Address by International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland at the Toronto Global Forum

September 12, 2016 – Toronto, Ontario

Check against delivery. This speech has been translated in accordance with the official languages policy and edited for posting and distribution in accordance with the Government of Canada’s communications policy.

I want to start by acknowledging that we’re on the traditional lands of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation. They were here first and I’m grateful to them, as I think we should all be, that we can be here. Good morning and welcome. I’m thrilled to help kick off the 10^th edition of this Forum. I want to thank the International Economic Forum of the Americas for bringing the world to Toronto once again this year, and inviting me to be the opening speaker today.

The themes that I’m going to touch on we’ve already heard people alluding to. I think we’ve heard Jerry talk about Brexit, talk about a rather interesting election campaign that’s happening south of the border. We heard the same themes from Mayor Tory, and I think that’s right because we’re living, I would say, not only in uncertain times, but in worrying and dangerous times.

I think that this today is the most protectionist environment we have experienced in my lifetime, and I would even say since the Second World War. These are really serious trends. We’re seeing them very much picked up in an important election not too far from where we are, but we’re seeing them also very much in Europe. We’ve had the Brexit vote. There is a big election coming up in Austria where these themes are really significant.

We’re already seeing in the lead up to the French and German elections some of these issues really, really gathering steam. It’s certainly about protectionism, but there’s also often a lot of anti-immigrant, xenophobic sentiment stirred in there. I would say more broadly it’s about a really powerful backlash against globalization more generally that is sort of looking around for what is the culprit to blame.

My first point to make to everyone here is it’s incredibly important for us not to be in denial about the power of these sentiments which are sweeping the western industrialized world. This is real. Those of you who are older may remember there used to be a very, in the sort of 60s and 70s, a very popular Marxist notion of false consciousness. The idea was, if only the workers would be right thinking, they would understand who they needed to support.

I sometimes think in environments like this, in groups like this, we can fall into our own version of false consciousness and think, if only we explain to people better how good the open society was, how good trade is, how bad protectionism is, everything would be okay and they would lose their false consciousness and support all these great things that we all support.

I think that’s a dangerous way of thinking, and I think we really need to look a little bit deeper than that and understand that this powerful wave of populist anti-globalization is based in some very real concrete things a lot of people in western industrialized countries are experiencing. 

The reality is the past three decades, a time of a tremendously powerful technology revolution, a time when globalization has been very successful, have also been a time when the middle class across the western industrialized world has felt and has been right to feel it’s been falling behind.

I think that core sentiment, that core reality of stagnating incomes, of a sense that jobs are becoming less secure, that opportunities are not there, particularly for one’s children, is one of the core drivers of this powerful backlash against globalization. Although I’m the Trade Minister and I will talk about trade in a minute, I think a big part of our response to these sentiments has to be rooted in domestic policies. 

Only if you have a secure and confident middle class at home that feels confident about its economic prospects and the economic prospects for our children, only then can you have a country that embraces the open society, that embraces the world. That’s why for our government a first priority as soon as we took office was exactly about shoring up the Canadian middle class.

It’s why we cut taxes for the middle class. It’s why we created the Canada Child Benefit and targeted it at those at the bottom and in the middle who needed it the most. It’s why we extended pension benefits and it’s why, yes, we raised taxes on the 1%. I mention that part particularly because this set of economic policies, and we heard John Tory talk about redistribution, this set of economic policies is not always a set of policies that the kind of leaders of business gathered in rooms like this always champion.

Those kinds of policies are essential for everyone and to create a country, to reinforce a country that is able to remain an open society and able to remain really, really open to globalization. You know what? So far we’re doing pretty well at that in Canada.

I came back a couple of days ago from the G20. Canada really felt like an island of sanity I’m always so happy to come home from these long trips, but in some ways I feel even prouder of Canada when I’m traveling. I think that we, in our traditionally modest way, maybe don’t fully appreciate how exceptional Canada is, particularly now.

But at a moment when so many countries are being deeply buffeted by these xenophobic sentiments, these protectionist sentiments, Canada really is one of the most powerful voices in the world for the open society. We remain a country that more than ever before is open to immigrants and immigration. 

We really do believe that our diversity is our strength. For guests to this great city, you should know that 50% of the population of Toronto is born outside Canada. Think about that for a minute, 50% of this great city, and we know that it makes our city even greater.

At a time when the Syrian refugee crisis is truly a crisis, Canada has stepped up. We sent planes to bring refugees to our country, and we’ve already far exceeded the 25,000 refugees we promised to welcome this year. I always astonish my fellow Trade Ministers when we talk about this, and particularly for the Europeans it’s a key issue. 

I say to them that as a constituency MP, so in my local job, the single biggest question I get during my office hours, the single biggest criticism, is from Canadian groups in my riding who complain they don’t have their refugees yet because as Canadians in the room will know, we have private sponsorship of refugees. My riding has been very enthusiastic about privately sponsoring refugees.

I had a lot of complaints that the refugees were not arriving quickly enough. I have to tell you, when I share that story with my colleagues, fellow Trade Ministers around the world, maybe in particular in Europe, they literally can’t believe it. I’ve started actually bringing complaining letters from my constituents to show them. It’s really a remarkable thing that we have that support. I think it’s a huge competitive advantage for Canada going forward.

I also think for us a huge competitive advantage that we can gain from being an effective open society, a society with a confident middle class that embraces opportunities in the world, is at a time when so much of the world is saying no to trade and saying no to the global economy, Canada is in a position to say yes. I really believe we are working hard for it to be a historic year. We’re working hard for it to be the year when CETA, the Canada EU Trade Accord, is signed.

We’re working toward signing in October and ratification early next year. When you think about this protectionist environment in the world we’ve been talking about, if we can get CETA done, that will be incredibly valuable for Canada, a huge competitive advantage, and also it will be a very powerful message to the world. CETA was discussed very much in those terms at the G20. 

There was a lot of conversation about it and really a sense that this deal can and will be a hugely important signal for the whole world that we can move ahead. What’s it going to take? I think it’s going to take two things. The first is, as I said right at the beginning, it’s very important not to be in denial about the criticisms of globalization.

One of the most important things our government did right after taking office was to listen to the critics of CETA, both in Canada and in Europe, and to understand some of the concerns, some of the legitimate  concerns people had particularly about areas like the investment chapter. 

We made some significant changes because we want this deal. I believe it is now the most progressive trade agreement ever created, an agreement where labour and environmental standards really are at the centre of it. I think if we want to move forward with trade, we have to take on those issues and find ways of addressing them. I think we can do that. 

The second thing we need to get through, to sort of get through that last mile, is I need everyone here – I’ve talked to a lot of Europeans and a lot of Canadian business leaders who are very active in Europe. Now is the time to really step up.

This is a historic agreement for Canada and Europe. It’s coming at an essential time for the global economy, and so for everyone here who is engaged, I know it’s been a long time, but I really need you all to step up and to really knock it out of the park over the next few weeks.

I had a whole bunch of German trade unionists for a barbecue in my house on Thursday night, the day after I got back from China, and I’m spending all week in Europe next week. I can assure you I am definitely doing my bit, as is the Prime Minister, but this is really a moment when we can do something which is big and important and creates jobs and opportunities for Canadians and Europeans, and also crucially goes beyond – we’re going to have great conversations today.

I am confident about how important the global economy is and openness and keeping the trade lines open. This is a chance for us to really do something. Please help me. Let’s get that deal done. Thank you all very much and I wish you all a great conference. Thank you.