dstein

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i’ve seen from inside government how challenging it can be to move from intention to progress our latest @build_canada memo, signed by 40+ of canada's leading entrepreneurs, is a call to push beyond that discomfort, move fast, and focus on delivery

one more thought, in the spirit of pushing us to be bold. if the government is actually serious about grocery prices, the hard call is dairy and eggs. supply management there amounts to state-backed price setting. roughly 10–15% of grocery spend goes to dairy and eggs, more for lower-income households. fix that and you lower prices. keep avoiding it and grocery costs stay politically managed, not market-based.

@dstein and I were asked by the Canadian government to testify on the health of the startup ecosystem in Canada. Last week we showed up to share our views. This quote sums up our message well: "Just imagine if the vast majority of comp sci graduates from @Harvard and @MIT moved to Canada to start their companies. The US gov't would be doing everything in their power to reverse the trend" @RaquelDancho @leadersfund

Potential is here. Let's look aggressively to harness it!

🚨 GC STRATEGIES AUDITOR GENERAL REPORT OUT TODAY $64.5M in federal IT contracts went to a company that doesn’t do any IT work. GCStrategies was a middleman—subcontracting all the actual work. And 46% of the time, the gov’t couldn’t prove the work was even done.

Post election, while politicians are focused on "elbows up," Canadian tech needs to stay "heads down" to outperform in 2025. Thoughts on key focus areas: linkedin.com/feed/update/ur…

After 20+ years co-founding and backing 20+ tech startups, I'm launching "Tales from the trenches," a column about company building. We'll cover recent issues within our portfolio, the solution, and results realized. Minimum jargon, maximum reality. Launches Thurs. #Startups

The group Canadians for Free Enterprise have decided to release a series of statements in the next few days on why they are endorsing @PierrePoilievre for Prime Minister. They’ve asked me to share them. In this fifth and final piece, energy executives Adam Waterous and Sue Riddell Rose explain what Canada must do to develop its natural resources.

Liberals promise $130B in new spending and no timeline to balance the budget nationalpost.com/news/canada/ma…

Many Canadians don't realize their favorite media outlets receive significant government funding from the very politicians they're supposed to hold accountable. When one candidate wants to cut this funding and support free speech, while the other wants to increase it and regulate what can be said, how can we expect truly impartial coverage? Something to consider when consuming news.

Canada should reward immigrants' success and contributions to the country, not just evaluate their qualifications prior to arrival. Canada has long prided ourselves on our approach to immigration, but troubling trends have emerged. Immigrants are feeling increasingly disenfranchised – only 46% of permanent residents choose to become citizens, down 40% in two decades. More concerning still is the "leaky bucket". 1 in 5 immigrants eventually leave Canada, with over 1/3 do so in the first five years of arriving. When immigrants leave quickly after arrival, they become a net drain on society. They consume settlement resources, healthcare and education, without giving back long-term to our economy and communities. There's a large population of Canadian expats – around 600k – who fall in this bucket. At the same time, public support for immigration has collapsed. For decades, 60-80% of Canadians agreed that immigration was a positive contribution to society. Now, 58% say Canada accepts "too many" immigrants, 57% believe that immigrants are not accepting Canadian values, and 35% believe that immigration increases the level of crime. Yet, committed immigrants who put down roots in Canada show remarkably positive outcomes. They drive entrepreneurship, are more likely to volunteer, and are even more likely to donate to charity. We must reverse recent trends. People must feel like we are integrating and setting up immigrants for success, or they will stop supporting bringing more people to the country. With so many people wanting to immigrate to Canada, we have the ability to accept only those who want to contribute to the Canadian economy and society. Rather than the current system that only evaluates qualifications prior to arrival, let's change to the system to also consider activities after an immigrant has arrived. All immigrants will receive a two-year temporary visa with work authorization, regardless of the stream they came in (economic, family reunification, asylum, student, etc.) Immigrants can earn points for paying taxes, working, starting a business, completing degrees, enrolling their children in school, volunteering, or completing civics courses. Immigrants will lose points for failing to pay taxes, relying on social services, or committing crimes. A minimum number of points is needed to qualify for permanent residency and citizenship. A full breakdown of the proposed points system can be read in the memo below:

The group Canadians for Free Enterprise have decided to release a series of statements in the next few days on why they are endorsing @PierrePoilievre for Prime Minister. They’ve asked me to share them. In this first piece, Kim Shannon and Prem Watsa share their views.

Great to hear leadership candidate @PierrePoilievre in a longer format conversation. Waiting for other leaders to accept and come on so Canadians can compare their policies and goals in more detail.

Excellent public debt calculator from the Parliamentary Budget Officer 👉 pbo-dpb.ca/en/research--r…

#BREAKING: Toronto city councillors voted Thursday night to give themselves a 24 per cent pay raise. toronto.citynews.ca/2025/03/27/tor…

What a great idea for Canadians!

Comparing GDP/capita growth across OECD countries over the past decade (plus selected aggregates like EU/G7/etc). #cdnecon