The Ben Mulroney Show - Ben discusses how we can unlock Canada’s superpower potential

Episode Date: March 17, 2025

Guests and Topics: -Ben discusses how we can unlock Canada’s superpower potential with Guest: Tej Parikh, Economist and Writer for the Financial Times If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! https://globalnews.ca/national/program/the-ben-mulroney-show Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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It's time for Tim's. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney Show. Thank you so much for joining us. And if you've ever heard me talk about Canada and where we want to go as a nation, you might have heard me say that one of the biggest roadblocks to Canadian success is Canada. We get in our own way. We put up roadblocks that other countries don't. We fight amongst ourselves in a way that doesn't allow us to row in the same direction. And if you know anything about Canadians, we sure do love it when people from outside the country take note of us and comment on us. And so there's an article in

the Financial Times of the UK that has been going viral because they took note. Tej Perik is the author. He's an economist and writer for the Financial Times. And the title was so eye catching for so many Canadians that they shared it over and over and over again, unlocking Canada's superpower potential. I mean, if that doesn't get you excited, nothing will. And so to talk about it, we're joined by the author himself,

Tej, welcome to the Ben Mulroney Show. Hi there. So what you've written in this article, I believe a lot of Canadians have either said or believe, but for it to be seen from somebody who's not in the country is quite telling. When you look at Canada today and you talk about our potential for the future, what do we have

to do to get from where we are to where we want to go? Well, I mean, Canada has a large amount of natural resources and luckily, natural resources that the rest of the world needs. And what I'm talking here primarily about is the demand for raw materials that feed into the renewable technologies industry. And we know that Canada has a large number of these critical mineral deposits across the country. And then at the same time, Canada's geography

has always been hugely advantageous in terms of being able to trade both with Asia out west and then to the east having access to Europe. And then, I mean, obviously, if there is a friendlier US administration in the future, you've got access to the world's largest consumer market to yourself. Now what Canada I think needs to do is to really try and capitalize on this and it hasn't so far. And I think a main thing that needs to do is invest heavily in its infrastructure. Also remove its internal trade barriers because this prevents companies and industries from taking advantage

of that resource and for Canada to act as this unified market and that will boost efficiency and it will also attract foreign direct investment into the country. Yes, which we've been sorely lacking for the past decade. Tej, a lot of people when they hear this, there's a certain type of Canadian that will balk. They will say Canada can't just strip mine, we can't just strip mine the country. We can't just dig and drill and ruin the environment. That is not who we are. But there is a way to extract natural resources ethically and in an environmentally conscious

way. And that's, in my opinion, the means to the end. It's not the end to itself. The means is extracting and turning that into resources that we can then use to build out other vital industries that would then allow us to become that superpower that you describe. Yeah, I mean, that's precisely the point. Every country has some comparative advantage and there's an opportunity to leverage that. That doesn't mean that Canada purely becomes an export of raw materials, but once you start getting investment, other companies developing around supply chains for raw materials, you then start catalyzing wider economic growth.

So you get a whole industrial supply chain that develops. I wouldn't advise a candidate just to solely rely on exporting raw materials, because that's not the best way to develop a growing economy. But once you start opening those things up to ethical extraction, you then do get that foreign direct investment comes in, you draw in talent. And then that becomes a catalyst for things

like the finance industry, research and development, higher end production and refining. Yeah. No, I It's just a case of opening the door. Yeah. But we have to start. I think that's the thing. It's so frustrating being in Canada. It's the act of actually taking that leap of faith and saying we can become this. We just have to start down that road. And far too often this is a country of half measures, of grand pronouncements that don't go anywhere. I mean, I remember a few years ago how Canada wanted to be the tip of the sword, for example, in open banking.

And we were some of the first to sign on to the open banking agreements and did nothing to get there. Meanwhile, countries like Australia lapped us. And my fear is we're gonna do the same thing with AI. We're gonna be the, make grand pronouncements, but we're gonna get in our own way. We won't be able to build the data centers

required for Canada to become, for example, an AI leader and the world's going to pass us by. Yeah, I mean, there's the thing is, you know, once you start taking advantage of your innate natural advantage, you then get a lot more people attracted to the country wanting to come in. I mean, Canada is of interest to a lot more people attracted to the country wanting to come in. I mean Canada is of interest to a lot of international graduates and once you start building a brand around the country that says look we're open for business, we've also got raw materials that the rest of the

world needs not and you know this isn't uh these aren't dirty minerals this is raw materials required for the renewable the green transition around the world. So Canada will be playing a role in supporting the green transition around the world. Then you can kind of see talent, finance, research and development, all of that building up. So I think it's about taking those first steps. It's not just about removing internal trade barriers. There's also things around simplifying the tax system and simplifying

the planning processes involved in building things. And I think the way I ended this piece was it's really about whether Canada wants this. And I think for the first time in decades, the country has what really feels like a political moment and everyone seems to be on the same page. And I think that's something to capitalize on. I'm speaking with Tej Parikh. He's the author and economist of the article that a lot of people are giving a look at unlocking Canada's superpower potential. Tej, let's say that your column is a roadmap and the powers that be, whether it be this government under Mark Carney or another one moving forward, decide, yes, we're going to follow this as a

roadmap, giving your experience as an economist, how long would it take for Canada to start becoming that superpower? I mean, we can we've seen the power of how narrative shift in economies can lead to growth very quickly or inflows of money. I mean, just look at what's happening in Europe at the moment, particularly with Germany. We've seen how the narrative has changed in China the minute we saw its AI development. So I think with Canada, it's a case of saying, you know, look, we've got this long-term vision

and leadership. This is the roadmap we're going to take. And I think you will start immediately seeing returns because you will start seeing businesses coming in and being interested in the country. But I mean, look, the reality is, is that Canada is very dependent on the U.S. economy. We can't skirt that issue. So this would be a decade long process. But the thing is, it's about starting on that journey. And I would remind those who would position

themselves as roadblocks to that growth that if in fact you believe that Canada is a compassionate democracy that tries its best to help and support the weakest in our society, if you want a social safety net that takes care of even the weakest among us, then the only way to do that is to have services that pay for those social services. And we can do that if we live up to the potential that you described. Yeah, and I mean, extracting the resources of Canada

can be a boost to the Commonwealth of Canada. You know, you can, you can, this money gets, you know, goes back into tax revenues, that goes back into public services that Canada sorely needs to develop. But also, like governments around the world that have been resource rich, you can also, you know, push this into sovereign wealth farms. Yes. Canada has a strong, strong experience with good, you know, portfolio managers, particularly

in the pensions industry. Tej, unfortunately, we're going to have to leave it there, but thank you so much for joining us. I love the vision that you've painted of the future. Appreciate it. Thank you. At Desjardins, we speak business, we speak startup funding and comprehensive game plans. We've mastered made to measure growth and expansion advice. And we can talk your ear off about transferring your business when the time comes.

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