Frank Stronach

Small farmers need our support

June 27, 2023

Canada’s small family farmers do backbreaking work, day in and day out, from sunup to sundown, providing Canadians with the necessities of life. Yet despite how hard they work, and despite how vital their work is, they often don’t make very much in return. They plant, grow and harvest many of the fruits and vegetables we eat. And they often struggle to eke out a living based solely on the income they generate from their farm businesses. It’s not fair or right — and it’s a problem that’s been ignored by Canadian policymakers for far too long. I operate an organic restaurant and marketplace, and I’m constantly speaking and meeting family farmers from all over southern Ontario. Many of them

Canadians need to rise up and fight for their prosperity

August 15, 2023

Canadians know deep in their bones that our country is in trouble and our economy is sick. We also know that we have to fix things because time is quickly running out. The national debt is a case in point. If we don’t tackle this problem now, the buildup of debt and the interest that keeps piling on top of it will drastically affect future generations, who will be stuck with the bill. And that’s not the only economic problem we face. The gap between the wealthy and the workers is growing larger and larger. Many Canadians are living paycheque to paycheque. And it’s become increasingly difficult for young Canadians to find good-paying jobs or afford to buy a home.

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 core issues facing Canada in 2023

January 3, 2023

For many of us, the start of a new year focuses our minds on goals and plans for the future. It’s a time for a fresh start, a time when we get around to tackling projects that we keep putting off even though we know they’re important for our financial or personal wellbeing. That same mindset should be adopted by our government as well. With the worst of the pandemic firmly behind us, now is the time to finally start solving some of the key problems that have hobbled our economy and held back our potential as a country. But where do we begin? We’re confronted by a number of seemingly insurmountable problems: Skyrocketing debt. Falling living standards. A country

Unleash small business by exempting them from corporate taxes

May 2, 2023

Small businesses are often described as the backbone of our economy — and that’s because they are. They develop new products and technologies that drive economic growth and create new jobs. But if small businesses are so important, why aren’t we doing more to support their success and foster even greater growth? Small businesses bore the brunt of the economic fallout during the pandemic. The on-again, off-again lockdowns dried up revenue, drove away customers and made employee retention very difficult. I often wonder how many of the small businesses that went under during the pandemic could have become another Magna International? Legendary entrepreneur Richard Branson famously said that all big businesses start small. When I started Magna, I opened up