Trudeau touts Canada’s diversity and resourcefulness in Davos
Klaus Schwab, the bespectacled 78-year-old German economist who presides over the World Economic Forum, has decreed that this year’s gathering is to dwell on the notion of a “fourth industrial revolution” — his attempt to summarize the technological innovations changing the way the world works.
On Wednesday afternoon, he took to the forum’s main stage and invited the audience to gaze upon the future. “I couldn’t imagine anybody who could represent more the world which will come out of this fourth industrial revolution,” he said.
He was referring to the Canadian prime minister, seated to his left in a white chair. In Schwab’s view, the new world — a “young world,” a “digital world” — will be typified by diversity and plurality, significant investments in infrastructure and a fostering of entrepreneurial spirit. “Who could represent such a world better than you, prime minister?” Schwab asked of Justin Trudeau.
This was heady stuff. But then Davos is rather far above sea level.
annual meeting of the World Economic Forum
January 20, 2016
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016.(AP Photo/Michel Euler)
DAVOS, Switzerland — A new prime minister and a new Canada.
That’s the message Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered when he made his entrance at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum as part of his goal to rebrand Canada on the world stage.
Trudeau sought to use his keynote address today entitled “The Canadian Opportunity” — delivered hours after a session called “Canada’s global pivot” — to differentiate himself from former prime minister Stephen Harper, who often used the meeting to tout Canada as a resource powerhouse.
Trudeau said Canada’s natural resources remain an important part of the economy — even as a slide in oil prices delivers an economic punch to resource-rich provinces like Alberta.
But he said the country’s growth doesn’t depend on what lies underground.
“My predecessor wanted you to know Canada for its resources. I want you to know Canadians for our resourcefulness,” he said.
Trudeau pointed to the success of University of Waterloo graduates in Silicon Valley and the school’s eclectic student population, calling diversity “the engine of invention.”
And he framed Canada as a safe place to invest amid global economic uncertainty.
“We have a diverse and creative population, outstanding education and healthcare systems, and advanced infrastructure. We have social stability, financial stability and a government willing to invest in the future,” he said.
The Canadian economy could use the global help.
When he took office, Trudeau’s advisers told him that global trends — social and economic — would affect the domestic economy despite Canada’s solid policy foundation and a well-educated population. His briefing binder says those international trends “could be occurring at a faster pace and on a larger scale compared to previous eras.”
Those trends included more disruptive technologies, the declining financial influence of the West, aging populations in Canada and other countries that will put pressure on health care and government spending.
Even the rise of the “sharing economy” has placed “increasing pressure on traditional policy tools like regulations,” the briefing notes warn.
Copies of the documents were obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.
That disruption is part of the theme of this year’s meeting in Davos: “Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” which is focused on how technology is changing the way companies and businesses operate.
Trudeau told the forum that governments needed to spend, rather than pursue austerity measures.
“The fourth industrial revolution will not be successful unless it creates real opportunity for the billions who weren’t able to join us here this week,” Trudeau said in his speech that included references to the middle class.
Sitting across the table, Trudeau said he was attending a heap of meetings himself to “try and connect with as many different people as possible and talk about some of the challenges, but also some of the great opportunities in Canada.”