Federal business panel urges Ottawa to focus support on high-growth firms
OTTAWA — A government-struck panel of industry experts is urging the Trudeau Liberals to create an Own the Podium-style program to help promising companies one day compete internationally — and to end support to those who might only garner participation ribbons.
Own the Podium is a federally funded program that supports elite Canadian athletes and is best known for preparing Team Canada ahead of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, during which Canada took home a record medal haul.
Companies that participated in a series of what the Liberals call “economic strategy tables” recommended the creation of a similar approach for businesses. They said in the report released Tuesday that the federal government “can no longer sprinkle fairy dust and hope our entrepreneurs will succeed.”
The report suggests that the government funnel money to firms with the most growth potential so they can scale up operations, while also allowing lower-performing firms to die because it would “free up tax dollars.”