Commitment Group wants to ensure northern firms get energy boom contracts

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Despite efforts to include businesses across New Brunswick in the mega projects slated for the southern part of the province, the leader of a francophone economic organization says more can be done to ensure northern companies land the lucrative spin off contracts.

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Noel Chenier/Telegraph-Journal

Louis-Philippe Gauthier, left, chairman, and Anne Hebert, executive director, at the Conseil économique du Nouveau-Brunswick. The organization would like to see a comprehensive provincial strategy for funding, infrastructure and planning for areas outside the Moncton-Fredericton-Saint John triangle.

Louis-Philippe Gauthier, chairman at the Conseil économique du Nouveau-Brunswick, says he's encouraged by the commitment from government and major firms, but would like to see a binding commitment from project leaders to ensure contracts stay within the province.

"At the end of the day there must be mechanisms in place that make sure (that provincial businesses get the contracts)," Gauthier said.

"If our government is putting money into this, then we should make sure the benefits come back to the people that live here."

Several major projects are already underway in southern New Brunswick, including a liquefied natural gas facility and accompanying pipeline in Saint John, a new potash mine in Sussex, and the refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear generating station. A second oil refinery and nuclear unit at Lepreau are also a possibility.

Those familiar with the developments acknowledge that some leakage - the flow of money and contracts to out-of-province businesses - is inevitable.

But Gauthier wants the provincial government to look at ways of "pushing it a little bit further" without falling into the "trappings of protectionism."

Gauthier wouldn't specify what such a mechanism would look like, but said he hoped the provincial government was exploring all possible avenues towards this end.

Previously, economic development specialists have said an in-province contract quota would prop up companies to a level beyond their means, hurting the long-term economic prospects of the province.

Andrew Holland, a spokesman for Business New Brunswick, says the department was committed to ensuring growth was province-wide, and that its existing programs - as part of the government's self-sufficiency plan - would also help local businesses land the sought-after contracts related to the energy boom.

The Benefits Blueprint report, issued in April, suggested several areas should be addressed to bring growth to the whole province: improve the supply-chain connection between companies organizing the projects and those seeking contracts; boost productivity and efficiency of provincial businesses so they can make competitive bids; and expand the workforce to ensure existing staff is well-trained.

Gauthier said he was encouraged by the work already underway by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the Enterprise Network and the Business New Brunswick, but said he would like to see a comprehensive provincial strategy for funding, infrastructure and planning for areas outside the Moncton-Fredericton-Saint John triangle.

ACOA is acting as a bridge between the large companies launching the projects, such as Irving Oil and Saskatchewan-based Potash Corp, and businesses looking to land contracts.

The federal agency hopes the improvements made while securing work on these projects will make them more competitive on bids around the world, Ann Kenney, a spokeswoman for the organization, said in an email.

Companies hoping to land contracts for these projects have to meet quality standards, access to capital, and enough properly trained staff.

Dave Hardy, the Toronto-based consultant who headed up the Benefits Blueprint study, says New Brunswick firms begin with certain competitive advantages over other bidders, including low transportation costs, familiarity with the province, and what he calls a "high-quality labour force."

Still, while Gauthier acknowledges the importance of the government's plan for broad-based growth, he worries some of the smaller businesses will be left behind. "We have to think self-sufficiency big, but we have to keep the small players in play," said Gauthier.

"We have to make sure that everybody's aware."