The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has voiced its concern in response to the introduction of Bill C-311, The Climate Change Accountability Act.

The Canadian Chamber continues to support actions to reduce the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. Our main concern with Bill C-311 as it now stands, is with the commitment to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions over the next ten years by 25% from 1990 levels (which in fact represents a reduction of approximately 40% from current figures). This commitment, which is considerably out of step with Canada’s main economic partners, would create serious harm to the Canadian economy and more importantly to Canadian workers and their families, causing economic activity and jobs to move from Canada to other countries without achieving the global emission reductions that are needed.

In part, our actions included a call to action to the chamber network. Our initiatives have resulted in a letter from John Bennett, Executive Director of Sierra Club Canada, followed by additional emails from members of the Sierra Club. The Canadian Chamber has responded to Mr. Bennett and is also responding to the emails received from his members.

You can read John Bennett’s letter and our reply here.

- Perrin

On behalf of all of the members of the Canadian Chamber across the country, I’d like to extend congratulations to David Johnston’s appointment as Canada’s next Governor General.

David has been a great innovator as an educator and he has also been a prominent promoter of the digital economy and of Canadian competitiveness. His exceptional resume and expertise will be a wonderful compliment to the legacy he inherits from Her Excellency Michaëlle Jean, who has done so much both at home and abroad to promote a modern and inclusive Canada.

- Perrin

 The G20 Finance Ministers listen to presentations from business delegates to the Business Summit. Toronto, June 26 2010.

As the leaders of the G20 gathered in Toronto for their summit, a smaller group representing the business communities of the G20 countries also met to offer their advice on the issues on the leaders’ agenda.

The B20 group, as the business meeting was called, was comprised of about forty CEOs and heads of business associations who had been selected by their governments to serve as a sounding board in advance of the leaders’ meetings. G20 Leaders’ Summits are a sort of steering committee for the countries that comprise over eighty percent of the world’s economic activity, and the heads of government wanted to have a clear sense of how the actions they were considering would likely affect the global economy. Getting it right is particularly important as countries emerge from the recession and look for ways to solidify growth and prevent another economic collapse. The types of issues on the table included how to move from a recovery driven by government spending to one that is led by private sector growth, when and how quickly governments should start to bring their books back into balance so we can avoid the type of disorder that we recently witnessed in Greece, and how to regulate financial institutions to prevent the types of irresponsible practices that triggered the recession.

The business delegates were able to provide a good overview of both how the recovery is taking place and what challenges remain in their sectors and regions. Ironically, it was not the developing world that bore the brunt of the collapse in economic activity, but the western industrialized democracies. Throughout all of the turmoil, China’s economy, for example, grew by about eight percent last year.

While Canada certainly did not escape the recession’s impact, our economy has outperformed the rest of the G7 and is projected to continue doing so over the coming year. The reason is a combination of good policy, like the decade of consecutive surpluses that had been posted by both Liberal and Conservative governments and the way our banking system has been prudently regulated, and good fortune, like the natural resource wealth that we have inherited. As a consequence, the Canadian government was able to argue for its policy prescriptions from a position of strength.

The B20 quickly developed a solid consensus in line with Canada’s positions on the key issues. Governments were urged to turn their attention to fiscal consolidation (the new catch phrase for deficit reduction), to resist building protectionist barriers to trade, to require banks to have enough capital to cover the loans they make, and to avoid the global bank tax some countries have proposed in response to problems in their banking sectors.

How to regulate banking is an issue that is both complex and highly politicized. A number of countries experienced serious problems during the recession as governments had to step in to rescue banks that had engaged in risky and irresponsible lending practices. The taxpayers in those countries are understandably angry and their politicians want to make sure that the anger is directed at the banks and not at the governments that should have been supervising them. That’s why new taxes on banking that would supposedly be used to provide insurance against similar problems in the future provide an attractive political response. But, although these taxes are good politics, it’s far from clear that they are good economics.

