The third bi-annual Canadian Labour and Business Centre Leadership Survey of 4,442 private sector business leaders, public sector management, and private and public sector labour leaders was conducted between March and April 2000, and achieved a response rate of 18 percent. As in earlier surveys, this year’s survey gathered respondents’ views on (i) the seriousness of major economic and public policy issues facing the country, and on (ii) the public policy solutions which should receive more emphasis if these issues are to be addressed.
The survey provided not only a snapshot of constituency leaders’ perceptions in 2000, but also insights into how these perceptions have changed since the first Leadership Survey in 1996. The responses to these questions on Serious Issues and Potential Solutions are summarized here.
1. Top Priority Issues Continue to be Very Different
There continues to be a significant contrast between the top priority issues of management and labour. Both private and public sector labour respondents cite Reduced Social Spending, Lack of Jobs, Unemployment Rate, and Environmental Degradation among their top concerns. None of these issues ranks among those of most concern to management. In fact, all four issues are among those ranked lowest by management. In contrast, High Taxes was the single most significant issue for private sector managers, and International Competitiveness issues for public sector managers. Concerns about Government Deficits/Debt, Brain Drain, and Shortage of Skilled Labour constituted a second group of management issues.
2. Moderating Concern Over Broad Political and Macroeconomic Issues
Except for the issues of High Taxes and Interest Rates, respondents regarded most overall political and macroeconomic issues with noticeably less concern in 2000 than in 1996. In some cases, particularly Uncertainties Regarding National Unity and Concern Over Lack of Jobs, the decline in concern among all constituencies over this four-year period was marked. Three constituencies viewed High Taxes as a somewhat more serious problem in 2000 than in earlier years, although management’s concerns over this issue remained much higher than those of labour. Labour respondents maintained earlier years’ moderate concerns over High Interest Rates, while management respondents’ concerns over this issue, very low in 1998, rose noticeably in 2000.
3. Convergence in Attitudes to Skill Shortage Issues
Skill Shortages continued to be a concern for the management respondents, and a source of increasing concern for labour. Private sector labour and management respondents, in fact, showed virtually identical levels of concern over this issue. This increased concern occurred against a backdrop of reduced concerns over many other economic and labour market-related issues.
As with their responses regarding the issues facing Canada, respondents from the four constituencies differed in terms of the priority they attached to various solutions.
The overall analysis points to the following broad conclusions:
1. Private Sector Business is Unique in its Top Policy Prescriptions
Private sector business respondents, alone among the four constituent groups, called for much less government involvement in their affairs. This was reflected in their top three potential solutions – Lower Taxes, Reduced Government Spending, and Reduced Government Regulation. In contrast, the three other constituencies agreed on two of their top three priorities – Improving Education and Improving Workplace Training. As a third priority, public sector managers chose Increasing R&D, while labour in both the public and private sectors pointed to the need to Strengthen Social Security.
The four constituencies shared a common second-tier set of priorities, which included Increased Investment in Innovation, and Increased R&D.
At the other extreme, all four constituent groups placed the need to Increase Immigration at the very bottom of their lists of solutions. This implies, for most constituencies, a ‘made in Canada’ solution to the important issue of skill shortages.
2. Management and Labour Differ on Strengthening Social Security and Reducing Work Time
Labour and management respondents held significantly differing views on the need to Strengthen Social Security or Reduce Work Time. For private and public sector labour respondents, Strengthening Social Security ranked among the foremost priorities, while for management respondents it ranked among the lowest priorities. Similarly, Reduced Work Time had the support of about 40% of labour respondents but only 10% of management representatives in the survey.
3. Management and Labour Maintain Past Years’ Emphasis on Fiscal and Labour Market Measures
Comparing 2000 to 1998, all labour and management constituencies maintained or in some cases increased the priorities they attached to fiscal measures such as Lower Interest Rates, Reduced Government Spending, and Lower Taxes. On the question of Lower Interest Rates, the interest of private sector management rose sharply, approaching levels of priority expressed by labour.
Similarly, most management and labour constituencies maintained the priorities attached to Improving Education, Improving Workplace Training, or Improving Labour/Management Relations. Again, private sector management differed from the other constituencies by placing noticeably less priority on Improving Education and Workplace Training in 2000 than in 1998.
