People Mentioned
Special Advisor, Ottawa
In discussion during an ARC Energy Ideas podcast, Osler Special Advisor Stephen Poloz says Canada has a good opportunity to develop a critical minerals economy to support energy transition, but some obstacles need to be overcome before this can happen.
“There’s high electricity costs, red tape, long processes, environmental impact assessments and consultations that take years instead of months,” he says. “It’s all very well-intentioned, but we never seem to put a deadline on finalizing these steps.”
Removing barriers is also a key objective of Stephen’s new role as chair of a working group created by the federal government to find more opportunities for Canada’s largest pension funds to drive economic growth at home. “Our mandate is to look for impediments or things that may be slowing down Canadian pension investments in this country, and to remove or ease some of these so pension funds see more investment opportunities,” says Stephen.
The podcast covered a range of topics, including inflation, interest rates and productivity. On inflation, Stephen says the transitory component has largely worked its way through the system over the last two years following the invasion of Ukraine, and progress is now being made on reducing the domestic part.
With interest rates, Stephen says the only way we would see pre-2022 rates again would be if the Canadian economy experienced a major shock where the central bank needed to lower rates to cushion the blow of something like a global recession. “It’s important for people to understand that interest rates are not only higher for longer — they’re higher forever,” he says.
In terms of productivity, Stephen says there are several factors contributing to Canada being a laggard in output per worker, including a lack of investment in both research and development and intellectual property.
People Mentioned
Special Advisor, Ottawa
