Thank you.
Good morning. As Dave mentioned, we appreciate the opportunity to be here. I'm the CEO of Ignite Fredericton, but also Knowledge Park, the only research park in eastern Canada. I also hold the position of president of the Association of University Research Parks, and I represent 26 research parks across Canada.
I'm going to slip by some of my early comments based on Dave's excellent coverage of some of the notes we made, and I encourage you to read those. They're in the package. I did go into some background in terms of a framework for economic development growth here in our region, so I do encourage you to read that.
There were three questions submitted in the documentation leading into this, so I'm going to jump very directly to those three questions, expand on some of the thoughts and ideas that David has put on the table, and give you some specific recommendations regarding each side of those three questions.
The first question was what federal measures would help Canadians in general and in specific groups such as unemployed indigenous people, etc., and how could they expand the economic growth within the country?
A cornerstone of economic growth has been and will continue to be small and medium-sized enterprises that have been launched through entrepreneurial leadership. Federal and provincial strategies are required to expand entrepreneurial programming and support organizations that deliver it, such as Ignite Fredericton. In the same manner that access to technology has opened global markets, start-up entrepreneurs can emerge from all regions and demographics within our nation. This strategy, enabled nationally, will empower all regions, sectors, communities, and groups to become engaged, create economic growth, and have an impact on a national basis.
The second point to this first question is that the knowledge economy is in itself a career path, but when it is combined with the cultural shift of the current generation away from the traditional achievements and recognition-reward systems, we must adopt new educational models. We need educational awareness programs from K through 12 on the knowledge economy that tie skill development of the future to the educational and training pathways that we are experiencing today. These are required. Experiential learning should be at the basis of an educational program going forward as it develops and expands the support for career choices of individuals going into the marketplace.
Academic institutions demonstrate their leadership through the strength and depth they achieve through research. Programs and policies that support and promote commercialization and entrepreneurial activity following from applied research and corporate research and development should be valued in the same manner and should receive appropriate investment.
Finally, the intellectual experience that resides within the aging population is in fact a valuable asset that can be used to foster the next generation of entrepreneurs. Investment in economic growth is not limited to capital, but also requires execution. An aging population also reflects an aging current demographic of business ownership. As David mentioned, the succession planning that has been launched here locally is a pilot program that we believe should be expanded rapidly. A program of this nature can also improve immigration retention in small urban centres and rural communities.
The second question was what federal action would assist Canadian businesses in all regions and sectors to meet their expansion and prosperity goals? A shortage of skilled and qualified labour is a critical factor that restricts growth nationally, and specifically in the knowledge sector. It is also highlighted in specific groups, such as unemployed youth, and in industries under change, such as value-added manufacturing. Programs and supports should focus on addressing these gaps and promoting specific skills development in areas such as cybersecurity. Global markets are fundamental to regional and national growth, yet export development and leadership programs are too generic and require more customized programming, and direct in-market partnerships. In-nation trade barriers continue to prevent growth, and interprovincial certification requirements restrict the flow of labour. We need to support both a national and an international growth agenda and expansion. Although there is significant focus on and support for innovation provincially and federally, we need to address some basic fundamentals in order to unleash the commercialization of innovation and the inventions. Seed capital is a barrier and scaling capital is complex, both of which stall growth.
Applied research needs to be the fundamental outcome of core research, and incentives should align with this concept.
General positioning of corporate tax and red-tape reduction is required to change our national productivity standing and the R and D investments being made. On projects of national interest, exposing capital investors to such items as not having a harmonized provincial and federal environmental assessment process restricts investment not only in this province, but also in Canada as a whole.
Economic development is itself a clustering strategy, and with this, regions should develop models that use these principles. Strong urban centres create demand for tertiary markets and draw rural communities into the logistics and supply chains. Federal strategies should support and promote the model.
The last point that I'll highlight is infrastructure access. Whether it's physical such as rail, road, air, or port local on the local front, we should allow markets to be accessed from all communities. Digital infrastructure, Internet, and data transport enable this globalization. To enable access to skill and innovation emerging from these locations, we need the investments made in this infrastructure to be dramatically increased. Fredericton airport, as I mentioned before, is the first handshake that most visitors receive when coming to our communities, and it speaks to the capabilities of our communities.
I appreciate the opportunity to submit, and I encourage you to read the remaining part of the document we submitted.