NEW REPORT: The New Challenges conference

• Date: April 11, 2022, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
• For more information:

REPORT POSTED BELOW

Watch the webinars from our April conference

Pearson Centre Annual Conference

The New Challenges (for the Canada we want)

11 Webinars: April 12-29, 2022

Co-Chairs:

Frank Baylis, Executive Chairman, Baylis Medical Company, Inc; Former MP

Dave Bulmer, President, and CEO, AMAPCEO Ontario’s professional employees

Indira Naidoo-Harris, Associate VP, University of Guelph for Diversity & Human Rights; 

Former Ontario MPP and Minister; Advisory Board, Pearson Centre

 

Tuesday, April 12

Time	Topic	Speakers	Moderator
12 noon -12:45	Discussion on his new book: The Next Age of Uncertainty.	Stephen Poloz, Special Advisor, Osler; Former Governor of the Bank of Canada. Member of the Lawrence Centre Advisory Council, and director at Enbridge.	Sandra Pupatello, Past Chair Pearson Centre, President Canadian International Avenues Ltd.	https://youtu.be/r3n5V3HL9pM

 

Tuesday, April 12

Time	Topic	Speaker	Moderators
4:00 – 5pm	What is the World coming to?	Hon. Lloyd Axworthy, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs; President, World Refugee Council; Founding member, Pearson Centre.	Indira Naidoo-Harris,  Frank Baylis, Dave Bulmer	https://youtu.be/V0naDTwuf-A

 

Date April 13

Time	Topic	Speakers	Moderator
7:00 – 8:00 pm	A Better Parliamentary Precinct.	Yasir Naqvi, MP, former attorney general of Ontario.	Andrew Cardozo, President Pearson Centre	https://youtu.be/ol9kNrN40e0
		Zexi Li, Citizen, 2022 mayor’s city builder award recipient.
		Catherine McKenney, Ottawa City Councillor for Somerset Ward.

 

April 19

Time	Topic	Speakers	Moderator
12 – 1:00 pm	Just Transition: What’s involved?	Senator Hassan Yussuff, past President of the Canadian Labour Congress; President of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas.	Andrew Cardozo, President Pearson Centre	https://youtu.be/JMf2wxQODfE
		Lionel Railton, Director Intl. Union of Operating Engineers Chair, Canadian Apprenticeship Forum.
		Kim Rudd, former MP, educator, founding E.D. Association of Private Colleges; Vice-President of the Ontario Association of Career Colleges. Consultant, Canadian Nuclear Association.

April 20

Time	Topic	Speakers	Moderator
12 – 1:00 pm	Where is the Conservative Parry headed?  Leadership race and other dynamics.	Tasha Kheiriddin, public affairs consultant and political commentator. Principal at Navigator, Vice President of the Canadian Centre for the Purpose of the Corporation. Co-chair of the Jean Charest Campaign.	Dave Bulmer, President, CEO of AMAPCEO the 2nd largest professional employee’s union in Ontario.	https://youtu.be/I9SxeKqdP4o
		Hon. Monte Solberg, former MP, Principal at New West Public Affairs, owner of the right-wing news aggregate website: News Hub Nation.

 

April 22 

Time	Topic	Speakers	Moderator
12 – 1:00 pm	#Pearson125: The Pearson Legacy, then, now and next..	Hon. Landon Pearson, former Canadian Senator, and a children’s rights advocate.	Frank Baylis, Executive Chairman, Baylis Medical Company, Inc; Former MP.	https://youtu.be/U2p120nCq34
		Hon. Bob Rae, Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations. Diplomat, lawyer, negotiator, public speaker, and former politician.

April 26

Time	Topic	Speakers	Moderator
12 – 1:00 pm	Pharmacare at last!	Don Davies, NDP MP, Spokesperson on Health; human rights advocate. Lawyer and former director of Legal Services for Teamsters Canada (Local 31).	Indira Naidoo-Harris, Associate VP, University of Guelph for Diversity & Human Rights;  Former Ontario MPP and Minister.	https://youtu.be/wteDftK63mY
		Linda Silas, President of the 200,000-strong Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) since 2003.
		Dr. Brendan Henley, Liberal MP, Member of the House of Commons Health Committee. Yukon’s Chief Medical Officer of Health in 2008 -2022
		Steven Staples, National Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Canadian Health Coalition.

 

April 27

Time	Topic	Speakers	Moderator
12 – 1:00 pm	Democracy in danger: Polarization, social media common purpose.	Hon. Eleni Bakopanos former MP, privy council member and public policy advisor. Past Chair, and board member Equal Voice; founding member and Co-chair of the Quebec chapter of Equal Voice/A Voix Egales.	Frank Baylis, Executive Chairman, Baylis Medical Company, Inc; Former MP.	https://youtu.be/ESGMrZel7Bs
		Guy Caron, Mayor of Rimouski; Former NDP MP and federal house leader.
		David Coletto, founding partner and CEO of Abacus Data.

 

April 28

Time	Topic	Speakers	Moderator
12 – 1:00 pm	A conversation with the Honorable  Margaret McCain	Hon. Margaret McCain, Canadian philanthropist. First woman to serve as the Lieutenant governor of New Brunswick. Founder of the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation that promotes early childhood education opportunities for all of Canada’s children. Also founding member of the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Foundation in New Brunswick.	Indira Naidoo-Harris, Associate VP, University of Guelph for Diversity & Human Rights.  Former Ontario MPP and Minister.	https://youtu.be/dq_hoOM5qcs

April 28

Time	Topic	Speakers	Moderator
4:00 – 5:00 pm	A conversation with the Honorable  Seamus O’Regan	Hon. Seamus O’Regan, MP of St. John’s South – Mount Pearl, appointed to Cabinet as the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence. Currently Minister of Labour.	Indira Naidoo-Harris, Associate VP, University of Guelph for Diversity & Human Rights;  Former Ontario MPP and Minister.	https://youtu.be/rUvJcYC86c8

 

April 29

Time	Topic	Speakers	Moderator
12 – 1:00 pm	New Sectors for tomorrow’s economy.	Brian Gallant, CEO of Space Canada. 33rd premier of New Brunswick. Founding CEO and now Expert Panel member of the Canadian centre for the purpose of the Corporation. Special Advisor to the President of Ryerson university on Innovation, Cybersecurity and Law; Entrepreneur in Residence: DMZ incubator; Advisory Board, Pearson Centre	Ruby Sahota, MP Brampton North. Serving as Deputy Whip, Board member of Internal Economy and Procedure and House Affairs Committee, which she previously Chaired.	https://youtu.be/adCdL67v38U
		Prof. Barbara J. Orser, Deloitte Professor in the Management of Growth Enterprises.  Her research teaching and advocacy focus on entrepreneurship and women’s economic empowerment.
		Pat Dalzell, Head of Corporate Affair at Bruce Power. Promoting areas of energy innovation and the use of nuclear isotopes in the fight against cancer.

