantic Canada by 2,000 immigrants plus their families, with potentially increased numbers in the following years based on performance.

This is in addition to existing federal and provincial immigration streams.

Immigrants contribute significantly to growth and since we need growth, we need more people in our region to achieve it.

We need to counter any damaging misconceptions about immigration, and to emphasize the importance of immigration to building more vibrant economies and communities.

In our towns and cities we see the positive social and economic impacts of immigration.

Immigrants are entrepreneurs.

The decision to come to Canada is an entrepreneurial one – to start over in a new country.

In many cases new people see opportunities and solutions to problems we’ve been up against for centuries.

They create jobs not only for themselves, but for others.

I want to talk about a few specific cases that connect immigration and innovation.

About three years ago a Wolfville restaurant owner whose family has been in Nova Scotia for a long time complained to me that it was tough going.

He told me there was no reason for people to come to Wolfville.

I said the wine business has grown and the area is producing great wine – that must be drawing people to the Valley.

He said we can’t compete with wine regions in places like Italy and France.

I responded that those regions don’t have the Valley wine region’s advantage of being next to the highest tides in the world in the Minas Basin.

His response: “It’s half empty half the time.”

At that time we had gone from two to twenty wineries in the province.

A few months ago I was at a restaurant in Winnipeg. The highest priced sparkling wine on the menu was from Benjamin Bridge Winery in Nova Scotia, not France or Italy.

It was $160 a bottle.

This now former Wolfville restaurant owner was oblivious not only to the growth potential of the Nova Scotia wine industry, but also to the destination potential of the Minas Basin and the Bay of Fundy.

The comment he made about the Minas Basin stood out for me.

Fast forward to last year and the newly opened Flying Apron restaurant in Summerville, near the shore of the Minas Basin.

The restaurant is owned by Chris Velden from Germany and his wife Melissa from the United States.

Chris looked out at the mud flats at low tide and saw not an obstacle, but an opportunity.

Last summer he launched dinners on the ocean floor in Burntcoat, Hants County, featuring local food paired with Nova Scotian wines and beer. The events were completely sold out.

This year the dinners were offered at $560 a couple for a four course, white linen gourmet meal, and they were sold out.

The Wolfville owner saw the Minas Basin as half empty.

The German and U.S. couple saw it as half full.

Chris and Melissa are tourism innovators creating jobs for themselves and for others in rural Hants County.

Sometimes we think of innovation as the stuff that happens in labs, but innovation can happen anywhere.

New Canadians see things differently.

They see opportunities where sometimes, our eyes have grown accustomed to seeing obstacles.

Here’s another example.

In February of this year, I joined Minister Navdeep Bains to announce new Canada Research Chairs at Dalhousie University.

One of them, Dr. Pedram Sadeghian, is the Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Infrastructure.

He explores advanced materials and new technologies to increase the sustainability of engineering infrastructure.

Essentially, he experiments mixing different fibres, for example carbon fibers, in the concrete that builds our bridges to make them more durable.

The result of that is longer service life, mitigated environmental impacts and overall better performance for infrastructure.

Dr. Sadeghian is also an immigrant from Iran.

His research has a huge capacity to create jobs and growth, particularly in a country where we are putting $120 billion into infrastructure, and a country where we have a lot of infrastructure companies doing business around the world.

He’s the perfect example of a well-educated and clearly talented new Canadian innovating in a field – infrastructure engineering – that is essential to Canada’s needs and the Government’s priorities.

Dr. Sadeghian’s research brings together three of our government’s priorities: innovation in infrastructure being made possible by immigration.

Here’s a third example of how immigration can drive innovation.

Tesla recently signed a 5-year research partnership with Dalhousie University, the first agreement Tesla has ever signed with a Canadian university.

The research is led by Dr. Jeff Dahn.

Dr. Dahn leads a team of 22 researchers to help create lithium ion cells with longer lifetimes, lower costs, and higher energy density for Tesla.

Twelve out of his 22 researchers are from outside of Canada.

That’s also 10 jobs created for Canadian researchers that wouldn’t have existed without Dr. Dahn.

I want to talk a little about the wine industry as well.

It is the only industry that has grown in rural Nova Scotia in the last 15 years.

And who has the lead the charge of this growth?

Well guess what, it’s new Canadians.

To bring new industries to Atlantic Canada, it often takes new people, who import the industry and their know-how it needs to flourish.

In 1997 when I was first elected there were two wineries in Nova Scotia.

Today, there are 24 – and this growth is not just because of my personal consumption.

This growth was driven by people who came from other places: the Jost family, Hanspeter Stutz, and Pete Luckett.

These people are the pioneers and leaders of the wine industry in Nova Scotia.

Research is key to continuing that growth.

That’s why our government, along with the Nova Scotia government, recently announced a major investment in a Wine Research Lab at Acadia University.

This lab is led by Dr. Anthony Tong, who was born outside of Canada.

I hope these concrete examples help illustrate the relationship between immigration and innovation, and the basic economic fact that they contribute to growth from which we all benefit.

As immigrants represent natural bridges to some of the fastest growing economies in the world, that leads me to talk about trade.

Prime Minister Trudeau was in China earlier this month where he visited the headquarters of Alibaba with company Chairman Jack Ma.

While there, Jack Ma showed the PM live lobster from Nova Scotia’s own Clearwater.

E-shoppers in China can now shop an online Canadian product platform on Alibaba’s Tmall Global platform, which among other items includes the live Canadian lobsters.

John Risley is demonstrating to us the power of trade to build jobs and opportunities for Canadians at home.

While in China the prime minister also cited Nova Scotia’s own Van Dyk’s Health Juice Products as an example of how any business can benefit from international trade regardless of its size.

China represents Canada’s second largest trading relationship.

As China’s emerging middle class continues to grow, so do the opportunities for Canada’s exporters.

Our challenge is to ensure that more companies can achieve the same success as Clearwater and Van Dyk’s.

Our government will use every opportunity to promote Canadian products anywhere in the world.

It was no accident last January at the Canadian reception at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos that world class Nova Scotian wines were served to, and enjoyed by, global elites.

History has shown that trade can create jobs and growth, can expand the middle-class, boost standards of living and lift people out of poverty. 

Simply put, trade is truly the stimulus that has stood the test of time.

But as a recent report released by Deloitte said, “governments can’t do it alone. It’s time for Canadian business leaders to be bold and move into global markets.”

We want more Canadian companies, especially SMEs, to make bold moves in expanding their global footprint.

Canada is a “maritime’ nation built on trade.

From fur in the early days to seafood, oil, lumber, pharmaceuticals, automotive parts, aerospace, and blueberries today, trade is as much a part of our national identity as hockey.

Trade today is equivalent in size to some 60 percent of Canada’s annual Gross Domestic Product and one out of every five Canadian jobs is related to exports.

For a country the size of Canada, we need to trade with the world in order to drive economic growth, and our government is firmly committed to expanding trade with partners around the world.

Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. After 7 elections and over 19 years in Parliament, I am more excited than ever about making a difference in the lives of the people of Atlantic Canada.

We’ve got a historic opportunity to do just that and we are going to seize that opportunity and get it done!