Media release
May 4, 2020
Team Canada approach to pandemic can in turn power recovery
Resource Works paper explores how ‘Team Canada’ approach seeing nation through pandemic can be applied to upcoming economic and social recovery
Team Canada has come together in the fight against COVID-19. A similar approach will be required for the upcoming economic and social recovery.
In a paper published today entitled Team Canada for the Rebuild, Resource Works sets out a framework for how Canada can take lessons away from the country’s unified response to the pandemic to plan for the recovery to come. The paper delves into the need to start planning for that recovery now, arguing the federal and provincial governments should establish a Team Canada to lay a groundwork for the ‘Next Normal.’ This national advisory council should focus on innovation and collaboration in sectors where Canada has natural advantages – in particular our responsible resource industries.
“With this paper, Resource Works is taking the opportunity of this enforced pause to consider appropriate public policy to strengthen Canada’s advantages while repairing the structural impediments that have held back the country’s progress in recent years,” says Karen Graham, the report’s author and principal of KMG Strategy. “Nowhere is the opportunity more apparent than in the resource sectors, which have simultaneously served as the backbone of Canadian exports, experienced the most precipitous drop in inbound investment over the past five years, and faced the stiffest headwinds in completing federal regulatory approval processes.”
In setting the scene, the paper states: “This is a catalytic moment, as businesses and individuals discover – out of necessity – new and innovative ways of doing things, and question old and unproductive ways of doing things. We can choose to roar back together, to build together, and to usher in together a decade – and beyond – of Canadian leadership built on our thoughtful and bold response to a crisis.”
Canada’s pandemic response has broken down barriers between public and private sectors, as governments have stepped in with unprecedented aid packages to support families, stabilize financial markets, and keep business and the economy from collapse. While it is yet uncertain when businesses and people may safely re-open their doors, what is certain is that following such historic measures post-pandemic Canada will function differently than pre-pandemic Canada. For years to come, governments will be more involved in private sector undertakings than they have been in a generation. Together, the public and private sectors can turn that to an advantage with a focus on key drivers needed for a recovery, including:
- Investing in people;
- Bold thinking and action on recovery priorities;
- Accelerating application of new technologies;
- Advancing relationships between Indigenous groups, governments, and industries, and;
- Effective regulation that supports recovery while maintaining stringent environmental standards.
The complete paper can be read here: Team Canada for the Rebuild
About Resource Works:
Resource Works communicates with British Columbians about the importance of the province's resource sectors to their personal well-being. It demonstrates how responsible development of British Columbia's resources creates jobs and incomes throughout the province, both directly and indirectly, while maintaining a clean and healthy environment.
And Resource Works explores the long-term economic future of British Columbia as a place that depends on the responsible development, extraction and transportation of the province's resources.
Media contact:
Shawn Hall
Apogee Public Relations
604-619-7913
(A PDF version of this release can be found here