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Good evening.
I want to start by thanking the Eurasia Group and BMO Financial Group for inviting me and for hosting.
I would also like to thank everyone attending this evening and discussing the major issues affecting Canada and the United States as the world’s closest trading partners and allies.
These are critical issues for a consequential time.
With global inflation, exacerbated by Russia’s illegal war, people in developed economies are struggling to make ends meet.
People in the global south are facing food shortages.
People are suffering from the impacts of climate change.
And, in Ukraine, people are losing their lives in the fight for their freedoms, for our freedoms.
Our relationship with the United States has always been important.
But today, in the face of such uncertainty, it is absolutely vital.
And President Biden made clear the depth and strength of this relationship when he addressed the House of Commons just the other day. He said:
“The United States chooses to link our future with Canada because we know that we’ll find no better partner — and I mean this from the bottom of my heart — no more reliable ally, no more steady friend.
“Together — together, we have built a partnership that is an incredible advantage to both our nations.”
Over the last two centuries, we have built a robust and integrated economy, with reliable supply chains that have supported manufacturing jobs, resource jobs, transport jobs, jobs in almost every sector of the economy.
Canada and the United States have a long history of shared prosperity.
Today, as the international context evolves, we need to be thoughtful about what comes next.
The pandemic and Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine have exposed significant vulnerabilities in global supply chains.
There is real concern about our economic vulnerabilities when it comes to dependence on authoritarian states.
What Canada and the United States have accomplished to date is the bedrock on which we can build the strong, prosperous, fair and clean economy of the twenty-first century.
The Budget we released last week is about meeting this moment.
It’s a Made-in-Canada plan to invest in people today—in making life affordable, in health care and dental care—and to create great jobs and prosperity for the decades to come.
It hones in on two key issues that lie ahead.
The first is seizing the opportunities of the clean economy.
Major economies are moving towards net-zero at an unprecedented pace.
They are re-tooling, re-skilling workers, and taking real action to fight climate change.
For too long, people had this idea that doing what was right for the environment was somehow counter to economic growth.
But the world has woken up. There are trillions of dollars in private capital waiting to be spent in building the global clean economy.
This is something our government has understood since 2015.
We’ve put a price on pollution, which is generating market-driven solutions.
We’ve invested in energy efficiency, in clean tech and in decarbonizing industry.
A healthy environment is absolutely imperative if we want to continue to generate the kind of prosperity that has made Canada strong for over 155 years. And it’s where private capital is going.
Canada needs innovative financing to crowd in this capital.
That’s where the new Canada Growth Fund comes in.
This $15-billion arm’s length public investment vehicle will be delivered by the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, who will make independent investment decisions.
The Growth Fund will help clean tech companies scale up, provide project financing for the adoption of new technologies, and use investment instruments like contracts for difference that make carbon pricing even more predictable.
This is something industry has been asking for and this will help de-risk long-term projects, and provide more certainty as businesses make investments to reduce their emissions and stay competitive.
The Canada Growth Fund will attract private investment in projects that capitalize on our potential.
The US’s Inflation Reduction Act is a historic investment in fighting climate change, on a scale heretofore unseen.
It’s motivating clean investment across the globe. Which is especially important as countries look to move away from fossil fuels produced by countries like Russia.
This is the second key issue this year’s Budget takes on: Global economies are seeking stable trading partners and reliable supply chains in the face of geopolitical uncertainty.
We all need to recognize economic policy is security policy is climate policy.
Our government understands this and is making sure Canada is extremely well-positioned to be the reliable energy supplier a net-zero world will need.
We are investing in clean hydrogen, biomass and biofuels.
And we’ve just proposed an investment tax credit for clean electricity.
It would be a 15% refundable tax incentive for investments in solar, tidal, nuclear and hydroelectric power, electricity storage projects and more.
Canada already has some of the cleanest electricity in the world.
The tax credit will accelerate our work to build a 100% net-zero grid by 2035. So that our homes, offices, factories, and more, can be powered by emissions-free energy.
This will ensure Canada is competitive in a net-zero world where emissions-free electricity will be a distinct economic advantage.
New investments to build clean industry do so on a foundation of proven effective policies, like the price on pollution.
And they are supplemented by the work of the Canada Infrastructure Bank, as well as by targeted grants where needed.
We’re also introducing a 30% refundable tax credit for clean tech manufacturing.
This could help projects that help extract and refine critical minerals, build a solar panel factory, or help a company re-tool a plant to manufacture clean tech.
