Finance Committee on Oct. 18th, 2016

[Penny Walsh McGuire]

Yes.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Could you expand on that a little and explain its necessity? Please do so briefly, as the chair is pretty severe on his time limits here and we would like to explore another couple of areas. Could you explain that to the committee?

[Penny Walsh McGuire]

PEI Connectors is a program that the chamber of commerce initiated and has operated since 2011. We have worked with 600 entrepreneurial newcomers to Prince Edward Island. Primarily, they are referred to the program through the provincial nominee program. Our role in that program is to support newcomer entrepreneurs, or those interested in becoming entrepreneurs, in getting access to the information they need, such as regulations, marketing, and basically all the tools that a new business would need in the Prince Edward Island business environment. We work one on one with them, and we also present group training.

The other piece of the program is that we help connect existing businesses, or businesses that are looking for succession planning, with newcomer entrepreneurs. The importance of the program can't be stressed enough in terms of both our retention and our population development for Prince Edward Island, which I think was noted in my presentation. We've seen great success. As I mentioned, we've worked with 600 newcomer businesses. Again, through the Atlantic growth strategy, we're expecting many more in the coming year.

Thank you.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Thanks very much.

I'm going to jump all over the map a bit, but I do want to go to the two representatives from the literacy community. This is a cause that I've championed for a long time, as I know many members have. It's discouraging, to be honest, to hear that we haven't made enough of a dent in these relatively low literacy levels, not just here in Atlantic Canada, but across the country.

You referenced some of the good work that's going on across Atlantic Canada, although seeing your Newfoundland counterparts fold up is not an encouraging development.

I was involved at one point in some community-based literacy initiatives in New Brunswick. Could you update us on how you assist in that continuum of learning? The $600,000 you referenced would be put to work doing what kinds of things? How do you see that making an impact on the ground, so to speak?

[Jayne Hunter, Executive Director, Atlantic Partnership for Essential Skills, Literacy Nova Scotia]

Thank you for the questions.

I'll start with how we support the on-the-ground programs. We provide the support services. In Nova Scotia, we're referred to as the “bookends”: we provide support to the practitioners at one end, so that they are highly trained and can be effective in meeting the learning needs, and on the other end, we support the learners themselves.

You've heard the statistics. There are many who could benefit from improving literacy, but there are not that many in programs. We try to encourage people to get into programs through talking about the success and how it can change people's lives, and also by providing financial support and that sort of thing.

In terms of the $600,000, that's really just to allow us to continue to exist. As you said, Newfoundland has not been able to continue. We have expertise and we have momentum, and if we all go under, that's lost. There's no one else doing what we do in each of our provinces. It allows us to continue what we're doing, to collaborate more, and to really look at the gaps and figure out how best to meet those needs. Then we'll certainly be coming back with other proposals specific to meeting those needs.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

As a country, certainly, I don't think we're going to meet the skills challenge we have until we improve this literacy performance. With these devices for children, I sometimes wonder if we're heading in the right direction. Anyway, I appreciate all your good work. Thank you for being here today.

If I might then turn tangentially to BioVectra, but start with you, Mr. Keefe, are you finding the kinds of skills required for growth in your sector here in Prince Edward Island? Is it immigration dependent? If so, how's that going in attracting people to the region to work in biotech and related sectors? Once you give us your answer, I'll go to Mr. Technow.

Thank you for your presentation today, Mr. Technow, and perhaps you could tell us about sourcing labour and if the proper kinds of skills are available to you here in the region.

[Ron Keefe]

Thank you.

I'll start off by saying that the BioAlliance does have a human resources strategy. It is well documented and does assist in terms of finding individuals who are competent to move the sector forward. We have a very good record with respect to that.

In my view, in Atlantic Canada we have one of the strongest systems of universities that you might find anywhere in the world. I think there are a lot of trained individuals, but not all skills sets are available, so we do rely heavily on immigration and obviously on people coming from outside the region with skill sets. There is a combination strategy that we employ, I think, but certainly the local infrastructure is very strong. To date, it has really not been a problem in the sector.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Before we go to Mr. Technow, perhaps as a follow-up question on that, do you work with universities—UPEI, Holland College, or others outside of Prince Edward Island and in the rest of Atlantic Canada or elsewhere—in terms of forecasting need? I know it must be hard. It's a growth sector. Do you work with them in terms of forecasting and and urging them to perhaps tailor their programs to your requirements?

[Ron Keefe]

Absolutely, we do. Our main focus is on working with the businesses to find out what the needs are and then to assist in the attraction. I should mention not only the universities, obviously, but the colleges. Holland College has been a prime example of people who have the science background, if I could call it that, but then require technical training in order to go into the laboratories. We have both sides of that being part of the puzzle.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Mr. Technow.

[Oliver Technow]

Just to add a bit to what Mr. Keefe said, it's a mixed bag. We do have a very strong foundation here on the Island. In particular, BioVectra has established a very good partnership with Holland College in the area of a biotech program that we help to support. A lot of graduates from Holland College end up working for BioVectra through that line, which I think is a tremendous asset and a prime example of how it should be, and what connectivity between industry and academia should look like. But there are certain skilled positions where we actually rely on immigration and getting talent from other areas of the country, or the world in this case.

Having a global background myself, I don't necessarily look at it as an isolated issue. It's a continuum problem that we need to address. Part of it is that you recruit talent and then you face a tremendous issue, which is, how can you keep people in your company? How can you keep people in your region? It's a development question that suddenly arises.