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CONFERENCE REPORT
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Pearson Centre Conference: The New Challenges (for the Canada we want)

Webinar: What is the World Coming to? A conversation with the
Honorable Lloyd Axworthy, April 12, 2022

Key Takeaways:
• We are really in a conundrum as to where we go from here. What we thought was a sort of pathway with which we thought we could manage the global system, no longer exists. Putin has thrown a kind of stink bomb right into the middle of it.

• We also must look at a new toolbox to make sure that there is a response to these kinds of egregious invasions, atrocities, violations and basically international criminal activity.

• We are beginning to have right now this incredible perfect storm: a toxic cocktail of climate change, corona virus, conflict and corruption. The four big Cs are beginning to merge and we’re not sure how the old manuals and lessons apply since conditions have changed.

• I think we are increasingly shaving away the elements that make democracy work. Political parties are now just election machines.

• To me one of the key threats to our system is the over centralization of what’s going on.

• There is an interesting correlation between what we have to do with the climate crisis and what we have to do about dictatorships and that is reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.

• The counterbalance to polarization is diversity, equity and inclusion.

Special Guest
The Hon. Lloyd Axworthy, Canadian politician, elder statesman and academic. Served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien

Co-Chairs
Frank Baylis, Executive Chairman, Baylis Medical Company, Inc; Former MP, deeply committed to better politics in Ottawa. Recognized as an innovative and very successful businessman in the medical profession in Quebec.
Dave Bulmer, President and CEO, AMAPCEO Ontario’s professional employees. He heads a union of 15,000 professional executives.
Indira Naidoo-Harris, Associate VP, University of Guelph for Diversity & Human Rights, former
Ontario MPP, Minister and broadcaster.
Host
Andrew Cardozo, President, Pearson Centre

This is the opening session for the Pearson Centre Conference: The New Challenges (for the Canada we want). Following brief opening thoughts from our co-chairs they will engage with the Honourable Lloyd Axworthy who has devoted his life’s work to academia, politics and civil society. He is one of the most consequential foreign ministers in Canadian history. And one of Canada’s leading voices on global and migration protection. To discuss our topic with him are three amazing Canadians who are our co-chairs.

Tell us about one of the sessions you are hosting for our conference and your thoughts about the “New Challenges” Canada is facing?

Indira: I am very pleased to be here for this opening session. In the coming weeks I will be hosting a session with the honourable Margaret McCain. Taking a close look at initiatives and the impact they will have on the daily lives of Canadians in our future. She has been involved with early childhood education and childcare for years and in our session, we are going to look at what’s been done, the foundation that’s being laid for childcare in our country and ask, “Is it enough?” What role and responsibilities do the provinces have to play? Who pays? What will childcare look like in the future, post pandemic, with hybrid, remote and online work.

As for this conference, the New Challenges facing Canadians; it’s been an extraordinary two years navigating the pandemic and serious inequities in our society. I’m interested looking at what the new challenges are and how we’re going to meet them as a country. Specifically for equity seeking groups and what we are we doing to establish that solid foundation for all Canadians to be successful.

Dave Blumer: I appreciate the opportunity to speak with the honourable Lloyd Axworthy. I am hosting a session pondering the future of conservatism. As someone who represents civil servants, what a great opportunity to speak to a minister like Minister Axworthy. I am hoping to ask him some questions about his experience (history tends to repeat itself) and some of his impressions about things that have happened in Ontario of late, as well as the pandemic.

Frank Baylis: Exciting to be here with these esteemed panelists. I know we all think we live in challenging times as this pandemic is really something unique and brought to the forefront some of the cracks in our system and some of the opportunities. To look at them under this series of talks is excellent. Now to have Mr. Axworthy here, I am very excited about that as I am co-hosting a panel on the challenges facing democracies. Democracies are in danger, and I believe that we’re living in precarious times for democracies. Obviously not just in Ukraine but around the world. I’ve seen this flow towards autocracy and it has me extremely concerned. I firmly believe that democracies, where many people are participating, where many voices are present give the best solutions. So, I am looking forward to hearing the honourable Llyod Axworthy on these challenges facing democracies.

What are your thoughts on the Russian invasion of Ukraine? And as a former minister of foreign affairs what are your impressions of NATO’s and Canada’s response? Where have we succeeded, where have we failed? What more can be done?

Before answering this tough question, let me indulge in a moment of nostalgia, going back over ten years when I think back to Andrew Cardozo first talking to me about setting up a progressive policy think tank. You mention the threat to democracy, one way to offset that threat is to get dialogue and discussion out in the public and that is something the Pearson centre does very well, and I stand in great admiration of this work.

Ukraine: let me start with a visceral reaction: last week we were all horrified by atrocities in Bucha in Ukraine. Total and complete barbarism of the Russian army and clearly with the indulgence of the Russian president. What was the Western response? A lot of outrage and good rhetoric; but in concrete terms the response was we’re going to apply more sanctions to Putin’s daughter and a few of his associates. Now that and about $3 will get you a ride on a bus in Ottawa. There’s no appropriate correlation between the degree of extremity that we witnessed and the response from the West.

My point is let’s talk about this sanctions obsession we have right now. We have portrayed this from the outset as the way in which this will alter, change, affect Putin’s decisions and Russia. It isn’t. Over time Russia will be affected: lack of investment, the lack of consumer goods but every time we say we’re going to put a new sanction on somebody’s daughter or some banker, close to a billion dollars transfers from Europe to Russia for paying for gas and oil exports. Their economy is not in trouble. The ruble is bouncing back. They have a current account surplus larger than they had before the war started and Putin as most dictators have, established the art of controlling his public, (see article by Ann Applebaum in The Atlantic about 6 months ago: “we’re now in an age where the notion that there can be domestic pressure to moderate the decisions of autocrats is gone. They just control too many of the levers: the secret service, the social media, the surveillance that goes on. They don’t care what their public thinks; first because they control it and secondly because it’s not going to threaten their domain.”)

