Page 22 - Newcom

FEBRUARY 2020
PAGE 22
EDITORIAL
Cut the fat, not the muscle
Canada’s biggest securities regulator now needs a steady hand at the helm, not a partisan ideologue.
With Maureen Jensen stepping down after four years as chair
and CEO of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), the provincial government has the opportunity to show it can be trusted to guard the public interest instead of catering to short-sighted special interests.
That means choosing a new head with unimpeachable integrity, sound policy knowledge and credibility with Bay Street. This is not a post for yet another political crony or an anti-regulation zealot.
Unlike in some industries, in which regulation largely just counts as a cost, in the capital markets, robust regulation represents an essential bene- fit. Markets rely on investors’ confidence to operate, and that confidence must be grounded in fairness, good governance and effective oversight.
When confidence disappears, as it did during the global financial crisis, markets can’t function and business rapidly evaporates.
Strong regulation is essential — not just for markets, but also for the industry to perform. During Jensen’s time as head of the OSC, revenue,
OTTAWA
profits and employment in the Canadian investment industry all headed higher, as did the financial markets. Indeed, an investor-friendly OSC has proved to be in the overall industry’s long-term interest.
Ontario’s provincial government likes to cast itself as an enemy of red tape. But that government should avoid the temptation to dismantle the foundation of Canada’s markets. Trying to score ideological points by installing a party loyalist to carelessly pull apart investor protection would be a monumental mistake by the government.
There’s plenty of scope for streamlining rules and improving oper- ational efficiency. But the OSC has taken the right approach to this in its burden-reduction efforts — cutting costs, but only on the condition that investor protection is preserved.
That philosophy should continue under the new head of the OSC: cut the fat, but not the muscle that enables markets to function and the investment industry to flourish.
Improving regulatory efficiency without sacrificing investor protec- tion benefits investors and the industry alike.
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A pivotal year in politics
Liberals and Conservatives came out of the 2019 election knowing they face widespread discontent
BY GORD MCINTOSH
the 2019 federal election now
seems like distant history — the political landscape has changed that much.
Liberals and Conservatives came out of the Oct. 21 election knowing there is wide- spread voter discontent with both parties.
It’s human nature to hope for a messiah to show up and save ailing political parties and sports franchises. (Anybody remem- ber Michael Ignatieff or Mike Babcock?) But the Conservatives need more than a new leader. In fact, their next policy convention in November may be more important.
The Conservatives have a political brand problem. It’s become a common refrain among pollsters that the Tories are widely seen as yesterday’s party, filled with social conservatives and skeptics of climate change.
There is good reason for that. A Leger poll in early January found that 82% of committed Conservative voters want a focus on maintaining balanced budgets and 63% want their new leader to aim to reduce immigration to Canada.
Meantime, the Liberals under Justin Trudeau have now won two elections advocating the opposite on both fronts.
For example, as the wildfires in Australia continued to burn throughout January, they are now to most Canadians what a climate apocalypse would look like.
This is no time for a political party
to shirk a comprehensive climate crisis policy. If the Conservatives don’t have one by the next election campaign, they really will need a messiah.
Whoever takes over Conservative leadership would be doing the party a huge favour by taking its ownership back from social conservatives and vested interests and returning it to its members.
With the Conservatives not getting a new leader until the end of June, the party will be in maintenance mode until next autumn, giving the Liberals loads of time to repair their brand. They are not squan- dering it.
Post-election, a chastened Justin Trudeau announced a small tax cut, mak- ing a bloated deficit old news during the Christmas doldrums; shared his plans to alleviate Western voters’ alienation; and released detailed ministerial man- date letters. Things have been so busy on Planet Liberal, they haven’t gotten around to doing an election post-mortem caucus meeting, as the other parties have.
The throne speech and mandate let- ters to ministers made it clear that climate change will be this government’s defin- ing priority. When Finance Minister Bill
Morneau announced a series of budget consultation meetings in January, climate change was Topic No. 1.
Just about everything in the man- date letters seemed aimed at millennials and newer members of the middle class. Regulating tech, cheaper wireless services, greater rights for internet users, the green economy, innovation — the mandate let- ters cover every hot-button issue for voters coming of age in the 21st century.
But the mandate letters also contain an important clue that this government will be different from the one that stood for re-election in 2019. Ministers were told they will be reporting directly to Chrystia Freeland, deputy prime minister and the new “minister of everything.”
This strategy shows Trudeau has learned to keep closer tabs on his ministers after Jody Wilson-Raybould almost blew up his government last February in the SNC- Lavalin Group Inc. scandal.
The second Trudeau government is going to be a much tighter ship, led by a
different style of leader — literally. When Trudeau resurfaced after Christmas, he was sporting a beard, mak- ing him look more stately and less surfer
dude. The rebranding is in full swing.
One problem, though. Trudeau’s agenda,
as in his first term, is being interrupted by
events beyond his control. How he deals
with Donald Trump, and Iran shooting
When Trudeau resurfaced, he was sporting a beard, making him look more stately and less surfer dude
down an airliner with 57 Canadians on
board, will be Trudeau’s major challenges. So far, he has handled it well. Having grown up at 24 Sussex Dr., Trudeau prob- ably is mindful of what happened to for- mer U.S. president Jimmy Carter after Iran
took U.S. embassy staff hostage in 1979. This year will be dangerous for any prime minister, particularly one leading a minority government. IE
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