Enthusiastically embrace unexpected opportunity or watch world pass by

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This article was published 04/04/2025 (416 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It is someone no less brilliant than Albert Einstein who is credited with saying: “In the midst of every crisis lies an opportunity.”

In the weeks leading up to U.S. President Donald Trump’s ridiculously entitled “Liberation Day” there were intense declarations across Canada detailing the things the country needed to do better if it is to go forward with America no longer behaving like a reliable trade partner.

It’s as if the entire country is seizing the opportunity the current crisis is presenting.

Regardless of the incentive, it’s likely a worthwhile exercise that Canada is now engaged in. However, for it to be more than rhetoric, it will need to be sustained for many years.

In the early days of planning to address the new world trade order, Canadians might be well-served by identifying which economic opportunities can most readily be capitalized on.

On Friday, Food and Beverage Canada came out with an extensive list of actions it thinks the country can take advantage of, making the point food and beverage processing may well be what the nation does best.

Noting the size of the sector — employing more than 320,000 Canadians across 8,000-plus companies — director Michael Mikulak (also Food and Beverage Manitoba’s executive director) said it’s much larger than the auto sector and despite that industry’s strategic value, its concentrated almost exclusively in Southern Ontario, whereas food processors of varying sizes exist in just about every community.

In the first few days of the 2025 federal election campaign, the Liberal party came out with a plan for a $2-billion strategic response fund for the auto sector.

A couple of days ago, the party released its plan to protect and strengthen Canada’s food sector with a new $200-million Domestic Food Processing Fund.

It’s fair comment from the Food and Beverage Canada in saying if the food processing industry is multiple times larger than the auto sector, it is deserving of more substantial support.

“Our message to all federal parties is simple: you cannot designate food and beverage manufacturing as a part of Canada’s critical infrastructure and then fail to invest in it,” CEO Kristina Farrell said.

Manitoba is well-versed in the narrative about the wealth-creating prospects of processing more of the food that’s produced here, rather than exporting the raw commodities and importing the finished product.

Not surprisingly at the top of the list of the things Food and Beverage Canada is seeking is the creation of a dedicated manufacturing modernization fund.

There is wisdom on the face of it — the fact Canada exports so much unprocessed commodities often has something to do with a lack of access to capital at home.

Obviously, the federal government does not have unlimited funds at its disposal, but the industry is right to make sure its position in the economy is properly understood.

Then there is the underlying importance of the sector when it comes to the well-being of the country.

“Food and beverage manufacturing is more than an economic contributor — it is a core strategic asset, essential to our national food security,” said Farrell.

In addition to cash, Food and Beverage Canada is also looking for regulatory relief, workforce development, strengthening of logistics infrastructure and supply chains, regulatory relief and tax incentives.

Most of those items will ultimately carry hefty price tags a traditional Canadian government would be reluctant to commit to. But one of Food and Beverage Canada’s asks that may not break the bank is for Ottawa to become much more aggressive at promoting Canadian-made food products.

Even if Canada effectively dodged the highest-calibre U.S. tariff bullets — autos, steel and aluminum notwithstanding — the need to diversify the country’s export customers has become acute.

“The world is looking for reliable trade partners. The U.S. is not a reliable trade partner, so let’s step into that void. We already have a reputation for having some of the safest, most sustainable, cleanest food in the world. Let’s lean into that. Let’s build up that capacity,” Mikulak said.

It doesn’t have to be all about sheer capital investment. There is a broad-based call across all industries to ease the regulatory burden.

That is something all governments across the country should enthusiastically get behind.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca