From the editor: From reaction to action

As summer comes to an end, days are becoming shorter and blissfully cooler, vacations are wrapping up and students and teachers are heading back to school.

I find it helpful at the end of each quarter to look back and analyze my writing, particularly the day-to-day news, and see what the trend of the season was. From the beginning of June to the end of August I wrote more than 80 news stories for Manufacturing AUTOMATION, and the topic that stood out to me was clear: the federal and provincial governments.

Whether it was the ongoing trade negotiations at the federal level, including the recent removal of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods covered by the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement, the government of Ontario providing funding to multiple communities through the Skills Development Fund Training Stream and investing in the new Protect Ontario Workers Employment Response Centres or premiers from across the country signing agreements to unlock free trade between the provinces, there has been a steady stream of news stemming from both branches of government.

I took some time to read each story, not only to assess my coverage, but to come to a determination of what each piece of news means when viewed as a collective rather than a one-off. I landed on this realization: the first three quarters of 2025 have been characterized by reactive decision making.

When U.S. President Donald Trump began the trade war in February 2025 by signing the initial tariff orders, we as a country had to scramble. We imposed retaliatory tariffs, removed U.S. alcohol from our shelves and even saw Premier Ford threaten to cut off electricity from the United States. We were constantly responding. That trend has continued into the summer with the previously highlighted funding opportunities and new agreements. These were and remain necessary evils as the manufacturing industry and the country as a whole continues to suffer the effects of tariffs.

But the trade war rages on, and my hope for the first budget tabled by the federal government is a shift in approach — a change from reaction to action.

The signs are there. Canada is building deeper ties with Germany and the EU at large, we have resumed free trade agreement negotiations with a number of South American countries and with multiple Indo-Pacific partners. But the focus on the manufacturing industry, which accounts for approximately 28 per cent of our GDP, needs to be more concrete.

In this issue I wrote about one area I would like to see change, outlining the importance of a dedicated federal robotics strategy to the manufacturing sector. This style of top-down leadership will build trust with business owners and give them the support they need to integrate new technology.

Being proactive and leading from the front is essential to increase the robustness of the manufacturing industry. Between trade wars, labour shortages, the productivity gap and unseen disruptions, like a global pandemic, Canada and the manufacturing industry have been forced to play catch up for too long. Change is required. Let’s see if the government is ready to not just catch the ball, but run with it.