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By Paul Deegan

February 22, 2025

A group of Canadian tech entrepreneurs recently launched something called Build Canada, which bills itself as “a platform of bold ideas for growth, innovation, and prosperity”.

Perhaps because of the supersized influence of Elon Musk on Donald Trump and Big Tech CEOs lined up in an unseemly pay-to-play scheme at Trump’s inauguration, some are skeptical about Canadian tech entrepreneurs wanting to play a role in shaping Canadian public policy.

With Canadian productivity significantly lagging America’s and now under the constant threat of tariffs from Trump, it’s long past time to get our own economic house in order. As a country, we need big, bold ideas and the know-how to turn those ideas into action. Canadian think tanks, as good as they are, do not have the financial resources of their American counterparts. Therefore, we should be welcoming this new addition to the public policy debate.

Build Canada has committed to regularly publishing policy memos. So far, they have a half dozen or so on their website. Here are just a few of the interesting (and good) ideas they are proposing.

On immigration, Martin Basiri, founder and CEO of the international talent-funding provider Passage, proposes improving the points system to prioritize GDP impact, taking greater consideration of health, age, sector, desired location of residency in Canada, education and long-term economic benefits.

On health care, Michael Serbinis, CEO and founder of a digital health and wellness platform called League, argues we should link all major health care providers across Canada and provide secure access to your health records through a new federal online portal so that people can engage with their health profiles virtually, at their own convenience.

On energy, Adam Waterous of Waterous Energy Fund is promoting the concept of an Indigenous partnership acceleration office to provide funding and capacity to ensure meaningful participation, clear decision-making, and equitable economic benefits for Indigenous communities, respecting historical rights and title.

The public policy sausage-making in this country is complex and it needs more – not fewer – voices and input.

There will be those who argue that these entrepreneurs are acting out of self-interest. While their organizations may benefit, they also have proven records of building and creating high-paying Canadian jobs.

The Trump effect has seen companies that once embraced DEI and ESG with open arms run away from it as fast as they can. With Trump using his bully pulpit to play Whack-A-Mole, the new modus operandi of American CEOs seems to be to avoid being noticed to avoid being targeted. This will have a chilling and detrimental effect on U.S. public policymaking.

In Canada, CEOs of legacy companies once played a much larger role in the public policy space. The 1995 unity crisis was perhaps the best example, when BMO’s Matt Barrett and RBC’s Allan Taylor both visibly, passionately, and tirelessly championed national unity.

Amid an unprecedented confluence of political, geopolitical and economic uncertainty, who are today’s champions for a contemporary version of the Chrétien Consensus of balanced budgets, declining debt, smarter government spending, and a competitive tax regime; for an energy transition that grows jobs and investment; for getting Alberta’s oil to Eastern refineries and ports; for building LNG export terminals on our East and West coasts; for a more digitized, customer-friendly government; for further eliminating interprovincial trade barriers; for boosting STEM graduation rates; and for dealing with rising income inequality?

While there are eloquent voices advocating for sound economic policy, organizations such as the Business Council of Canada and the Canadian and provincial chambers of commerce shouldn’t have to do it alone. At a time when the country itself is under threat from anti-democratic expansionism and potential aggression, Canada’s economic integrity needs as many champions as possible.

There is an opportunity for the business community to meet the moment. It’s been forty years since the Macdonald Commission, whose seminal work led to the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement in 1989. It’s time for a similar forum for the 21st century that reflects all the players of the economy — those representing manufacturing, energy, metals and mining, forestry, agriculture and agri-food, information and cultural industries, transportation, financial services, software, etc. — and that uses today’s technology to encourage participation and harness the best ideas from across the country.

Left to its own devices, it is impossible for government alone to chart the course to greater prosperity. The public policy sausage-making in this country is complex and it needs more – not fewer – voices and input.

These uncertain times demand that more leaders stand up, step up, and engage.

Policy contribuor Paul Deegan is CEO of Deegan Public Strategies. He was a public affairs executive at BMO and CN and served in the Clinton White House’s National Economic Council