So, my question is, when we’re talking about a forward look, we had a very quick start but now we’re into our second or third lap and we’re beginning to slow down, and everything goes back to questions of caution: Are we going to provoke Mr. Putin? Can we really afford not to have oil and gas as our primary energy source? We ‘re not thinking about how we can replace fossil fuels.

The Germans made a horrible mistake: they decided to put their entire energy dependence on Russia, not diversified or balanced out, (only 20% in nuclear). Basically, Putin has a stranglehold and it’s not the only European country; the Brits, the Italians…they’re all faced with that same kind of Hobson’s choice. Anything they do that Putin is going to get mad about, they’re concerned, their supplies will be cut and that there will be a domestic uproar because people are not going to be prepared to face the risk of higher inflation and higher gas prices. We’re falling back on our heels. We’re not prepared to be a little more assertive.

One further comment: I went back to read seminal article, Article X, written in 1948 in Foreign Affairs magazine by the Father of Containment, George F. Kennan. What was his basic view about the Soviet Union? “Containment means that you don’t simply sit behind a wall. Make sure that every move is countered with a counter move.” In other words, we’re not doing that right now. The only people that are doing that effectively right now are the Ukrainians: the Ukrainian army and the Ukrainian people. Of course, we’re helping we ‘re sending various forms of weaponry and things but it’s certainly not enough to stop the incredible bloodthirsty destruction of a country right in front of our eyes.

We need to have a much stronger sense of how we deal with the so-called sovereignty of countries to commit massacre when they want, to their own people or to their next-door neighbour.

With the pandemic, what are your impressions of the federal and provincial responses at a higher or granular level?
We are totally working with an unmarked map. Navigation signals are not very clear. Governments have tried to respond but it’s been a little bit of hit and miss partly because of the federal system. There is no signature, it is a patchwork, no uniformity in treatments, no sense of how we work together. It’s always been our issue in a federal system: how do we manage that kind of coordination. And I think that’s really where sessions like these come in: what the Pearson Centre is trying to do is generate some new thinking.

Now that I have this small platform, let me say this: I’m quite dismayed about how governments (provincial, federal, and other governments) are basically abandoning public health principles and practices. This whole idea about:” You figure out what you’re going to do about Covid and in the meantime we’re going to really pull back and rescind any information that will help you make those decisions.” The entire public health system is basically put into abeyance. Government is more engaged in spending money but less engaged in providing effective public policy. It’s not how much you spend it’s how you spend it, what you do with it.

Our multilateral institutions are being put to the test – United Nations, NATO, WHO,
UNHCR, even the EU – what are we learning?
We’ve allowed them to become arthritic over the years and there’s just not been a lot of investment or energy. Let’s talk about the UN: e.g., landmines treaties, responsibility to protect
all based on the ideas that the international community could set some basic standards by which behaviour and actions by governments and by individuals in government could be held accountable. The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established in the ‘90’s on the grounds that military, political, people making decisions where aggressive, or violations of civilians had to be held accountable and punished.

We let that lay. Canada was a very major player in the installation of the ICC. We haven’t paid much attention to it recently; it drives me crazy listening to American television to hear U.S. saying on TV we must do something about war crimes, but they refused to join ICC and refusing to share intelligence and investigations of war crimes with the ICC. We have big powers (China, Russia, and the US) that refused to invest in these institutions. The right wing in the US saying we don’t want some court going after one of our sergeants in Korea.

One thing that could help is that Canada shoud organize a coalition of countries, bring an indictment to the ICC indicting Putin as a war criminal. And let him live with that and let the Russians explain that. It could mean you’re no longer sitting in the Security Council, and you’ve lost your right to sit in the U.N. and you’re no longer a member of the Arctic Council. You are a pariah because when you become a war criminal you are a pariah. The tool house that we spent a lot of years building, the tools are not being used. Here’s a generation of policy makers saying oh we must do something different and what are we doing we’re falling back on the most ineffective tool; we’re falling back on sanctions.

This conflict is changing the geo-politics of the globe where Russia is forming new alliances with countries like China against the old system of the West. And Germany and Japan taking on new military roles. What should we be looking at in terms of the future and what are the geo-political impacts this could have world-wide?

You now have a coterie or thuggery of governments in the world who have made a very clear decision that they think the efforts of post-World War II to set up some form of international system that will hold people accountable, to set certain norms, standards and rules of behaviour to hold people accountable no longer apply to them. That they are above the law. And we have enabled a lot of that. The EU is based on the basic notion that trade and economic integration would provide for peace and goodwill. In the meantime, along comes Mr. Orban in Hungary who thumbs his nose daily, is supporting Putin, who says he does not play by the rules. The basic standard of human rights set out by the EU: the rights of women, LGBTQ, rights of dissent he basically ignores. And the EU is still paying him, stop it! cut him off. Use a little muscle on these dictators and stop giving them a free ride.

The wave of refugees is creating all kinds of strain on neighbouring countries, and we are headed toward a humanitarian crisis what needs to happen now to minimize this?
I chair the World Refugee Migration Council, which is a group of about 30-40 people from around the world who have come together to provide useful, practical answers on displacement, migration, and refugee issues. We are working very actively on a girl group providing a digital connection for women and girls in refugee camps, so they have a voice; we are working in central America to try to provide a set of new pathways for migration; we are working very actively on corruption issues. There are a lot of measures out there. One of our members, a senator has a bill in the senate which says it’s not enough to freeze assets but also to repurpose those assets for people who have been victimized by the oligarchs, so its legislation. And we are trying to get the Canadian government to buy into that and we also think it’s time for an anti-corruption coordinator internationally.

The UN and its leadership are failing miserably; the UN High Commissioner for Refugees came to Canada last week, to hold some meetings, has photo ops with the Prime Minister and ministers and bemoans that the number of displaced people is growing, and we are going to have a tsunami. But as I look at the fine print, what was the solution? What was he coming to Canada to propose? What we know is that the international refugee system as managed by the UN is about 30-40% funded based on the kind of needs, they are expressing. It holds pledging conferences where in the end only 40% of the funding is going to refugees. it is a failure of leadership that is going on right now, but there is no backup. Do something concrete something real, push so that the financing scheme works for people who are being displaced are going to be properly protected.

