New Department Represents Significant Change, Responds to Needs of Business, Op-ed

NOTE: The following is an op-ed piece from Business Minister Mark Furey.

Doing more of the same will only produce the same results. We have heard this repeatedly -- from Ray Ivany, from Laurel Broten, from other business leaders, and most importantly, from Nova Scotians.

Based on Nova Scotia's poor economy over the last 20 years, it should now be clear that we cannot afford to continue doing more of the same. We must do things differently, and not by half measures or degrees.

Major changes, bold changes, to the way we do things are needed if we are to turn this ship around.

The One Nova Scotia Commission said government should provide leadership and a clear vision behind which the entire province could pursue extraordinary measures.

To support that work, the commission said significant changes might be needed to how government is structured and operates. It said there was significant value in reorganizing business related policy within a new department and that programs do not need expansion, but rather better coordination and accessibility.

This week, government made one of those transformative changes to the way we support economic development in this province. We didn't do it for the sake of change, or for the appearance of progress. We did it because we want a different future for our province.

I am pleased to be taking the reins of the new Department of Business. It was created with one clear objective: to make Nova Scotia the most competitive and business friendly environment for economic growth in Canada.

We need our businesses to constantly be in pursuit of economic growth, and collectively, we need to drastically improve our performance when it comes to productivity, trade and innovation.

Government can't do this alone. That is true. But it is our job to clear the way for the private sector to pursue growth, and to maintain a policy and regulatory environment that supports and attracts business. It's our job to remove obstacles, not create unnecessary red tape and disincentives that deter new entrepreneurs.

Instead, we need to enable business expansion in key sectors and foster entrepreneurship and innovation. We need to create policies that help increase exports and trade, and improve access to venture capital. And we need to develop fair, efficient, effective and predictable regulations on which decisions to invest can be made.

That is the mandate of the Department of Business. All government departments and agencies will follow its leadership.