Ottawa, March 13, 2010
2010-020

Archived - Minister of Finance to Promote Canada’s Competitive Edge to Investors in US, UK and Ireland

Related Document:

• Minister of Finance to Visit New York and London

The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, will highlight how Canada is leading the way in the global economy during visits to New York, London and Dublin next week.

In a series of speeches and face-to-face meetings with business and political leaders, Minister Flaherty will spotlight Canada’s growing competitive advantages: the world’s soundest financial system, the effective and temporary stimulus provided by Canada’s Economic Action Plan, an increasingly attractive tax system, and the distinction of becoming the first G20 country to allow manufacturers to operate free of tariff costs. He will also outline Canada’s priorities as President and host of the G8 in Canada’s Muskoka region and host of the Toronto G20 leaders summits in June, and the leading role Canada has played in the global response to the economic crisis.

“Canada’s success in coping with an unprecedented international economic crisis—and emerging even stronger in spite of it—deserves to be told,” said Minister Flaherty. “On so many fronts, our country is sending a clear and compelling message to the world: Canada is open for business.”

Minister Flaherty will travel to New York to address the Canadian Association of New York on Monday, March 15, and lead roundtables on the state of global financial markets and Canada-US trade and investment. The Minister will travel to London the following day, where he will address the Canada-United Kingdom Chamber of Commerce and meet with Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne. In Dublin, the Minister will speak to the Ireland Canada Business Association and meet with representatives of the Irish Government’s National Asset Management Agency.

Throughout his visit, Minister Flaherty will emphasize the recent budget and Canada’s Economic Action Plan, and highlight Canada’s ongoing achievements:

• Canada was the last G7 nation to enter recession, and the decline in real gross domestic product (GDP) was virtually the smallest of all G7 countries. Over 2009, Canada has had the strongest rebound in domestic demand.
• Canada has by far the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7, with a projected increase of less than 6 percentage points between 2007 and 2014, compared to increases of between 24 and 63 percentage points for other G7 countries.
• As a result of federal and provincial tax changes, in 2010 Canada will have an overall tax rate on new business investment that is the lowest in the G7 and below the average of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and by 2012 Canada will have the lowest statutory corporate income tax rate in the G7.
• Canada’s financial system has again been deemed the world’s soundest by the World Economic Forum and Moody’s Investors Service, the world’s best prepared by the economics editor of the BBC, and a global role model by U.S. President Barack Obama, Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman.

Further details on the Minister’s trip can be found in the attached advisory.

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For further information, media may contact:

Annette Robertson
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Finance
613-996-7861

Jack Aubry
Media Relations
Department of Finance
613-996-8080

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