This is why it's important to offer opportunities to grow for individuals who are talented and who want to go elsewhere and explore their skills and their talents in other parts of the world. This is why I fundamentally believe that organizations that start here in Prince Edward Island need to think more broadly. They need to think “Atlantic Canada”, and this is one of the key reasons why I feel that broadening into Nova Scotia and other parts of Atlantic Canada is so crucial for my organization; it's not business, but it's talent and development of skills.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Thanks to all of you. We are well over time.

Mr. Aboultaif.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Good morning again, and thanks to all of you for presenting this morning.

There's a common theme that I see today. We know that Atlantic Canada has a high unemployment rate and a lack of industry, or limited industry, and it seems the problem continues all the time. What we hear today is that we have issues. You're asking for skills development, and that is an issue, and we know that the unemployment rate is high, and you're asking for immigration as a solution, if I understood correctly. One thing I see here is absence of the private sector, and when the private sector doesn't come to a market, there are reasons. Either the legislation is not right or it's preventing that, or taxation could be an issue.

I'd like to hear mostly from the chamber of commerce, and from agriculture, the fishermen, and whoever wants to contribute an answer on what's preventing the private sector from coming to P.E.I. and to Atlantic Canada. What can we do in order to encourage that?

Who wants to start first?

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Go ahead, Mr. Keefe.

[Ron Keefe]

Penny can answer as well, but I do chair the Island Advance activity, which is an initiative led by the private sector. To your comment, I believe that the private sector is taking a very direct role in leadership. We strongly believe that government should be there to support but not to take the leadership in terms of economic development.

If we switch this back to our request from the BioAlliance, which is the same way, in that we are a private sector-led non-profit, we are looking to try to ensure that we have strategic infrastructure in place, which we think is a public policy and a public domain issue, but really, in order for that to be successful, it has to be led by the private sector. If you make an investment of $38 million in an infrastructure project, I can guarantee you that the private sector part is going to be at least double that in terms of the investment.

[Ian MacPherson]

I just wanted to comment that, as I said in my opening remarks, our members are 1,300 independent businesses, so there's a huge private sector involvement. The other side of the equation is the processing sector. To process the lobster and the other species, there are six very viable plants. We're pleased to see that all plants have invested significantly in their infrastructure and will be upgrading their infrastructure over the next few years. They have started that and will continue.

One important thing I want to reiterate is that what we're proposing here is a partnership with the federal government. In terms of the PEIFA bringing money to the table, we would certainly solicit funds from our provincial government, but at the end of the day, we're not looking just to buy out these licences and have a gift. We're an active participant in that, so I think that shows a lot of private sector involvement in the fishery.

[Mary Robinson]

In terms of the question about what is limiting us, I think that in agriculture it's fair to say that investments are high. Private business is very active in pursuing new opportunities. The limiting factors, as we mentioned earlier, are labour and transportation. If we were to see further investment from our federal government in ports, that would be fantastic. That would take us to being able to better compete in world markets.

We've always considered this location to be a disadvantage from a transportation perspective, and we should probably be looking at it as an opportunity, because if we look out the window, we see a deepwater port here. That makes us incredibly competitive in foreign markets. We need to see a development of that port system within our province.

With regard to labour, currently the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council is doing fantastic work to address the gaps in labour. Agriculture is an incredibly exciting place for a career right now. It is exciting for investments. The forecasts are incredibly optimistic. I think the fact that we are a provincial driver at $435 million in 2014 and 4,000 jobs speaks very strongly to private investment and private leadership.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Penny.

[Penny Walsh McGuire]

I'll build on what Ron said. The chamber feels that it is very important that the government facilitate private sector-led development through competitive tax measures. In our written submission, we commented on the reduction of the small business tax rate to 9% by 2019, and we also responded to the latest budget in February.

I want to also note that through the Island Advance initiative, tax measures are a really important way to promote entrepreneurship, not just in our province, but across the country. I'm not sure if you're looking for suggestions at this point, but we've talked about things like a two-year tax waiver for new entrepreneurs. I just wanted to note that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Go ahead, Ziad.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

I have a question for you on the carbon tax. What is the justification for the carbon tax in terms of how innovation is going to go hand in hand with the environment? In my opinion, presenting a carbon tax on businesses, or imposing it, if you wish, is going to really delay or work against competitiveness, especially on the international market. How do you see a carbon tax affecting the business activities in your region?

[Penny Walsh McGuire]

We are currently undergoing a consultation with our members, so it probably would be a bit premature for me to say what the specific position of our members across all sectors is. What we're hearing around the discussion of a carbon tax model is the idea of a revenue-neutral approach to it. It's a little premature for us to comment on specifically what our membership's position is. We know that a sustainable approach to business and to operations is important, but we don't have a specific position yet.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Anyone else from the fishermen or the farmers?

[Robert Godfrey]

I'll jump in and add to Penny's comments and say that we're looking for a revenue-neutral model. As long as the money that is captured through carbon tax is used to reinvest in clean technologies.... I can only speak for my sector, but in the agricultural sector we're doing a lot of innovative work when it comes to clean technology and precision agriculture. As long as that money is being reinvested in new technology that's going to make us more internationally competitive, that's all I would add.

[Ian MacPherson]

We share a lot of those sentiments that the Federation of Agriculture just mentioned. We're seeing some of these international trade deals get close to closure—we hope—and the lobster industry is one of the main beneficiaries of some of those trade deals. We wouldn't want to see that lost in anything we gain in terms of lower taxation or duties in terms of export, by adding to our costs at the domestic side. We're watching this very closely, but these are still early days, so we're formulating our official position.