I have my first column for Macleans published on May 2, 2018. Link is here.

I argue that pro-business politicians need more than tax cuts; government has an outsize role in supporting the conditions for growth, including investments in infrastructure and talent development.

An excerpt:

Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford is running to lead Canada’s largest province on a promise to make Ontario “open for business.” His plan? Lowering the corporate income tax rate from 11.5 per cent to 10.5 per cent. Withdrawing from the cap-and-trade carbon pricing system established with Quebec and California. And freezing the minimum wage at $14, rather than raising it to $15 as promised by the Kathleen Wynne Liberals.

In a nutshell, Ford—whose antics with his brother Rob on Toronto city council and now as a populist provincial leader have earned him international notoriety—wants to attract businesses with lower taxes and de-regulation. It’s a classic mantra for any politician that wants to position him or herself as pro-business.

But that’s not a recipe for an Ontario that’s open for business. It’s a mish-mash of harmful slogans, not a plan. At best, it’s a plan for uncertainty and risk—precisely what businesses don’t want.

Years spent in the provincial government advising officials like the minister of economic development and trade showed me that pro-growth policy comes down to the business climates that governments help create—ones that have the right mix of talent, reliable infrastructure, competitive tax rates, quality of life for employees and their families, clusters of innovation, and trade agreements that grant access to key markets.