Hon. Tony Loffreda: Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Gold, I would like to address Canada’s efforts to boost productivity. Like many Canadians, particularly from the business community, I am eagerly awaiting tomorrow’s budget to see what concrete measures the government will take to reduce Canada’s productivity gap with our major trading partner, the United States. In last year’s budget, the government did address the issues of increasing productivity and connecting people and businesses and unleashing innovation. It said:

While no single initiative in this budget accomplishes the government’s mission, the potential payoff from acting now in a broad range of policy areas is substantial, as measures tend to reinforce themselves over time and build momentum for further action to boost Canada’s growth trajectory.

What exactly is the government’s mission in terms of boosting its productivity growth? Is there an actual plan with specific priorities and targets?

We need a clear and concise strategy with industry buy-in, but I feel we may not have that right now. This must be a priority for the government to ensure Canada’s economic prosperity.

Senator Loffreda: Thank you for the answer, Senator Gold, but I think the links with the business community have to be stronger. I want to pursue this idea further.

Canadians are expecting major announcements in tomorrow’s budget that will necessitate significant public funds. I won’t comment on these big-ticket items, but I do want to stress how important it is for the government to generate wealth which it can then use to reduce the deficit and cover the cost of its spending priorities. If the government wants to generate wealth and grow the economy, it needs to pivot its approach and make economic expansion and productivity top priorities. To do that, we need a strategy. We need to incentivize businesses to invest in new technology, innovation and, above all, to invest in its people.

Since the Liberals came to power in 2015, what specific measures have been implemented to attract investment and reduce Canada’s productivity gap?

You made mention of that in your first answer, but how are these results being assessed? I’ve always said that what you measure improves. Do we have an assessment of these results? Where are we at? We need to know if policies are achieving their intended results and recalibrate if these intended results are not being met.