Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
My name is Mitch Garber. I am the chairman of this new organization. It's true that it was conceived a couple of years ago, but it's really come to life in the last six weeks, when I was named chairman and Mr. McKay named CEO. We'll be happy to take your questions.
Invest in Canada, as you may know, has been created to position Canada as a premier destination for foreign direct investment, and to make it easier for investors to build and/or expand their businesses in Canada.
In preparing for my position in Invest in Canada, I studied what other countries are doing in this space, and realized quite quickly that all of the other G7 countries have a similar entrepreneurial organization, but that we're the last of the G7 to have one. The area of attracting foreign investment is growing and is extremely competitive.
Just to give you a couple of examples, we would compete with an agency in a country like Holland. Holland would talk about itself as having excellent port cities; being in a very advantageous geography; having a highly educated, multilingual workforce, with political stability; a strong banking system; and a high-quality of life, or all of the same things we would say about Canada.
So as I speak about a very competitive arena, this organization becomes ever more important. Canada needs this agency for that reason, and the agency will need to perform at a very entrepreneurial and high level.
I am personally quite excited to move into this phase of my life and to be part of Invest in Canada, making sure that Canada is at the forefront of the innovation and prosperity that come with global investment to our country. I believe we have a tremendous product; the product is Canada.
We intend to build on what the provinces, the cities, and the regions are already doing. We can talk about why this will be additive to what the cities, provinces, and regions are doing, but we need to band together and sell this great product together in a cohesive fashion. This is a critical point.
We should not have dozens of touch points, especially if those touch points are not communicating with each other or singing from the same hymn book. This is an issue that we currently have in Canada, which we hope to play a small or even larger role in fixing.
As the chair of this new organization, I will lead a highly qualified board of directors responsible for overseeing the management of Invest in Canada, and will ensure, along with the CEO, the highest level of public stewardship, governance, and compliance. The board will also play an advisory role to the minister.
In this role, I hope to draw on my experience in international business and my entrepreneurial spirit as a business man to create effective processes with a focus on speed. I also have a lot of experience as a board member with for-profit and non-profit organizations.
We will aim to break down some of the walls, barriers, and delays that come with bureaucracy. It is no secret there is red tape in government. There is red tape in private business as well—I can share that with you too. What we need to do as entrepreneurs and as proud Canadians is to find the red tape where we can and cut through it.
Canada has more to offer than any other country in the world. I have discussed this with representatives of the various political parties. We all agree on this. We have so much going for us: economic and political stability, quality of life, low crime rates, which means peace and security, a highly skilled and well-educated workforce, as well as international relationships, trade, and agreements with various countries, offering very inviting conditions and access to markets.
I am quite pleased to have found a way to combine my experience as a lawyer, as a long-time business executive, my love of business, and my love for Canada in this new role with Invest in Canada.
Those, Mr. Chairman, are the reasons why I am here today.
Thank you.