Now 25 years ago you become minister of foreign affairs can you tell us a little about something you didn’t expect that you encountered as you stepped into that role?

I was ready for that job, I had really been preparing myself from the time I was a graduate student at Princeton working in international affairs, through activism, civil rights marches, being a MLA, I had really been preparing myself when and how if I was given trust by the people to exercise power on their behalf. By the time Prime Minister Chrétien asked me to become foreign affairs minister, I was very immersed in what was happening across the world, in the way governments were abusing their power to basically massacre people around the world, the kind of genocides that were going on. You must have a core set of beliefs. In our current system we have increasingly a revolving door system we have had 5 foreign ministers since Justine Trudeau came to government. That means there is not a lot of continuity or ability to get steeped in the job and what it’s going to require. You must learn your craft and your trade, learn the values, have curiosity and be prepared.

I had 27 years in elected politics beginning at the provincial level, so I was able to develop a network of people who trusted each other which is a real strength. I had a think tank inside foreign affairs to reach out and have contact with civil society and experts to advise me.

The landmine treaty was one of Canada’s biggest accomplishments, it was a real partnership between public servants, civil society, the coalition on banning landmines, the landmine foundation and we had the prime minister and ministers who backed me up on these efforts. Prime Minister Chrétien jokingly said: “I am going to let you make some decisions, if what you are doing works then I will take credit, if it does not work then you are out of a job.” He was terrific to work with. The landmine treaty, the international accord, working on small arms, child soldiers, he backed me up on all of these. Angus Reid told me in 1997 that the number one value Canadians attributed to the government is what we were doing internationally, I am not sure you will find that today.

In terms of strengthening our democracy you mentioned that you came with a certain skill sets and the prime minister let you do your job. How does this compare to our political democracy today?
Political parties are not the place where people are given the opportunity to really engage in serious issues about their own concerns in the region. We won national campaigns based on the positives, it is a leadership issue. The reality is we have been basically enervating a lot of the local root involvement over time. National leaders here talk about a movement that’s not an engagement, that’s simply showing up to cheer and with the advent of social media that just becomes worse where you can have an Elon Musk with 88 million twitter users, he is clearly converting that into a power position. What used to provide guardrails like political parties, trade union, bowling clubs that used to act as a counterpoint are increasingly being sidelined in the making of decisions.

As I look around the world, I am worried, if we look at Putin and all his lies, we see what happens when one man has so much power. If you were back with all these democratic challenges, we are facing with dictatorships around the world can you tell us what you do?
We have horrible disparities economically and socially and that inequity is at the core base of these issues. Part of it is how do you begin to provide coherence in what you are doing? If we don’t stop our reliance on fossil fuels it will continue to support dictators in the Middle East, in Russia. Where do they get their money, it is all based in controlling those kinds of fundamental levers. The thing about a green economy is that it can be much more decentralized. If I put together threat to democracy, climate change, Covid and conflict, I think there are some common threads that can be pulled together and tied to together.

With regards to Ukraine do you feel we have done enough in terms of military support?
No, we haven’t done enough there is more that needs to be done. I would suggest sending some of those highly advance military vehicles to the Ukrainians. Why are we sitting back from that to me I don’t think western countries are putting their best foot forward. They don’t have to send just arms today I read that New Zealand is sending soldiers to Poland to help them deal with the refugee situation; to provide field hospitals, administration, to provide security in the camps. Canada has DART a fully mobile hospital sitting somewhere which could be used in Poland as an enormous contribution.

Closing comments from all panelists on polarization in Canada
Indira: Polarization it is something frankly that really worries and scares me; I am looking at its rise around the world. My own personal story is I was born in South Africa under apartheid and that’s an example of polarization and ultimately democracy suffers. Democracy is built on the notion that we all come together and take care of each other. And I think it is one of the biggest threats to civil society and I am very concerned about it taking hold in Canada and changing our national character.

Dave: I wonder why we have to dehumanize each other? there was a time when we were accountable to one another. But now with social media there is an anonymity, bots being deployed to amplify messaging and ultimately its hatred. It is a real threat to civil society and democracy, the advent of fake news. I don’t know if there is a way to govern that but that must be a way to demand some level of accountability from each other.

Frank: No question that we are living in a time of extreme polarization we see it even in our political class. We have 2 movements going on here; one to polarize us and the other one is saying we are going to treat each other equally and we going to be inclusive of diversity.
I look to younger people who are more urban, inclusive, more in tune and they don’t want negativity or intolerance and I am optimistic that they have a strong movement to counter it which I am betting on.

Lloyd: Certainly, I agree with what’s been said and I will add 2 points here starting with social media. If you try to express a thought, it’s impossible so there is no ability to have a real dialogue on it. Robert Wright, former US sectary of state for labour has written an excellent article on Elon Musk’s take-over of Twitter, basically saying that it is billionaires that will run our world by simply buying and control ling social media.

The other point is that we must be much more careful about of our own democracy. We have a system in which it is very difficult to have minority voices heard; we must be very careful about our electoral system, who gets to vote-what role money plays in it and careful to restore a kind of integrity to our political parties. Studies have shown that a lot of the fanaticism on social media originates in Canada. We have a lot of right-wing, nasty, antisemitic characters out there and you saw them at the recent convoy in Ottawa. But we are different from the US, we don’t have a similar history with slavery, so culturally we are different, and we are trying to address long-standing indigenous issues, so we have big differences between us.

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Webinar April 12, 2022; A conversation with Stephen Poloz:
What is the world coming to?

Participants:
Guest: Stephen Poloz, Canadian economist and former ninth Governor of the Bank of Canada. His new book is: The Next Age of Uncertainty: How the World Can Adapt to a Riskier Future
Moderator: Sandra Pupatello, past chair of the Pearson Centre, Former Minister of Economic Development in Ontario, and President · Canadian International Avenues Ltd.

Key Takeaways:
▪ Any catalysts can bring big irruptions in the financial markets and reveals how fundamentally unprepared we are for unusual events and risk outcomes. In general, the lesson is we need to be better prepared.
▪ The war in Ukraine is one such profound experience and a new point of departure for all fiscal analysis.
▪ The current budget exceeded expectations while there is a large deficit which brings inflationary pressures, there are strong programs and supply side policies that will help increase productivity to offset some of this.
▪ What people need to understand is that we can get to green while still investing in conventional energy.
▪ Climate change is one of the 5 big forces that I identify as in motion and the transition to net zero by 2050 is a huge shift and a major source of uncertainty.
▪ People will have to build bigger buffers to deal with the next age of uncertainty.
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Why did you hope to achieve with this book, given what is happening in the world today?
I needed something to do during COVID, to be honest, but I always had it on my mind, especially the issues of short termism and corporate governance. I thought perhaps as an economist I could bring a longer-term framework into those conversations. I realized a lot of the things that I thought were constant are not constant, they are in motion and today it is moving so fast, such as population aging. Next thing I knew, I was in the middle of these moving tectonic forces and thinking through what happens when they are all moving together.

