On Wednesday, Opposition Leader Rona Ambrose came by Communitech to tour the ecosystem, get a taste of what Waterloo Region tech companies are making, and ask entrepreneurs about the business challenges they face. We caught up with Ambrose to ask what she'd learned, and get her thoughts on the best path forward for Canadian tech entrepreneurs and the government that supports them.
Opposition Leader Rona Ambrose, Kitchener-Conestoga MP Harold Albrecht,
and Communitech CEO Iain Klugman share a laugh in Communitech’s
West Wing (Communitech Photo: Phil Froklage).
Q: What are your impressions of what you've seen here today?
This is a fantastic example of what can happen when you set the stage for risk takers to be able to succeed. That's what the young people here at Communitech are doing. These are people who are willing to take a risk. They have good ideas, and this is an environment where they can thrive and prosper.
One of the reasons I'm here today is that I'm very concerned about Prime Minister Trudeau's idea of taxing stock options in startups. That will really hinder the opportunity of startups to attract capital and talent. There's a concern about "brain drain" happening, losing this young talent out of Waterloo to places like Silicon Valley. So we're really pushing the Liberal government to back off on this idea of taxing stock options.
We want to encourage this kind of environment. We want people who are willing to take a risk to be able to prosper and thrive and succeed.
Communitech CEO Iain Klugman tours Opposition Leader Rona Ambrose
and Kitchener-Conestoga MP Harold Albrecht through Communitech’s
Enterprise Partner Space (Communitech Photo: Phil Froklage).
Q: What are the key issues that have come up as you've spoken with tech entrepreneurs?
Two things: the issue of taxing stock options – because there's already a lot of taxation burden that exists – but there's also the low dollar. A lot of young people are attracted to the larger salaries paid in U.S. dollars in the United States. So we need to keep these smart people here, and even bring some of the Canadians that are already down there back home to work in Canada.
There's a huge shortage of labour here. This is a sector where there are actually jobs available, so we need to do everything we can to keep people here and bring them home. That means not taxing them to death. So we're really pushing to make sure the Liberal government does not move ahead with taxing stock options.
I think we also have to talk to the issue of labour shortages. We don't have enough Canadians to fill the need in these jobs, so let's look at bringing talent in from other parts of the world, and making that easier. We want to create an environment where the whole region can succeed; if that means bringing talented people in from other parts of the globe then that benefits the region and it benefits the country. In the meantime, we're talking about new jobs and revenue; exactly what we want to see for our economy.
Opposition Leader Rona Ambrose takes in the Velocity Garage as
Velocity Director Mike Kirkup describes Velocity’s magic formula to
Kitchener-Conestoga MP Harold Albrecht (Communitech Photo: Phil Froklage).
Q: When it comes to innovation policy, what should Canada focus on?
Canada should focus on our strengths. We don't want to focus on everything because that leads to mediocrity. We're good at certain things. In the tech world we're good at sensors, we're good at satellite technology, we're good at a number of other areas; a lot of them are high-skill, high-value job creation opportunities.
So let's focus on what we're good at and invest our money there. That's what Communitech does. They pick the top 50 companies and invest 80 per cent of their money in those, so they can generate the most success and opportunity. It's a good model.
Opposition Leader Rona Ambrose, Communitech CEO Iain Klugman,
and Kitchener-Conestoga MP Harold Albrecht leave the
Velocity Garage (Communitech Photo: Phil Froklage).
Q: What's the most surprising thing you've seen at Communitech?
The level of collaboration. On every floor of this building you see everyone working together, chatting with one another. You'll see a large company like TD, who is a massive employer, working alongside a brand new startup that hasn't even made a sale yet. That is really important.
All you have to do is look at company like IBM, who became really big and... sort of stale. What a great benefit for a big company, like TD or Canadian Tire, to be on site here to disrupt their own technology and ideas with new innovation that young people are bringing to the game. It's a great model.
