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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - AUG/SEPT 2013
er anticipated.
What are your long-term goals
for the organization?
SD:
I’m doing things internation-
ally, because the banner of the com-
pany has reached audiences in other
countries. One of those projects is the
Atlantic Basin Initiative, working with
governments and countries that are
experiencing significant challenges.
The group is made up of former
heads of state and ministers with inter-
national experience like me. We meet
(
non-politically) with leaders that are
having some major intractable prob-
lems within their own countries and
through sharing from our experience,
and offering advisory services, we’re
able to help out countries and govern-
ments that are struggling with a par-
ticular issue. It’s an ongoing satisfying
experience, feeling like you’re adding
value outside your own borders.
What do you think are Canada’s
greatest challenges when it comes to
attracting foreign investment?
SD:
I just finished up a short
course at Harvard on Executive Man-
agement at the corporate board level.
There were people attending at the
executive level from all over the world
(
about 80 people) and listening to their
feedback about Canada underlined
what I already knew: it’s generally
known internationally that Canada has
a very stable financial system. Second-
ly, it’s generally known that Canada
has very competitive tax rates. We also
have a pretty friendly investment poli-
cy—as well as a good, educated work-
ing population. That was a constant. I
learned what people see from the out-
side.
However, when it comes to our
challenges, we’ve got to be able to
move ahead expeditiously (not inap-
propriately) in the regulatory process,
especially related to resources. Canada
has more listings on the stock exchang-
es when it comes to resources than any
other country. But whether we’re talk-
ing about the environmental process,
which is absolutely necessary, or the
consultation process with First Na-
tions, which is necessary or the general
regulatory process: if we allow those to
bog us down unnecessarily, countries
that have demands for our resources
will go elsewhere if they think it’s go-
ing to take too much time to do busi-
ness with Canada.
We have to address the environ-
mental issues and the other challenges
we face with industry. But if we be-
come too slow the other countries that
have more streamlined regulatory pro-
cesses will take that business from us.
Our resources will stay in the ground
and our great human resources will
remain untapped—which means the
risk of unemployment. Other countries
that may not have the same demo-
cratic standards as Canada will wind
up reaping the benefits. And the world
may not be a better place. That is our
biggest challenge: getting the mes-
sage out that we are thorough, but we
are not getting unnecessarily bogged
down with regulation.
What are your thoughts on im-
migration and how do we need to ad-
just or address Canadian immigration
policy?
SD:
We have one of the most
“
When you com-
pare Canada to
other coun-
tries around
the world,
there’s no place
like it.”