Inflation is what we are all talking about now, if you had to add a chapter to your book would it be about the war in Ukraine and what its impact is on each of the 9 elements you describe?
The way I really think about it-the core point of my book is that none of this is predictable. Unusual events like black swans that become our new references points, they are not predictable by businesses. We learn that our hospitals are run well except when there is a major event like Covid. Turns out we have no buffer; in fact we have nothing close to a buffer given we had to shut down all surgeries during the Pandemic.

You did talk about black swans in your book, they are not supposed to be predicable but how many black swans do we need to get through because disruptions are now the norm?
The distinction between a black swan and something that should be anticipated is very fine. What matters is to think of the bell curve distribution of how things happen, we generally think mostly about the middle and discuss one or two outlier scenarios to understand how the business is prepared for unusual events and then routinely go back to the middle and that is bell curve thinking. However, in terms of risk we shouldn’t think in those terms but instead think of a square box of probabilities and to have your buffers ready in case some bad luck comes along. What we find when we have these events is are we ready now for another bout of volatility? How well are we prepared for similar events that could happen and are we thinking long-term?

There were a lot of expectations of this recent budget that was tabled, and my questions is should our grandchildren be worried in terms of government expenditure?

I would say it exceeded my expectations. Revenues were far stronger, additions from new taxes that gave room for new initiatives. Given the collaboration between the NDP and the Liberals what we find is that roughly half of the room to maneuver was given to new initiatives and the other half was dedicated to causing the debt ratio to fall faster. Borrowing 20% of GDP to cover the Pandemic. So, contributing 5 points to reducing the deficit is huge. Then bringing it down annually by 1% almost to 40% and this does not take capture any new growth that comes from the new initiatives. For example, childcare which is guaranteed to boost the growth trendline will contribute to revenues. That baseline allows the government to rebuild and accelerate their fiscal buffers, but we are still far from the 30% debt to GDP ratio from before the Pandemic. Important programs like the Temporary Foreign Worker program, higher immigration, carbon capture tax credits will help offset some of this.

You talked about productivity and that we need to get wise and take advantage of changes in technologies?
We are in the early stages of the digitization of every aspect of the economy that spreads everywhere and spills over into artificial intelligence and biotechnology. My expectation is that change will accelerate productivity. New technology reduces costs and makes the environment competitive. Although there are a lot of barriers where uncertainty and red tape get in the way, such as: process over speed. We could focus our efforts on regulatory differences between provinces and iron out the issues.

Let’s talk about Leadership in a polarized climate and what leadership characteristics we need to navigate right now?

I am discouraged as the big driver is income disparity and we can observe that for 70% of the global population inequality in income has deteriorated over the past 10 years, not here in Canada by the way. That sense of being left out, and layer on social media which magnifies smaller groups to seem larger. So, I think things will get worse before they get better, polarization will also get worse. My conclusion is it will probably be companies that will address these things.

There are chapters in your book on climate change and energy transition, how hopeful are you about Canada achieving its targets on carbon emissions?

I believe that there is a level of confusion and uncertainty from government nudging or guidance that does not provide a clear road map. With that in mind it is really up to business in response to their stakeholders and consumers. Right now, 80% of our energy in the world comes from conventional methods and we expect an exponential growth at the global level of 50-60% of energy needs. This could be accommodated by totally green investment. We need to invest very heavily in carbon capture to get to net zero and the budget cleverly invests in this, and Canada has every capability to do so. Energy security counts for a lot, and we need to build extra capacity.

What is your prescription for the housing crisis and comment on household debt?

Why do prices go up, it sounds simple supply and demand, but the truth is the solution is to improve our supply decisions over time and stop speculation. What we need is a broader array of housing incentives to speed up supply. There is almost no innovation in the housing market.
In terms of debt, in a way innovations have allowed people to carry more debt, but that means more responsibility by both the borrowers and lenders to have a certain overview. But if you’re carrying a lot of debt, it makes you vulnerable in this age of uncertainty.

What are your views on Crypto currencies?
Digital currencies are going to happen, everyone is getting ready for it, when its ready the financial system will get it. These emerging new tech payment systems are creating new asset classes, like crypto and bitcoin. I like to think of them more as unusual asset classes rather than money this is an important distinction. It is very misleading line of argument to think that the Bank of Canada should not deliver bitcoin, flexible monetary policy is required to keep the market in equilibrium, prevent deflation and these asset classes need to be regulated, so people don’t get hurt.

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Webinar: A Better Parliamentary Precinct
April 13, 2022

Key Takeaways:
• In the short-term we need to make our parliamentary precinct more secure without compromising peoples access to their parliament and we want to animate the public space to prevent another lawless occupation like what we experienced recently; and enhance its’ people-friendliness.

• We saw this clearly during the occupation that there are two separate entities: the city of Ottawa downtown core and the parliament and these cleavages had a huge negative impact on the residents of Ottawa.

• There is a great opportunity for the front lawn of the parliament to tell the stories of turtle island, of the indigenous peoples and what they did on this land and of all the other diverse peoples of Canada.

• There are incredible opportunities to revitalizes the downtown core overall by rethinking our downtown, our transit loops, opening our streets to people, remove the highways out of the core, making it inviting as a walking district where people come to go to shops, restaurants and festivals.

• In the long-term reimaging Wellington Street so that it is a place where people will come out too. We need to look at the overall infrastructure and understand what is the quality-of-life attractors that revitalizes the core and brings residents and tourist back to the downtown.

