Frank Stronach

Giving employees an ownership stake

February 21, 2023

Giving employees a stake in the company they work for has been one of my guiding business philosophies. I’ve always believed that if employees have a real and tangible stake in the company’s success — if employees are part-owners — then they will be more motivated to produce a better product for a better price. The reason why is simple: as an owner or part-owner, you instinctively want to do everything to the best of your abilities. You want to produce work of the highest calibre because you’re part of something you take pride in. And most importantly, you know that your contributions to the bottom line will be financially rewarded. In the last federal budget, the Canadian government announced

The government beast must be tamed

April 25, 2023

Who is the largest employer in Canada? You might think it would be one of the big banks or maybe a company like Bell or Loblaw. But you’d be wrong. It’s the federal government. Governments at all levels and their multitude of agencies, Crown corporations and departments employ a large chunk of Canada’s labour market. According to the Fraser Institute, as of July 2022, Canada’s public sector represented 21.8 per cent of all jobs in the economy — and growing. That means that nearly one out of every four Canadians works for the government — a staggering percentage, which is nearly double that of the United States and almost the same as communist Venezuela. The federal government alone has more

Whatever happened to balancing the budget?

February 28, 2023

The great British economist Adam Smith wrote in The Wealth of Nations that countries should be run like any well-managed household: they shouldn’t spend more revenue than they raise. It’s a time-honoured principle. Every family, farmer and small business owner in Canada knows that if you continuously spend more money than you make you’ll eventually go bankrupt. Why, then, does that same principle never seem to apply to governments, which routinely run deficits regardless of which party holds the reins of power?Most Canadians would agree that we have to begin paying down our national debt, but we can only do that if we first start balancing the federal budget. Following decades of budget shortfalls and an international credit rating downgrade,

The pressing need to unclog the tax system

May 16, 2023

Most Canadians who filed their income taxes last month probably came away more convinced than ever that our tax system is way too convoluted and complex. Earlier this month, I proposed the creation of a new national movement of concerned Canadians from all walks of life who would rally around a set of core principles to boost our economy and improve our country’s living standards. One of those core principles was to simplify our tax system. It’s a winning proposal that Canadians could unite behind. It’s also a reform that our country badly needs. To simplify our tax system, I propose creating a gradually escalating income tax scale with a clear and logical progression in tax rates. It would be

Who’s looking out for our small businesses?

January 17, 2023

Many Canadians have bought some lumber or kitchen and bathroom accessories at Home Depot over the years. The company, which opened its first stores just outside of Atlanta, Georgia in 1978, has grown into what is today the world’s largest improvement retailer with approximately 2,300 stores throughout North America. A few weeks ago, one of the co-founders of Home Depot said that if he were to start his company all over again in today’s suffocating business environment, he doubts whether it could have ever grown any larger in size than around 15 stores. I’ve often wondered myself if I were to start Magna all over again today, instead of more than 50 years ago, would I have been able to

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