Kevin Carmichael: A \u0027Buy Canada\u0027 approach to procurement could be a launching pad for emerging companies in need of an anchor client
Trudeau has played chicken with the oligopolies, but he always blinks first. His government is slow-walking preparations for an open-banking regime, which would level the playing field between the Big Six and financial technology upstarts. And last weekend, Navdeep Bains, the innovation minister,he had sided with BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp.
Redistribution appears to be the force that drives Trudeau, and he and his followers will justify it by arguing that a richer and healthier middle class will generate more demand, which entrepreneurs and executives will seek to satisfy. Innovation will follow, and Canada will become more competitive in the process.
A “Buy Canada” approach to procurement could be a launching pad for emerging companies in need of an anchor client. Rather than attempting to decide who deserves subsidies, the federal government could instead pick winners by giving them a fair shot to compete for government business. If Trudeau is serious about using the treasury to plug the holes exposed by the pandemic, there should be lots of work to go around.
But a more aggressive use of procurement shouldn’t be viewed as a make-work scheme. Last month, NuEnergy.ai, an Ottawa-based developer of software that monitors the behaviour of algorithms powered by artificial intelligence, won a contract to educate Transport Canada on how to deploy AI ethically. It’s an emerging field, and one where Canada has a lead thanks to a clutch of companies such as NuEnergy. But to keep that lead, those firms will need some business so they can scale.
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