the canada we want in 2020 roadmap promotional booklet

8/3/2019 The Canada We Want in 2020 Roadmap Promotional Booklet

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About Canada 2020 Canada's Progressive CentreCanada 2020 is a non-partisan, progressive centreworking to create an environment of social andeconomic prosperity for Canada and all Canadians.

The Canada

We Want in 2020

A Strategic Policy Roadmap

for the Federal Government

September 2011


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Canada We Want in 2020 2

Introduction

As we look forward to 2020, the world around us is changing rapidly. The US is not asdominant an economy as it once was and many European countries are facing majoreconomic and fiscal challenges; other economies, especially in Asia, are rising rapidly

creating a truly multi-polar world. Growth is driven by technologies that are less andless `contained by borders and the need to define and implement a low-carbon futureis becoming ever more pressing.

For a country such as Canada, there are many opportunities, but also fundamental andinter-related challenges. If these challenges are not addressed in a strategic andcoherent way including building a societal consensus to address them we risk fallingbehind competitor countries in the advanced and emerging worlds. This would makeCanada less of a country than it has been in the past. Both the robustness andcompetitiveness of our economy and the degree to which our society is fair andequitable, are at stake.

The key challenges that Canada faces are:

an aging society, with a much greater ratio of retired to employed citizens,resulting in stagnant labour-force growth and significantly higherhealthcare and pension costs;

the rise of Asian economies, especially China and India, which posesstructural challenges to our competitiveness (as well as opening newopportunities);

weak productivity growth which threatens our standard of living (and couldcost each Canadian up to $30,000 in foregone income over the nextdecade);

increasingly sharp income polarisation; and lack of preparedness for and investment in the low-carbon economy.

These challenges have been recognised for many years, yet they remain largelyunaddressed at a strategic level. As a result, Canada has been drifting instead ofreadying itself to respond effectively and to capitalise proactively on emergingopportunities.

Many elements of Canadian society the business community, governments at alllevels, educational institutions, and Canadian citizens generally must work to addressthese challenges. It is, nevertheless, our contention that the federal government has aspecial leadership responsibility: the federal government is the only entity capable ofaddressing these pan-Canadian challenges in a comprehensive and strategic way to endthe drift and break Canada out of the current paradigm. Indeed, the reason why we

have a federal government is to respond to challenges such as these.Fundamentally, this is an issue of national leadership. Not only must Ottawa developappropriate policy to address the challenges, it must also exercise political leadership toforge a consensus among Canadians for change.


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Our approach

Canada 2020 has established five working groups to examine these most pressingissues. Our aim is to raise the level of public debate and understanding of thechallenges and opportunities we face and to put forward strategies to address them.

The bold ideas we will propose will help break the cycle of incrementalism and driftand, we hope, underpin a new consensus around the appropriate role for the federalgovernment.

1. Increasing Innovation and Productivity to Pay for the Canada We Want

Canadas innovation and productivity performance both of which are central toeconomic growth, competitiveness and our standard of living have been stagnant foryears. This is particularly problematic in light of Canadas low levels of labour-forcegrowth and the competitive challenges from emerging economies.

Federal and provincial governments have been working at the margins on the innovationand productivity problem for well over a decade, yet Canadas performance remains

very weak by both international and Canadian historical standards. Fixing this problemis a pressing national priority. Falling further behind is not an option if we wish tomaintain our economic standing and our ability to sustain the public services thatCanadians expect and need.

2. Rising to Meet the Asia Challenge

For years Canada has been missing the boat with respect to penetrating markets in Asia especially China and India the fastest growing major economies in the world. At thesame time, Canada has failed to attract significant inward investment from either Chinaor India.

In tandem with improving productivity growth, meeting the Asia challenge is central toCanadas prosperity and economic future. Canada needs an Asian Economic Strategy tocapitalise on market opportunities and to diversify our economy away from over-dependence on the United States market.

3. Squaring the Carbon Circle

Both advanced and emerging markets are moving inexorably towards a low-carbonfuture. Yet Canada has no strategy to reduce carbon consumption, or to responsibly-manage fossil fuel production.

