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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - AUGUST 2014
Exclusive: Canadian business with
Minister of Industry the Honourable
James Moore
CIO recently had the opportunity
to connect with James Moore, Minis-
ter of Industry to discuss the health of
Canadian business, our economic edge
in international markets, and future
outlook.
James Moore was first elected to
the House of Commons in 2000 and
re-elected in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2011.
Mr. Moore was appointed Minister of
Industry in July 2013. Previously, he
was appointed Secretary of State (Asia-
Pacific Gateway) (2010 Olympics)
(
Official Languages) in June 2008 and
Minister of Canadian Heritage and Of-
ficial Languages in October 2008.
Canada’s economy has remained
much steadier in the last 5 years than
other nations, do you attribute that
to our healthy business landscape?
What factors have enabled our sus-
tainability?
Yes. In fact, our Government is
focused on what matters to Canadian
businesses – growing the economy and
helping create jobs. Economic Action
Plan 2014 does exactly that with posi-
tive pro-growth measures like making
landmark investments in research and
innovation, creating the Canada Ap-
prentice Loan, supporting more paid
internships for recent graduates, cut-
ting red tape for small business, deliv-
ering additional tax relief for families,
and more. Canada has now created
over 1 million net new jobs since the
depth of the global recession in July
2009.
Since 2006, Canada the best job
creation record in the G7, and we are
leading overall in economic growth.
What challenges are Canadian
enterprises facing that need to be ad-
dressed in order to ensure our com-
petitiveness going forward? Redo
answer with information about AIT
barriers, these are the challenges we
will speak to.
Since coming to office, our Gov-
ernment has taken action to support
the economy and Canadian businesses.
We cut taxes to their lowest levels in
55
years, and have taken clear steps,
through Digital Canada 150 and other
initiatives, to give businesses the tools
they need to invest in innovation and
to find success in the digital age. We
have also taken strong action on inter-
national trade. In 2006, Canada had
trade agreements with just five coun-
tries. Today, Canada has trade agree-
ments with a total of 43.
However, we also recognize that
Canadian businesses still face chal-
lenges, most notably barriers to trade
within our own borders. The unfor-
tunate reality is that within our own
country there are different rules and
regulations, standards and practices
across provinces and territories that
hinder businesses’ ability to compete,
grow and create jobs here at home.
These countless large and small dif-
ferences create a patchwork that is
challenging for businesses to navigate
when they want to grow and export
into new markets within Canada.
There is a clear need for action
and an imperative for all governments
to work together to comprehensively
modernize Canada’s internal trade
framework. Our Government is com-
mitted to working with our provin-
cial and territorial partners to create a
new, more effective and more modern
agreement. As we begin this work,
our Government is also taking steps
at the federal level to strengthen our
evidence base and develop an Internal
Trade Barriers Index. As laid out in
Economic Action Plan 2014, this Index
will help us identify measures that
MINISTER OF INDUSTRY