Along with Canada, a host of other G20 countries oppose these taxes because they would punish countries and institutions that weren’t part of the problem. Canada is widely recognized as having one of the best systems of financial regulation in the world, and there is no impediment to other countries copying our structure.

And while we clearly need to have regulations to limit dangerous and irresponsible lending practices, we have to find a balance that doesn’t make it much more costly and difficult for responsible small businesses and individuals to get access to the credit they require. The message is to proceed with regulation, but to do so with care.

B20 delegates met with Prime Minister Harper and with the G20 finance ministers to share our advice. Both the prime minister and the finance ministers seemed genuinely interested in using the perspective they received as they prepared for the heads of government meetings.

The B20 meeting, along with the G8/20 Business Summit that the Canadian Chamber hosted in April and the joint statement of G20 chambers of commerce, demonstrate how Canada’s business community can help shape the global economic agenda.

I’m very grateful to all of the Canadian Chamber’s members who have participated in our process or contributed their perspectives. Their active involvement is what makes it possible for us to ensure that their voice can be clearly heard.

- Perrin

This week’s G8 and G20 Leaders Summits present a major opportunity for Canadian leadership. And Canada stands proud on the world stage as a result of our economic performance during the global recession. The Canadian Chamber has been active in the G8 and G20 process, working diligently to help organize the business input into the Summits. Two months ago, we hosted this year’s G8/20 Business Summit. On April 29, the chairs and presidents of the world’s leading business associations gathered in Ottawa to propose practical solutions to the global economic challenges.

Our goals include recovery from the crisis, enabling growth through trade and investment liberalization, and moving forward on climate change. The Business Declaration was signed at the event and formally presented to Prime Minister Harper, who also addressed the gathering. In addition, the signatories presented the declaration to their respective heads of government. As the prime minister told the meeting, “now more than ever, we need our business leaders to come together to help articulate solutions to the economic challenges facing all our nations.”

The Canadian Chamber initiated a position paper on the G20 Summit in Toronto, inviting the chambers of commerce of the other countries, (or the “C20 Group” as it is called), to join in endorsing the statements put forth. The C20 Position Paper is a concise document, focusing on measures to prevent another crisis and to support the multilateral trading system. We hope to shape the economic and financial policies of the G20 leaders by presenting common positions among the C20 chambers. From our perspective, global strategies to move government budgets back into balance and post-crisis growth measures must top the G20 agenda. Reforming international financial architecture and completing the Doha Development Agenda are other important issues to be discussed at the G20 Summit.

This week I will participate in a meeting of international business leaders that will take place in Toronto in concert with the Leaders Summit. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, asked each of his counterparts to choose two top business leaders to participate in this meeting, which is organized by the Canadian Council of Chief Executive Officers. The G20 finance ministers will attend part of the event to hear from business firsthand. This meeting will provide a good opportunity to reinforce the Chamber’s recommendations and to exchange views with other international leaders.

I should also mention that I have been invited to attend the Seoul G20 Business Summit that will be held in November when the next G20 Leaders Summit takes place in Korea. I have accepted the invitation and am planning to attend.

- Perrin

Today, I was in Washington, D.C. to address the delegates of annual meeting of the Canadian American Business Council (CABC). I was joined by an impressive list of speakers on the theme of What Ever Happened to the North American Market? Implications for Canada/U.S. Relations. It is always a pleasure to discuss Canada-U.S. relations with a group that is so interested and as well-versed in the issues as the CABC. The relationship between our two countries is of vital importance to The Canadian Chamber, which is why we value our partnership with groups like the CABC and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that do great work on behalf of the business communities on both sides of the border. We were also enormously pleased to establish a direct presence on the ground in Washington earlier this year through a brand new partnership with Paul Frazer and his colleagues at 3Click Solutions.

The key areas of my presentation included the importance of Canada-U.S. relations in the context of the upcoming G8/G20 Summits, trade, the border (including the upcoming vote on a new Detroit-Windsor bridge), regulations, the environment, and energy security.

- Perrin