Canadas carbon problem is quite unique. Its parameters are set by two main axes:

As a country, we are the second highest per capita carbon consumersamong the advanced economies (Australia is first) and we have shown no

willingness to lead or even follow the quest to a low-carbon future. At the same time, we are becoming one of the leading fossil fuelproducers/ exporters in the world; our future economic welfare is closelylinked to oil sands development.

We need a strategy to address these highly complex issues and to capture the benefitsof our resource endowments, not just in the short-term, but also for future generations.


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4. Reducing Income Disparities and Polarisation

Poverty remains a significant and growing problem in Canada. Income polarisation isalso increasing steadily, to a degree that could threaten social cohesion. According to

Statistics Canada from 1980 to 2005, the income of the richest one-fifth of Canadiansgrew 16.4 per cent while the poorest fifth saw their earnings decline by 20.6 per cent.Since technological advances and globalisation both tend to increase inequalities asreturns to unskilled labour decline, this is a problem that will not go away in theabsence of significant policy action.

The federal system of income support has not been fundamentally changed in a quartercentury: it is not designed for a globalised economy driven by technological change. It istime to consider reform of federal income security programs to better meet the needs ofthe modern economy/labour market and Canadas demographic profile.

5. Securing our Health System for the Future

Canadas universal healthcare system is putting enormous pressure on provincial andfederal treasuries at a time of fiscal deficits. Healthcare costs are rising as a percentageof GDP due to our aging society and healthcare inflation. The current federal-provincialfunding model is not effective as it is neither predictable nor sustainable in the longterm.

At the same time, Canadas healthcare system is in clear need of reform to ensure thatit effectively meets the needs of all Canadians. Variations in coverage across thecountry, as well as very poor outcomes for aboriginal groups, are two key problems.Adapting the system to meet the needs of an aging population is a third. Although notprimarily responsible for healthcare delivery, the federal government has a keyleadership role to play in defining the healthcare system that will underpin Canadasstrength in the next decades.


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How We Are Going About It

As a non-partisan, not-for-profit, progressive centre created to provide policy optionsand ideas for Canadian decision makers and leaders, Canada 2020 is uniquelypositioned to guide the process of developing bold new ideas and advancing the debatein these areas.

Phase 1

The over-riding objective of this project is to raise the level of debate in Canada and tobegin to lay the ground for the establishment of a new consensus on the role of thefederal government.

Canada 2020 has commissioned leading experts from the policy community (drawing inparticipants from business, academia and the non-governmental sector) to write short-papers that are heavy on strategic policy options in the five areas. The authors remit isto propose policy ideas for the federal government that are transformational but alsopractical from an implementation perspective.

These fifteen papers will be published in a single volume in late 2011.Phase 2

Building on the ideas generated in Phase 1, Canada 2020 will stimulate conversations inthe five areas through a series of panel discussions, presentations and web-basedexchanges.

These events will take place throughout 2012 and will lead to the production of a finalsynthesis document, focussed on translating policy into action.


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Our Contributors:

Increasing Innovation and Productivity to Pay for the Canada We Want

Jim Stanford, Canadian Auto Workers

Kevin Lynch, BMO Financial Group

Lawson Hunter, Stikeman Elliot & Peter Nicholson

Rising to Meet the Asia Challenge

Dominic Barton, McKinsey & Company

Yuen Pau Woo, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada

Rana Sarkar, Canada India Business Council

Squaring the Carbon Circle

Stewart Elgie, Sustainable Prosperity & University of Ottawa

Ian Mallory, Pickworth LLP

Lorraine Mitchelmore, Shell Canada

Reducing Income Disparities and Polarisation

Mark Cameron, Research in Motion

Andrew Sharpe, Centre for the Study of Living Standards

Sherri Torjman and Ken Battle, Caledon Institute

Paying for the Healthcare we Want

Dr. Phillipe Couillard, SECOR Group

Francesca Grosso, Grosso McCarthy & Michael Decter, Lawrence DecterInvestment Council, inc.

Mark Stabile, University of Toronto

Project Coordinator

Diana [email protected]


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Canada We Want in 2020

About Canada 2020 Canada'

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n, progressive centre working to create an enviity for Canada and all Canadians. Canada 2020 i

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the canada we want in 2020 roadmap promotional booklet

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