CCI Response to the Federal Cabinet Shuffle

Today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made significant changes to his cabinet, precipitated by the recent departures of Chrystia Freeland as Finance Minister and Sean Fraser as Housing Minister. In response to the new cabinet unveiled today, CCI President Benjamin Bergen issued the following statement:

"This week, we saw a Fall Economic Statement that took important steps to meaningfully address Canada’s economic crisis by improving government procurement and enacting policies that are intended to boost productivity and drive private sector R&D. CCI has been pressing the government to modernize the Scientific Research & Experimental Development tax credit for years, and we were pleased to see the government finally listened.

"However, this week we have also seen turmoil from the government of Prime Minister Trudeau, and confusion about who is even part of his leadership team.  

"Canadian innovators need cabinet ministers in key economic and national security files who are focused on working with the private sector in an active, strategic and ongoing manner. For example, we hope that Canada’s new public safety minister will make it a priority to engage with our country’s leading cybersecurity firms, to work on the cyber threats we face in the 21st century. We hope the new Minister of National Revenue will finally bring some certainty to capital gains tax concerns that have been creating bewilderment and concern since the budget was delivered. As we face a looming trade war with our biggest trading partner, ministers responsible for economic development and trade need to be on the phone every day with business leaders to understand the complexities of this issue, and how to strategically engage.

"More broadly, as we look ahead to 2025 we hope that this government can focus on execution, delivering real economic development strategies to address the concerns we have been talking about for so long."

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Media Contact:
James McLeod
CCI Director of Communications
jmcleod@canadianinnovators.org

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