Last summer I wrote about how the future is local – about how important it is to take the time to think about the world around us and the part we play in it – the need to support our local business operators who are suffering and who are so important to our communities.

More recently I got thinking about how this applies to the broader landscape of Canadian business and the critical contribution we make as business leaders to the health and well-being of our Canadian economy and all Canadians.

Our company is fortunate to be in an industry that is deemed essential and has been allowed to continue to operate during a global pandemic – building, repairing, and maintaining the Canadian roads, bridges, sewers, watermains, communications networks, pipelines, hospitals and schools that our country depends on and are necessary for the health and growth of our nation.

Cooper Equipment Rentals competes for business with many companies that are not Canadian owned and operated and it is awesome that we have an open market economy and a level playing field. This is part of what makes Canada a great country in which to live and work. As Canadians we are free to make informed choices about where we do business and why. I believe we have a responsibility to consider who benefits from our choices. This is a serious moral and economic responsibility. As Canadian consumers of goods and services who have a choice between non-Canadian suppliers and Canadian suppliers, if at all practical we should choose the Canadian supplier.

Canadian companies participate fully in the Canadian economy. They share a set of values that are uniquely Canadian and they serve not only their Canadian shareholders, but also their Canadian employees, supply chain partners, investors, debt holders, and the broader population through their Canadian taxes paid to Canadian governments.

Business leaders in Canada have to make important decisions every day. Let’s take the time to consider all the information available to us in those decisions and make the choice that benefits not just us, but all Canadians.

Doug Dougherty
CEO