Tax credits like these are hat tricks:
- They cut pollution here at home,
- They boost production of clean exports that the world is looking for, and
- They support the jobs that grow the middle class, and by extension, our economy.
Jobs in the clean economy are what this is all about.
Let me give you a real-world example, from just west of here on the shores of Lake Ontario.
I want you to think of the Dofasco Plant in Hamilton.
Those of you from around here have probably driven by it on the QEW more times than you can count.
For generations, there has been a proud blue-collar tradition of steelmaking.
The steel forged at Dofasco has been used to construct bridges, buildings, cars, and more.
Our government saw the future coming and realized that the existing, and heavy-emitting, coal-fired technology could put the jobs and the legacy of Canadian steelmaking at risk.
So, two years ago we launched the Net-zero Accelerator to help industries like steel decarbonize and make investment at the scale needed.
In July 2021, we partnered with parent company ArcelorMittal to invest in new electric arc technology.
This means that not only will Canada produce some of the cleanest steel in the world in the coming years, but our second and third generation steelworkers will know that their children and grandchildren will also have those good middle class jobs at Dofasco, if they choose.
This is what it’s about at the end of the day: A good job. Where people can do a good day’s work, support their families, and take pride in what they do.
It’s why we fought to make sure that the Inflation Reduction Act included a carve-in for Canada that protected the integrated supply chains for electric vehicles.
Because, again, back when we were designing our climate plan, we saw which direction the automotive industry was going.
We set zero-emission vehicle sales targets, we created purchase incentives for Canadians, we started building a charging network from coast to coast to coast.
And now, we’re securing manufacturing capacity, from mining critical minerals, to battery manufacturing, to vehicle assembly, to the specialized tires electric vehicles roll on.
We have been making sure Canadian workers and Canadian industry stay competitive.
That Canada is an attractive place to do business.
This is what our Made-in-Canada plan is all about.
And the momentum is pretty darn good.
In the past year, Honda, General Motors and Stellantis have made major investments to upgrade and re-tool their assembly plants so that they can manufacture hybrid and electric vehicles.
We’ve seen major investments in battery manufacturing—from Umicore, to BASF, and most recently, to an announcement that Volkswagen has chosen Canada for it first overseas electric vehicle battery Gigafactory.
This new Volkswagen factory is a major win for Canada, and a vote of confidence in Canadian competitiveness.
Our government worked hard to get this deal, but it was the reputation and strength of Canadian workers that sealed it.
Deals like these are bringing in billions in foreign direct investment.
And they mean thousands of good jobs, in communities across the country.
The fact is that Canada’s competitive advantage is unique.
Our country is rich in the critical minerals that will power the global economy through the transition to net-zero by 2050 - and long after.
Our budget commits to fast-tracking approvals of major projects that will enable us to meet these needs, while still upholding strong environmental protections and working together with Indigenous peoples.
We have the minerals needed to make electric vehicles, wind turbines, batteries, solar panels and many other technologies that are essential to a clean energy future.
But we are also looking outward, to opportunities and strategic considerations beyond our borders.
As one of very few countries with the full suite of critical minerals needed to build the batteries of the future, we are working with our friends and allies to build stable and reliable supply chains.
This helps address strategic vulnerabilities and brings the world along in the clean energy transition.
We’re also taking action to strengthen our continental semiconductor ecosystem and reduce reliance on countries like China.
When President Biden was in town, we announced an agreement with IBM to expand domestic semiconductor research and development and packaging.
This will create good jobs in Canada, boost competitiveness, and protect our economic and national security.
In the 21st century, security policy is climate policy is economic policy.
But I want to make clear, our Budget is not a defensive economic posture.
This is an incredible opportunity.
As President Biden said, we are at an inflection point in history, where the decisions we take in the coming years will determine the course of our world for decades to come. This is the kind of historic moment that only happens every five or six generations.
This is a serious moment. So let’s meet this moment.
This is an opportunity for Canada and the United States to lead, not only as governments, but also through private industry.
As President Biden said, we “anchor the most competitive, prosperous, and resilient economic region in the world.”.
We are ready to step up and meet the future, head on, ready for each and every possibility.
The strategic clean economy investments we have been making since 2015 are about growing the economic pie for everyone.
And securing new investment opportunities for a lot of you here, on Bay Street.
But fundamentally, it’s about people, it’s about great jobs:
- for resource workers mining the critical minerals the world needs;
- for construction workers and tradespeople using innovative new low-carbon building materials;
- for engineers designing hydrogen plants and fuel cells;
- for farmers and foresters who are making next generation biofuels;
- for back-office and support staff at thousands of growing companies.
