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Government Amid calls for an overhaul at Business New Brunswick, new minister says he's listening. But will Victor Boudreau bring real change

A handful of the province's top leaders say Business New Brunswick needs an overhaul and newly-minted minister Victor Boudreau says he's ready to listen.

Days into his new post, the Shediac-Cap-Pelé MLA told the Telegraph-Journal he wants to sit down with "key stakeholders" in the coming weeks to see how the department can be improved.

"I've already put calls out to members of the business community," he said from his new office on the fifth floor of the Centennial Building. "I'm certainly open to suggestions and ideas as to how we can improve things."

Boudreau admitted the department needs to streamline some of its processes in order to respond more quickly to businesses, something Denis Losier agrees with.

"Access to capital has to be sped up," said Losier, chairman of the New Brunswick Business Council.

Losier, also the chief executive of Assumption Life in Moncton, said Business New Brunswick needs to examine economic development models used in other jurisdictions such as Nova Scotia, Maine and Quebec.

"We need to look at other models and what works elsewhere in terms of business development," he said. "We need to find creative solutions to our business problems."

Donald Savoie said the department's new minister signals an opportunity for change.

"I think the status quo has run its course," said Savoie, the Canada research chairman in public administration and governance at l'Université de Moncton. "If a year from now Business New Brunswick functions and operates as it does today it will be a missed opportunity."

Although Savoie said Boudreau should use the coming weeks to "take stock" of the department and not rush into anything, he added that Business New Brunswick needs to become much more aggressive.

"There has to be a more entrepreneurial culture," he said. "He needs to light a fuse in that department."

Savoie said there are economic development models "floating around" that are less bureaucratic and operate with incentives, like Nova Scotia Business Inc.

"They are rewarded for what they accomplish," he said.

Savoie said under normal conditions he would advise against the loan guarantees being handed out to companies - such as the $50 million loan guarantee for Miramichi construction giant Atcon Holdings Inc.

"The Graham government provided quite a rich loan guarantee," he said. "But it's not the only government in the Western world that went down that road. I would advise against it in normal times but we're not living in normal times."

Louis-Philippe Gauthier, president of the Conseil économique du Nouveau-Brunswick Iinc., said many members of the province's francophone economic council are having difficulty accessing credit.

"In some regions 40 per cent of our businesses can't access credit," he said. "That's almost one in every two businesses."

Gauthier said the government needs to fast-track applications.

"I understand they are doing their due diligence but it's taking too long to evaluate the files," he said. "It has to be done on business time and not on government time.

"Having a structure that is at arms length from government is one concept that has worked in other areas," Gauthier said. "It would be a unique point of access for businesses and would improve the quality of services."

David Plante, vice-president of the New Brunswick division of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, said given the economic storm Business New Brunswick is "largely in a reactionary mode."

"In the near term they'll be dealing with issues of access and cost of credit," he said. "The jury is still out as to whether the economy is turning around."

But over the longer term, Plante said Business New Brunswick could benefit from a restructuring to better serve business.

"I've heard that 80 per cent of time the department is busy just putting out fires," he said. "There needs to be more time spent on business attraction and expansion."

David Whitton, president of Custom Electronics Integrators in Dieppe, said his company's experience working with Business New Brunswick has been positive.

"They've partnered with us and helped us grow from a small company in a garage to landing competitive contracts," he said. "They've got top of the line executives who come in and understand what our business needs to succeed."

Whitton said that changes within the department, such as the retirement of deputy minister Brian Dick, could be an opportunity to tweak the department.

"Brian Dick was pretty aggressive saying we don't need change and everything is fine," Whitton said. "I don't agree with that. There is always room for improvement and change. I think the department could use an increase in its budget and exposure."

Many of the province's top leaders agreed Business New Brunswick should look at other models of economic development - including Nova Scotia Business Inc., the province's business development agency, which is led by a private-sector board of directors.

But Elizabeth Beale, president and CEO of the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council, said there is an absence of quantitative measures to accurately compare the economic development models.

"Lots of people have opinions on these matters but right now we lack a rigorous and independent way of measuring the different approaches to economic development," she said. "It's also possible that certain industrial incentives are better suited for some areas."

In addition, Beale said the issue of attracting investment and supporting business is couched in broader issues such as location, transportation, income tax rates and energy costs.

Although there are advantages to the Nova Scotia Business Inc. model - like having an independent board of directors - Beale said there are also advantages to being strategically coordinated within government.

"Building a business-friendly climate includes having the trained workforce - and that takes coordination with the Department of Training and Labour," she said. "So there are benefits to being at arms length from government but there is a broader set of issues that needs to be addressed in determining what model works well."