The Pearson Centre for Progressive Policy

Progressive Dialogue and Policy for a Better Canada

PEARSON AWARDS: Raitt, Mancinelli, Fakih, Parchment

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PEARSON AWARDS: Raitt, Mancinelli, Fakih, Parchment

  • Date: September 13, 2022, 5:30 pm to 8:15 pm
  • Location: Arcadian Court, 401 Bay Street (Simpson Tower, 8th Floor) Toronto
  • For more information: AUDIO RECORDING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nvl7G1CHAM

 

The Pearson Progressive Leadership Awards recognize outstanding progressive leaders in various sectors of our society, who make a difference in their fields and beyond.  The Gala is an important opportunity for a broad range of Canadians interested in public policy to meet, mingle and make contacts…from business, labour, academia, civil society & politics.

Honorees:
Hon. Lisa Raitt, Vice-Chair of Global Investment Banking at CIBC | Former Minister of Transport, Labour and Natural Resources | Advocate for young onset dementia.

Mohamad Fakih, Founder, Paramount Fine Foods Restaurant Chain  | Philanthropist.

Jacqui Parchment, CEO, Mercer Canada | Board Member of BlackNorth Initiative and the Business Council of Canada

Joseph S. Mancinelli, LiUNA International Vice President and Regional Manager for Central and Eastern Canada | Chair of the Labourers’ Pension Fund of Central and Eastern Canada (LPF),

Co-Chairs:
Her Worship Bonnie Crombie, Mayor of Mississauga

Sean Strickland, Executive Director of Canada’s Building Trades Unions

Panel Moderator:
Indira Naidoo-Harris, AVP Diversity & Human Rights, uGuelph; Former Ontario Minister

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

PANEL DISCUSSION SUMMARY

(Audio recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nvl7G1CHAM)

 

Co-Chairs Mayor Bonnie Crombie and Sean Strickland set up the panel discussion explaining that these four high achieving progressive leaders brought an array of experience to the discussion put forward ideas about how leaders need to lead in these times of uncertainly, where uncertainty is the only certainty.

 

Moderator Indira Naidoo-Harris took the four honorees, the panel members, through these issues.

 

Challenges Facing Canada

 

  1. The most pressing issues Canada faces today is the state of the economy, whose three primary issues include:

 

  1. Labour shortages
    • Nation-wide, Canada is currently suffering a shortage of approximately 400,000 workers

 

  1. Inflation
    • Individuals and businesses alike are impacted seriously by rising costs
    • Raising interest rates alone may not be useful enough to counter the effects being felt in Canada from inflation

 

  1. Housing
    • Young people are increasingly unable to afford to buy a home, while the cost of rent, especially in Canada’s major cities, are simultaneously escaping affordability
    • Rising interest rates also play a deterring role for contractors to build new and more homes, which also exacerbates the housing issue

 

  1. One viable solution to Canada’s labour shortages is to implement a more robust economic immigration program that is able to process newcomers’ skills in such a way that most effectively addresses the outstanding needs of the economy by filling in the gaps

 

The Workforce of the Future

 

  • Tomorrow’s workforce in Canada must bridge several gaps:

 

  • Coexistence of a labour shortage & poverty
    • Canada simultaneously suffers from a labour shortage and people who are out of work and/or are unable to put food on the table
    • Governments at all levels should be working to bridge such a gap to ensure that people can be lifted out of poverty and food insecurity, while simultaneously meeting the economy’s labour needs

 

  • Gender gap
    • Throughout the pandemic, women were disproportionately affected by either being put out of work or having to leave the workforce
    • As Canada enters the post-pandemic era, the workforce of tomorrow must involve bringing women back along in order to secure a stronger economy

 

  • Racial gap
    • Given that approximately 30% of Canada’s population is composed of racialized and Indigenous peoples, equity-based hiring should be used as a tool for building a stronger workforce and to address racial gaps in senior positions, as well as the overall labour shortages.

 

  • Immigration, once again, proves to be a vital tool in addressing Canada’s economic needs as it relates to labour
    • Canada is at an advantage in the sense that immigration is one of the less controversial political issues in this country, with labour leaders, CEOs, and political parties from across the political spectrum mostly unanimous on the need for higher levels and more effective immigration

 

  • The future of the Canadian workforce must prioritize bringing everyone along

 

 

  1. Leadership that Meets the Moment

 

  • Leadership in today’s world for executives and businesspeople means looking beyond a company’s bottom line and using their lived experience to prioritize the needs of the communities they serve
    • This is especially crucial given that Canada should not be a country in which approximately 16% of the population is food insecure

 

  • Communities today need to be able to look to companies and the state to embrace a ‘kinder capitalism’ that puts the interests of people first before their bottom line, otherwise they risk losing the respect and confidence of the people

 

  • Leadership must also be encouraged among youth
    • Given that the younger generations are emerging to be the most impacted by today’s economic climate, they must be the ones next in line to step up and lead Canada into the future

 

  • Canada can secure its position on the world stage as the vanguard of this new form of leadership and renewed approach to capitalism

 

Report by Ashwin Nair and Andrew Cardozo

Audio recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nvl7G1CHAM

 

 

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