Participants
Yasir Naqvi, MP for Ottawa Centre, since 2021
Zexi Li, Ottawa city builder and civic actor
Catherine McKenney, Ottawa City Councillor Somerset Ward
Moderator
Andrew Cardozo, President, Pearson Centre
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I will begin with an outline of the Pearson Centre Proposal for Wellington Street.
Why do we want to change what is Wellington Street currently? Here are some reasons as to why we should have a different approach:
• In a greener world the streets should be more green-friendly and have no traffic. A pedestrian-friendly plaza in front of our parliament buildings makes more sense than a busy road.
• In a social media world, we need better visuals so that visitors can communicate to the world about the place they are at.
• In a health-conscious world, we should make it more pedestrian and bicycle friendly.
• And with the new indigenous building It can also be a place for territorial and provincial symbols across the area.
• With the new renovations to Parliament hill the lawns may get lost to a building area that will encroach on the lawn space that is currently there. So, there will be less space for people to assemble.
• I think it is important to make the space in front of Parliament hill more friendly to facilitate places for people to gather, to protest or to celebrate hence make it also more business friendly in that downtown area to attract residents and visitors.

Questions
What would you like to see on Wellington Street in the long term and why?
As someone who lived through the occupation and everything that went on, we need to reclaim our city and stop offering excuses and make the effort to make the changes that the citizens are requesting to develop a better city.

From a broader perspective than just Wellington we have an opportunity to transform our downtown core, our commercial core to make it mix-use, bring in housing, retail, a place where people can walk, cycle, and gather, whether they are visitors or residents. Through the occupation what struck me is that we were dealing with two Ottawa’s, one that is the parliament precinct on Wellington and the other the residential neighbourhood that closely abuts Wellington. This fact may not be obvious to other people. We need to build one Ottawa. Also, our downtown is built of highways, we have several, but Wellington Street does not need to be another one. To bring the city and the capital together, where the residential neighbourhoods are integrated into the capital aspects of the city. We have such an opportunity to change for the better.

The Pandemic does offer us an incredible opportunity to reimagine downtown Ottawa. One result of the Pandemic is the hollowing out of the downtown core. The inner core is dead. We will never see the level of office space occupancy as we had prior to the Pandemic. Recognizing that new reality how do we convert those office spaces into residential spaces-mix use spaces. How do we create more affordable housing for young people to live in the downtown and so converting roads as infrastructure into people friendly infrastructure to reanimate the core?

The housing crisis means a lot of Ottawa citizens and the coming generations do not have access to housing. Building more homes in the downtown core is one solution, we need to look at mixed communities, but it is expensive to convert commercial buildings into affordable housing. We need to acquire more existing rental stock to provide affordable housing. We know that we are never going to catch up with the private market. We need a continuum of housing so that people can move out of community housing into the next step of low-price housing.

Also reimagine the use of the LRT, where you have a hybrid work environment where people are not coming into to the core as much for work, we need to bring people downtown for many other attractive reasons that they could enjoy.

In the long-term what should Wellington look like?
The beautiful thing about our democracy is that people have access to their parliament. To reimagine a welcoming and inviting space that is part of an active transportation corridor and can compete with other international cities.

Wellington should be a place where people will gather because it is inviting. With art installations, active spaces, a winterized carousal. There needs to be animation so what is the realm of possibility in the short-term and then beyond. Specific ideas that encourage tourists and draw people. For example, like really good food, rotating art installations, local craft. Having the transit loop that would bring people to Wellington Street. There is so much possibility once we actually do take steps to transform the street.

What are the process mechanisms to make this happen? Which governments?
What is the deciding mechanism that governs what happens to Wellington? It is a hybrid of different jurisdictions (City, NCC and Public Works) which makes it difficult to move things forward quickly, but we will work together to reopen Wellington Street. Accessibility access needs to be kept in mind; all abilities must be able to visit Parliament hill. Security is also an important consideration in managing this space.

What about the short term, this spring and summer?
We need to look at how we animate the space this summer, it is critical to harness this opportunity as soon as possible so that visitors feel comfortable coming back to Ottawa. Speaking with businesses right now they are concerned about the current security barriers that are in place to the main draw to visitors which is our Parliament. My shopping list is 50 benches, 50 red Adirondack chairs, 50 planters and 10 bike racks, a temporary carousal and picnic tables. Yes, we need to reanimate Wellington immediately and reopen soon with benches, pop-up gardens, washrooms, lighting etc.

The silver lining is we get a push for the opening of Wellington to be pedestrian friendly. Yes, there is so much we can do in the interim, there is the Art bank that has tons of art that could be brought out. Also, some years ago there was a Canada 150 word sign, that could potentially be brough out, people love having a telling backdrop to take photos from. There is an amazing opportunity to tell the story of this land, what happened when the Algonquins lived on this hill. It is also an opportunity to engage with the indigenous community to see what they would like to see on Wellington Street.

How do parliamentarians work safely on parliament hill?
There are issues of safety not just of parliamentarians but also for staff, so we have requested for a joint standing committee on the definition of the parliamentary precinct. To work on ensuring that safety and security is embedded. We can start by re-establishing the parliamentary precinct and integrating the downtown core and make it better and better throughout the rest of the downtown. One of the lessons of the Pandemic is the need for human contact and that what’s we need to do with our city– create the opportunity for the downtown to attract and bring people back together very safely.

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Webinar April 28, 2022: A conversation with Minister Seamus O’Regan

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Participants:
The Hon. Seamus O’ Regan, Minister of Labor
Moderator, Indira Naidoo-Harris, Associate VP, University of Guelph for Diversity & Human Rights, Former Ontario MPP and Minister
Host, Dave Blumer, President, and CEO of AMAPCEO the second largest professional employee’s union in Ontario.

Key Takeaways:
• Anything we are trying to address be it climate change, housing or the pandemic comes down to workers. This is the challenge for the country in the next twenty years. My biggest issue is that we need to have enough people to do the work.

• The just transition is a good opportunity for us to put our heads together for the country. We are looking at legislation to figure out the framework and set the parameters collaboratively on the energy transition in the country with a focus on cooperation.

• To get to a net-zero economy the workers are at the heart need of doing this, all their hard work and ingenuity are needed now to refocus on renewables for it to remain a competitive industry.

• You have ½ million Canadians miss work each week due to mental health issues. So, we are making mental health a component of workplace health and safety, and that’s a seismic shift.

