Newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney says he is determined to invest in “nation-building projects” that will establish the country as an energy superpower, all while bringing down internal trade barriers and “making one Canadian economy out of 13.” Government members have been peppering the rhetoric into speeches around the country while the prime minister himself directly reiterated it all in a special interview with the CBC’s David Cochrane last week.

The special interview landed just ahead of this week’s first ministers’ meeting in Saskatchewan and the G7 Summit in Alberta set for later this month. It also came in the middle of the annual meeting of regional chambers of commerce and boards of trade, hosted by the Atlantic Chamber of Commerce at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Centre in St. John’s. On day two, business leaders and volunteer advocates from 91 chambers throughout the region shared their thoughts about the hurdles behind the broad strokes plan for Canada.

In small group discussions, there was clear-eyed awareness about the rough waters regional businesses may face in the coming years, as threats on trade (and other areas) continue to roll out from the United States. That’s in addition to localized political and business challenges (and opportunities) related to interprovincial trade barriers. Ultimately, it’s a matter of which major projects get attention and what internal trade barriers actually come down. Regardless, the regional gathering was overall very hopeful in overall tone.

“(It’s) exciting for Canada in this moment. Because I think it will absolutely reposition our place in the world if we can deliver. And so that’s the challenge,” said Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing, a guest and keynote speaker at the regional event.

“I think what we see is all very hopeful and focused on the right things: getting our house in order on internal trade; getting ourselves (nationally) set up to trade with others better, which means infrastructure; and then alongside that making sure we’re competitive and tackling—with bold actions, not incrementalism—our own competitiveness, looking very carefully at our regulatory and tax regimes,” she said.

B7 to the G7

Earlier this year, Laing was called on to chair the so-called “B7”, or Business Federations of the Group of Seven, involving leaders from pro-business organizations across the G7 countries. They share the interests and positions of the business community ahead of the G7 Summit. They met in mid-May, to establish priorities and hone messaging from the global business community, then communicated their proposals to the G7 leadership, in advance of the G7 Summit event. The idea is to ensure business community interests and concerns are included in G7 talks.

The G7 Summit, which includes Canada, the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and the European Union, will take place in Kananaskis, Alberta on June 15-17.

The painstakingly developed B7 communiqué covered items aligned with at least some of the comments now being heard more loudly in Canada, particularly in the Throne Speech and the Canadian prime minister’s latest interviews. They include a call for championing fair and rules-based trade, realizing the promise of AI and investing in a clean energy economy, while strengthening economic security and resilience. Beneath these headings are more detailed calls for things like supporting business efforts to de-risk supply chains and increasing energy infrastructure investments in G7 nations.

During the most recent opening of Parliament, King Charles III delivered the Speech from the Throne,  introducing the new Canadian government’s direction and goals. He spoke about expectations for “the largest transformation of its economy since the Second World War.” There was mention of a new Major Federal Projects Office, a reduction—by years—in the time needed on approvals for major, multi-billion-dollar construction projects, co-operation agreements on major infrastructure between the federal government and the provinces… The high level objectives echo many of the B7 and Canadian Chamber of Commerce calls to action.

Atlantic Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Rhonda Tulk-Lane was able to attend the B7 talks. As far as Chambers of Commerce in Atlantic Canada are concerned, she said, they support the macro-goals announced at the international level. Specifcally, the push for growth and trade diversification while continuing to trade with the U.S. and improve on the relationship there. They are similarly invested in seeing political promises around major construction projects come to fruition.

There’s also a great deal of interest in marking advances and celebrating even small wins and momentum on changes in internal trade, she told Atlantic Business Magazine.

Each of the internal trade changes comes with specific context; There are reasons they haven’t been addressed before. Changes can in some cases require detailed discussions across government, business, labour and the public.

“I think we’ve been pushed, at least as a Canadian group, to have these discussions and come together because of the other… The chaos and the disruption.,” Tulk-Lane said.

She said recent efforts—from aligning regulatory requirements on regional trucking to matching aspects of workplace health and safety administration—are supported by chambers of commerce in Atlantic Canada.

“There are some tough decisions. We also have to choose prosperity over protectionism for the long run,” she said.

Beyond talk of U.S. President Donald Trump, the G7, tariffs and trade, both Tulk-Lane and Laing promoted the chambers and chamber network of 450 organizations across the country as a way for individual businesses to have their voices heard on the regional, national and even international stage.

“There’s nobody else positioned to do that but the chamber network in the country,” Laing said, speaking to her role to relay voices from across all regions. “There’s actually never been a time when we’ve been needed more and been as relevant,” she said.

 

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