Frank Stronach

The national debt — a ticking time bomb for future generations

June 20, 2023

Canada keeps digging itself deeper and deeper into debt thanks to out-of-control government spending and the increased interest we have to pay on that ballooning debt. Warren Buffett once said that, “The most important thing to do if you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging.” But most Canadian governments have not heeded that sound advice. They just keep on digging. According to the International Monetary Fund, the ratio between Canada’s public debt and its gross domestic product is 105 per cent. In plain English, this means that as a country, we now owe more money than the total value of all the goods and services we produce in a year. If Canada were a person or a

Give young Canadians – and Canada – a break. Teach them trades

August 1, 2023

When most Canadians think of quality products made with a high level of technical skill and engineering, they usually think of Europe. And for good reason: European countries such as Switzerland, Germany, France, Sweden and Italy are all exporters of world-class products. These products include BMW and Siemens from Germany, Ferrari and Ducati from Italy, Cartier and Michelin from France, Kuehne + Nagel and Schindler from Switzerland, and Electrolux and Husqvarna from Sweden. These brands — as well as other quality products from Europe — are synonymous around the world with state-of-the-art engineering, technical precision and know-how, and reliability. It’s why the European Union has one of the strongest and most productive economies in the world and why European living

Fixing capitalism by mandating profit sharing

April 11, 2023

One of my favourite books published over the last few years is “Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few,” by Robert Reich, a public policy professor at UC Berkeley and secretary of labour in the Clinton administration. Reich’s main argument is that capitalism is damaged and that the rich are getting richer while the poor and middle class are getting poorer, creating the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in nearly a century. He’s right that capitalism is a system that enriches only a few. I also agree with Reich’s call for a revival of corporate profit sharing, which was much more widespread in the 20th century, when some of America’s biggest and most well-known companies had profit-sharing programs.

The case for an economic charter of rights and responsibilities

July 3, 2023

Numerous surveys taken over the years have shown that Canadians view the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as this country’s most important national symbol — ahead of hockey, the Mounties and our national anthem. What’s more, a national survey conducted by the Environics Institute last year found that an overwhelming majority of Canadians believe the charter has been positive for the country. The charter guarantees Canadians a wide range of rights, including freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of mobility, as well as the right to life, liberty and security of the person. Although it guarantees a number of important rights, the charter alone is not sufficient — it needs to be fortified with an

Big business does best when workers get their share

October 10, 2023

I’ve been arguing in this column for a while now that large Canadian companies should have to share their annual profits with employees — and that it should be a cornerstone component of a new national economic charter of rights. Some businesspeople have said to me the last thing they want is the government telling them that they have to give up some of the company’s hard-earned profits. I can understand why they feel that way. When I was the CEO of Magna International, we introduced a profit sharing program with my managers, employees and investors that gave each stakeholder group a pre-determined percentage of our annual profits. After introducing the program, profits skyrocketed. My only regrets are that I

Is Canada still a business-friendly country?

December 13, 2022

When it comes to doing business, Canada may not be as friendly as it once was. Thirty or forty years ago, whenever my company opened a new manufacturing facility or R&D centre in southern Ontario, municipalities would bend over backwards to help us — offering everything from widening the road to installing new traffic lights. In the U.S., job-hungry local and state governments would go even further, promising major tax incentives and free land if we chose to locate there. But the business-friendly environment that existed in Canada years ago has largely vanished. Instead, businesses looking to open a store or factory get slapped with piles of paperwork and never-ending fees. I’ve been trying to get a business operation up