Building a stronger future for all of us must include a discussion on the serious workforce difficulties we are going through because of the global Pandemic. How will the government build strong pathways for Canadian workers and what are your priorities as Minister of Labour for this year?
• We are staying focused on what we said we would do. And the good news is that there is a growing cross partisan appreciation of the need to look after workers; part of it accentuated by the labour shortages that we are going through right now.
• Interestingly we are coming out of this Pandemic with a 112% job recovery that’s extraordinary which speaks to the resiliency of Canadian workers, employers, and workplaces.
• We introduced 10 days of paid sick leave for federally regulated jurisdictions roughly 5% of businesses like travel, banking, telecommunications and got unanimous consent for this in the house of commons.
• Working on a just transition to ensure that the transition to a net-zero economy is done in a way that creates new opportunities for Canadian workers and their communities.
• Eliminating forced labour, eradicating forced labour in Canadian supply chains and ensuring that Canadian companies abroad are operating appropriately.
• We are completely embracing mental health as part of the Canada Labour code.
• And we are looking at how to look after gig workers to ensure they have the same rights and benefits as other workers.

Does the Liberal-NDP Agreement make your work a bit easier with a likely ally on the issues you have to address?
It makes things easier, gives us some stability, the world is throwing enough anxiety at us: the war, the pandemic, inflation. Wherever we can find some sort of certainty I am all for it. As a result, now we can take reasonable policy considerations. And come to an agreement on things we were already working on like anti-scab legislation, paid sick leave and dental care. When it comes to issues of supply and confidence, it allows us time to be thoughtful, to govern and get the work done for Canadians. Chronic partisanship is detrimental to getting the work done for our country.

Talking about anxiety, the uncertain times, unique challenges, inequities, workers talking about experiencing burnout, taking stress leave, what can you do as the Minister of Labour to help?
I was involved in the Bell Let’s Talk initiative to allow people to tell their stories, to support them and that work has carried over to my work here. We are considering that injuries associated to mental health be covered by occupational health and safety requirements just in the same way as physical injuries.

This is important to do from an economic point of view as well as we are losing 6 billion dollars every year in productivity. 1 in 3 workplace disability claims are related to mental health. There is a growing literacy now on talking about mental health issues. One manifestation of this is the right to disconnect, where we once had given hours, now it’s all over place due to working from home. We are talking to unions, employers and NGOs and will do a report from these discussions on workers right to disconnect.

How are you going to work through all the commitments in your Mandate Letter?
I have a lengthy list of priorities as in previous portfolio’s and I am working on all of them.
• Introducing the labour mobility tax credit which will apply as of this year.
• Just transition, not an easy challenge, a change in culture really. There is an urgency, and we have a goal, but we have no master plan. Canada is the 4th largest producer of oil and gas in the world and is it our biggest export. We in Newfoundland are more dependent on this industry than Alberta. But the government must appreciate these workers, lower their anxiety, make them feel part of this and arm them properly, so that they can move over. And there is basic stuff that we must understand and rectify like non-unionized renewable workplaces that don’t pay as well.

The world is watching us, they know we have the will and ingenuity to do it, we can pivot and change it fundamentally. Alberta leads the country in wind and solar. We have exciting opportunities ahead of us like in hydrogen.
The Employment Equity was implemented over 35 years ago. What needs to happen with the review of the Act that you are working on?
If we don’t get inclusivity right, then we are not getting the best people aside from the fact that everybody should have equal access to work. We are actively promoting equality whether its proactive pay equity legislation, pay transparency, accessibility legislation. We are investing 2 million on the review of the Employment Equity Act. A task force is moving to the next phase of consultations hearing from underrepresented groups. And they will be recommending how we amend the Act, so a renewed Act will help contribute to a more vibrant diverse workforce. The workforce is ageing, and this is occupying several departments but most particularly the Minister of Employment and the Minister of Immigration. We are bringing in a record number of immigrants and Canadians should be commended for that.
One of the big areas is the issue of temporary foreign workers, they are doing the jobs that Canadians don’t want to do. Particularly in farming or fish plants, some of it is manual labour and we want to treat them with dignity, and we want to create pathways to citizenship for them. The labour shortages that we are suffering now is a big issue for the economy. Let’s face it Canada is in competition with other countries who are also looking at attracting labour markets that go beyond their borders.
Back-to-work legislation: What is the balance you must consider when there is a strike or a lock-out of national significance before moving to back-to-work legislation – such as the recent strike action at CP Rail in March?

Strike the right balance between the needs of worker and the employer. On the CP rail strike I understood how the rail network is critical and appreciate how many goods and services are moved around this country and the United States our biggest trading partner; and how important that is to both our economies. Both sides have rights in the Canada Labour code and it is my job to remind them of that and let the mediation work between each side at the negotiating table unfold without interference. Let them reach an agreement on their own which means a more lasting deal and not talk about back to work legislation. I would also like to explore all sorts of ways in the future, respecting the rights of either side, to improve and bring greater stability, so that we don’t have to worry about this all the time.
Before we wrap up can you tell me what steps you are taking on workplace harassment and how serious is it in Canada? As Minister of Labour, what can you do to build the right work environment?
I think it is significant and It comes back to what I have said about mental health that there is greater literacy and you don’t have to put up with it any more. It is work that’s ongoing at the Federal level and at the international level as well. At the UN the International Labour Organization is working on a resolution right now to protect the rights of workers from harassment in the workplace around the world. Also, I have a leadership role to influence the other 95% of businesses not in our jurisdiction. The fact is that labour shortages mean employees are empowered to say they want decent working environments and Canadians are telling us this is important.
Other considerations?

Overall, in Labour I think we need to focus on workers, take energy workers who drive the economy it is a huge challenge, one of the first things we can do is make workers feel included in any change process to come. Let me tip my hat to the dedication of health care workers and first responders, they got us through this. They sacrificed and supported us thorough this very difficult time and are top of mind for me.
RE the just transition, would there be less anxiety for workers if there was a masterplan?
The Canada Building Trades Union is at the table because we need them for the decades long work ahead, we can’t do this alone. This is a constantly evolving process that will involve all stakeholders. We need to lower emissions and build up renewables. Let’s look at methane it is something we can do right aways. It is a particularly bad greenhouse gas and we need to lower methane levels or work on carbon capture, or developing hydrogen, we are looking at doing things that are not that different from what workers were doing before. So, we are asking them to pivot we need lots of workers to take up the challenge of lower emissions and building up renewables. We point to the supply side of oil and gas, but we don’t point to the demand side like mining precious minerals, building the batteries and electric vehicles, we need to focus on both, and we are.

