Boom, bust or opportunity? N.L. employers' council looks for ideas at annual conference
Business leaders from Newfoundland and Labrador are getting ready to meet just after a change of government in Ottawa and days before a possible change provincially.
"It's about understanding how those changes impact business, and looking for opportunities," said Richard Alexander, executive director of the Newfoundand and Labrador Employers' Council.
The group's annual conference, set to begin Nov. 26 in St. John's, is called Boom, Bust or Business as Usual?
"In terms of where the province is today, nobody foresaw the drop in the price of oil to be so dramatic as what it is, today going down to $30 to $40," said Alexander.
"The thing that we're going to talk about at our conference Thursday is where does that put our province fiscally?"
They're all great initiatives, but they all hinge on the financial health of our province- Richard Alexander
Alexander said whichever party forms the provincial government on Nov. 30 will have a few tough years ahead financially.
"All those promises that they're making in the election, everything from prisons to new hospitals to mental health initiatives, they're all great initiatives, but they all hinge on the financial health of our province, " he told the St. John's Morning Show.
"We want to be careful we don't scale back deficits too quickly," Alexander said.
"But I think there's probably more politics going on than actual economics."
The employers' council believes there is room to reduce government spending, and to get to a surplus position within two or three years.
'Outside our borders'
As for businesses, Alexander said there's no doubt they have scaled back, but there is room for growth.
"Given the small domestic environment we work in, businesses in Newfoundland and Labrador have to start thinking outside our borders."
Alexander talked about Technip, an international company which is re-directing business to its St. John's base.
"That's something other companies can learn from, for sure."
The keynote speaker at the conference will be journalist Andrew Coyne, a columnist with the National Post and a member of the At Issue panel on CBC's The National.
Coyne is expected to talk about the impact of a Trudeau government.
"He's talking about infrastructure announcements, a carbon tax, these types of things," said Alexander.
"Andrew Coyne is never afraid to speak his mind, and that's what we want."