- And, of course, for the small business entrepreneurs dreaming up solutions to the new challenges of the 21st century.
Real wealth isn’t made on a trading floor.
It’s created in factories, in fields, in labs, in mines.
By assembly line workers and farmers. By our researchers making new discoveries. By our innovators thinking about bold and creative solutions. By entrepreneurs with big ideas and boundless ambition.
Real wealth is created by people.
People are the engine of our economy.
We can never forget that.
And I proffer this warning because there was a time, not too long ago, when the establishment seemed to lose sight of that.
There was a pretty unchallenged belief that the ideologies of deregulation and unencumbered globalization would create wealth for all.
But the rising tide didn’t lift all boats. Not everyone benefitted.
Corporations did extremely well. But jobs for the middle class went overseas and weren’t replaced.
Then 2008 happened.
In the U.S., banks got bailouts, but the middle class got foreclosures on their home.
And meanwhile, there were a lot of conservative governments and political leaders who looked to austerity.
Then, as GDP started to grow again, wages didn’t.
The one percent did better and better, and a lot of hardworking people got left behind.
Inequality was taking hold.
The middle class was getting hollowed out.
People got frustrated and got disillusioned with the establishment. A lot of them still are.
And some of the same political forces that let that happen, are now taking advantage of people’s economic pain.
They’re turning people towards anger, populism, isolationism, and protectionism.
They’re sharing conspiracy theories. They’re sowing distrust in institutions.
They offer no solutions. No alternatives.
But they do effectively amplify the very real anxiety people are feeling.
It’s a dangerous approach that will impact not just you in this room, but people in communities big and small across this country.
In 2015, when we came to office, our government saw these issues. And we decided to take a different approach.
One that has been centered on investing in people, in the middle class and in those working hard to join it.
One that was about creating a future where people could see opportunities for themselves.
We understood that a strong middle class made the whole economy stronger.
We not only had a plan to make sure more people get their fair share of the economic pie, we created the plan to grow a bigger pie.
We’ve increased immigration levels and are attracting talent from all over the world, which is helping staff our growing companies, and add more workers and businesses to our communities.
We’ve enhanced support for low-income workers, so that they stay in the workforce and build careers that help them join the middle class.
We’re supporting parents with affordable child care, students with increased loans and the elimination of interest, and investing in the publicly funded universal health care system that Canadians are rightfully proud of.
And our resilient, well-educated, healthy and well-supported workers are one of the key reasons that so many global companies want to set up shop here in Canada.
Because, people, are what drive the economy. Profits only come, when people are doing well.
Like I’ve said, we started building the clean economy 7 years ago, so we could be leaders and early adopters in clean tech and clean innovations.
And today’s Dofasco workers have a secure future because of it.
And so will the next generation of Canadian workers, in sectors across the economy.
And so many of you in the private sector have been essential partners in what we’re building…an economy that works for all Canadians.
And results are bearing out. Since 2015:
- 2.7 million Canadians have been lifted out of poverty. Half a million of them, kids.
- Income inequality has declined by 11%.
- The gender wage gap is narrowing.
- We announced $10/day child care two years ago, a milestone that has been reached in six provinces and territories, with significant reductions in fees everywhere else. Which means women’s participation in the economy has reached an all-time high, and our economy is projected to grow by 1.2%.
- Our broad-based support to the economy during the pandemic recession enabled a robust recovery that led Canada to have one of the strongest jobs recoveries in the world.
- Wages are going up.
- Last year we had the strongest economic growth in the G7.
Like I said, we’re building a bigger economic pie. And making sure more people get their fair piece of that pie.
We know that free and fair trade is essential to achieving this.
So we’ve made sure that our trade agreements include better protections for the environment and for workers.
This is exactly what we did when we renegotiated and improved NAFTA.
We have been focused on growing the economy. And doing it in a way that gives people real opportunities, and more control over their lives.
People are looking for solutions, and looking to us all, as leaders.
To lead is to choose. To govern is to choose.
Some politicians have made the choice to exploit fears, to rile people up, while offering no real solutions.
Our government has made a different choice. And we’ll keep making that choice.
A choice to dig deeper than simplistic slogans to tackle complex problems.
To think bigger than the failed trickle-down economic policies of the past.
To be bold in investing in the middle class, in fighting climate change, in building a more equal and just society, where we reconcile with Indigenous peoples and where everyone has a real and fair chance at success, no matter who you are, where you were born, or where you live.
We’ll choose the brightest possibilities of the future.
We’ll choose people every time.
Thank you.