Is there a focus on lower skilled workers in the rebuilding of the economy?
Yes, certainly there is we are making sure they are part of the minimum level social safety net like contributing to UI, CPP and medical benefits, making sure they have access to affordable childcare that is why we are looking at the gig economy. Wherever you have universal programs we need to make sure everyone benefits and can live their life with dignity.

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Webinar April 28th, 2022,
Conversation with the Honorable Margaret McCain

The Honorable Margaret McCain is a Canadian philanthropist who was the first woman to serve as the Lieutenant governor of New Brunswick. She is the founder of the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation that promotes early childhood education opportunities for all of Canada’s children. A Canadian philanthropist supporting education, music and the arts. She is a champion of early childhood education, of children and strong families, a trailblazer, and an inspiration to all Canadians.
Moderator
Indira Naidoo-Harris, Associate VP, University of Guelph for Diversity & Human Rights, Former
Ontario MPP and Minister and national broadcaster.
Host
Andrew Cardozo, President, Pearson Centre

Can you talk about your early years, growing up in Northern Quebec?
My father was a mining engineer, who was prospecting and exploring for gold and opened mining up in Northern Quebec and he is in the Mining Hall of Fame. My mother was a biology teacher. My father was a widower with 4 children, and she married him and had 4 more children. We moved to Amos where I was in English school, but I also spoke French and had a blissful, loving childhood. Tragically my father died when I was 11 and my mother, a widow at 39 so we then moved back to the family farm in Truro, Nova Scotia. In those days as a widow, she could take charge and be independent, and was respected for it. She was the first woman to run for public office in 1956 and worked to support women in politics and eventually she was the first woman from Nova Scotia to be appointed to the senate. She was a social activist for women and minority rights. Everything I do is a fulfillment of the path she began; she influenced me and gave me as a child permission to have a voice. But babies really were a passion for me way back then, so this set the stage for my support for children’s well-being.

In university you received a BA in history and a bachelor’s in social work? What was the path you were on?
I started university at Mount Allison when I was not quite 16, I was very shy and wanted to study music but ended up doing social work. But music was always a part of my life, I was the volunteer for the music teacher for many years and church organist for 40 years. I moved to Florenceville New Brunswick with my husband when I was 21. There were no jobs for social workers there, so I focused my energy on community development. And that’s when I got involved in 1984 in a group that was an outgrowth of the first women’s shelter. We had to build the knowledge base on family violence research centre, whose mission was the elimination of family violence through education and research. We endowed the research centre, and it was the first one in Canada. And I became a spokesperson speaking out on family violence. The press were our partners in getting our message out that family violence is wrong. We found out how it reached in every part of society.

In 1994 you were appointed Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick. As Lt Gov, you addressed the issue of family violence What are your reflections of that role and that period?
My voice became louder, I had a higher platform and that brought me into the world of Fraser Mustard. One of the things I did as Lieutenant Governor where I had the opportunity to promote family violence education, so I would have salons where I would have several cabinet ministers, senators with researchers for dinner to educate them on family violence.

When did you first meet Dr. Fraser Mustard and how did he influence your thinking?
The president of the university was also a member of the Canadian institute for advance research, and he was Fraser Mustard. He happened to be in New Brunswick, he was doing a cross-country tour on the social determinants of health. And he was speaking to ministries and ministers of health. I was invited for lunch, and I listened to their erudite conversation but at that time I had no idea what they were talking about. As he always did, he left me with stacks of research material to read and I read it all and that’s when a light bulb went on and I realized family violence is one of the key impediments to healthy human development. And our goal was the elimination of family violence through public education and research. Dr. Mustard said if anything was going to be done about it has to happen in early years. I moved to Toronto and Premier Harris asked Dr. Mustard to be the chair of a study group on early childhood and he asked me to be the co-chair. So, I that year was educated by Fraser Mustard, so I say I have a PhD from the college of Fraser Mustard on early childhood education.

When did you and your foundation decide to focus on Early Childhood Education – and why?
My foundation embraced this as our soul mission and my husband gave me the wherewithal, the resources to fulfil this mission. It seemed for so many. People, have asked me why do you stick to it? I don’t know it seems endless mission we were on. I could not give up, maybe it’s in my DNA. My mother has been pulling my string ever since I continued the path that she had followed; I just knew I could never give up.

Today we finally have a Canada-Wide Early Learning and Care system emerging. The Royal Commission on the Status of Women recommended this 50 years ago, why has it taken so long?
First, there is a very strongly embedded cultural belief that women should be there looking after their children and that government should not be involved. The other issue was it is expensive and third they did not understand the future social and economic benefits. Two years ago, it was not on the federal agenda at all, the pandemic helped as a catalyst. This is a whole of society story as it impacts our social, economic prosperity and in preparing our people for the future. Until we have system that provides equal opportunity access for every child for early learning and care. The learning piece is the most important. Really there are 2 parts to the story immediate short-term needs for increased spaces, childcare spaces and the long-term plan that was hard to understand, hard to sell, you know we need big money behind it.

Provinces and territories are responsible for Early Learning and Child Care as well as Prekindergarten and Kindergarten programs that are part of public education. How can we monitor how ECE is progressing across Canada?
I believe that in 5 years, childcare will be free. The actual implementation is provincial, but we are very much on tap as consultants to help them. Over the next 5 years that is what we must watch, and support is the implementation.

What are the next steps for ECE? and to make this plan successful we know Legislation is promised., what do you see has to happen.
It must go into legislation that has to pass. That is next big piece, people want it and need it. That is a monumental piece, what we really need to focus on is getting it into the public system.
There is a little bit of an outcry from for-profit centres, but there is room for them. They must improve their product, charge accordingly, be more competitive and play by business rules just like private independent schools out there do. Remember we are building a system, there is a space out there for private centres.

One final comment how do we get the Canada we want?
Our role is to prepare our people and our planet for the future, making them both the best we can be. I have been told that this early learning and childcare system is as important as universal health care.

A couple of quick final questions: how did you change the public discourse around the role of women vis a vis the working world and childcare?
Our plan is focused on the child, but it must be configured around the working life of the parents in their local context. However, the child will always have access to the system even if the parents are not working.

The benefits of early childhood learning are better literacy, numeracy, emotional intelligence, sociability, an ability to work with people, openness to learning, improve their curiosity about learning and prepare them for the future and improve their physical and mental health.
Thank you so much for the work you have done and congratulations on bringing us to this point where we are going ahead with a National plan on Childcare and Early Childhood Education.
Thank you and remember that it was team that did this work!

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