This week’s G8 and G20 Leaders Summits present a major opportunity for Canadian leadership. And Canada stands proud on the world stage as a result of our economic performance during the global recession. The Canadian Chamber has been active in the G8 and G20 process, working diligently to help organize the business input into the Summits. Two months ago, we hosted this year’s G8/20 Business Summit. On April 29, the chairs and presidents of the world’s leading business associations gathered in Ottawa to propose practical solutions to the global economic challenges.
Our goals include recovery from the crisis, enabling growth through trade and investment liberalization, and moving forward on climate change. The Business Declaration was signed at the event and formally presented to Prime Minister Harper, who also addressed the gathering. In addition, the signatories presented the declaration to their respective heads of government. As the prime minister told the meeting, “now more than ever, we need our business leaders to come together to help articulate solutions to the economic challenges facing all our nations.”
The Canadian Chamber initiated a position paper on the G20 Summit in Toronto, inviting the chambers of commerce of the other countries, (or the “C20 Group” as it is called), to join in endorsing the statements put forth. The C20 Position Paper is a concise document, focusing on measures to prevent another crisis and to support the multilateral trading system. We hope to shape the economic and financial policies of the G20 leaders by presenting common positions among the C20 chambers. From our perspective, global strategies to move government budgets back into balance and post-crisis growth measures must top the G20 agenda. Reforming international financial architecture and completing the Doha Development Agenda are other important issues to be discussed at the G20 Summit.
This week I will participate in a meeting of international business leaders that will take place in Toronto in concert with the Leaders Summit. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, asked each of his counterparts to choose two top business leaders to participate in this meeting, which is organized by the Canadian Council of Chief Executive Officers. The G20 finance ministers will attend part of the event to hear from business firsthand. This meeting will provide a good opportunity to reinforce the Chamber’s recommendations and to exchange views with other international leaders.
I should also mention that I have been invited to attend the Seoul G20 Business Summit that will be held in November when the next G20 Leaders Summit takes place in Korea. I have accepted the invitation and am planning to attend.
- Perrin
Today, I was in Washington, D.C. to address the delegates of annual meeting of the Canadian American Business Council (CABC). I was joined by an impressive list of speakers on the theme of What Ever Happened to the North American Market? Implications for Canada/U.S. Relations. It is always a pleasure to discuss Canada-U.S. relations with a group that is so interested and as well-versed in the issues as the CABC. The relationship between our two countries is of vital importance to The Canadian Chamber, which is why we value our partnership with groups like the CABC and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that do great work on behalf of the business communities on both sides of the border. We were also enormously pleased to establish a direct presence on the ground in Washington earlier this year through a brand new partnership with Paul Frazer and his colleagues at 3Click Solutions.
The key areas of my presentation included the importance of Canada-U.S. relations in the context of the upcoming G8/G20 Summits, trade, the border (including the upcoming vote on a new Detroit-Windsor bridge), regulations, the environment, and energy security.
- Perrin
A new bill on copyright was tabled in the House of Commons on June 2, 2010. This new bill, C-32, the Copyright Modernization Act takes a balanced approach although more analysis will need to be done in the coming days. The Copyright Act has not been reformed significantly in the past 10 years. New rights and protections are required if rights holders are to better reach new markets, adapt their business models and combat infringement in a digital environment.
Canadian businesses need better protection from the theft and unauthorized use of their property over the Internet. The absence of modern copyright rules has undermined the ability of many businesses to earn a fair return on their investments, and for many people to earn a living at all.
Many industries, big and small, rely on intellectual property rights as the basis for their operations in Canada. Updated copyright legislation will bring Canada up to date with all major industrial economies and clarify copyright laws in light of the new Internet economy in the 21st century. Intellectual property is the economic currency of the future. Properly applied, IP rights drive job creation, economic growth and innovation. IP surrounds us every day - whether a new brand, a book, an industrial process or a new product to fix your golf swing.
We will be working with our members across the country to push for copyright reform that is all about keeping Canadian jobs in a knowledge-based economy, identifying IP assets and being able to properly exploit them for a competitive advantage. It’s a message that we know that individual business owners support for the long-term health of their businesses. It’s important that your MP hear from our local chambers and businesses of all sizes across the country - we will be providing background information on the new copyright legislation to help you take this message to the government.
For more information, please go to www.balancedcopyright.gc.ca.
-Perrin
A new bill on copyright is expected to be tabled in Parliament very shortly. The Copyright Act has not been reformed significantly in the past 10 years. New rights and protections are required if rights holders are to better reach new markets, adapt their business models and combat infringement in a digital environment.
On behalf of Canadian business, the Canadian Chamber has been advocating an updated bill on copyright for a long time, but we need your help in making sure that MPs from all parties understand why it’s time to act. We need to protect the jobs in Canada that depend on a strong intellectual property rights system.
Canadian businesses need better protection from the theft and unauthorized use of their property over the Internet. The absence of modern copyright rules has undermined the ability of many businesses to earn a fair return on their investments, and for many people to earn a living at all.
Canada is falling behind many countries that have modernized their copyright laws and where digital marketplaces are flourishing and online piracy is declining. With an outdated copyright law, artists don’t receive the compensation they need to keep creating, individual Canadians are unclear about how the law affects them and a culture of piracy has grown in Canada.
Changes to the Copyright Act must provide clear, predictable and fair rules to allow Canadians to benefit from their creativity. Any changes should also balance the rights of copyright holders with users’ needs to access copyrighted works. Implemented within these broad outlines, I am confident that the reforms will foster innovation and attract investment and high-paying jobs to Canadian communities.
Many industries, big and small, rely on intellectual property rights as the basis for their operations in Canada. Updated copyright legislation will bring Canada up to date with all major industrial economies and clarify copyright laws in light of the new Internet economy in the 21st century. Intellectual property is the economic currency of the future. Properly applied, IP rights drive job creation, economic growth and innovation. IP surrounds us every day - whether a new brand, a book, an industrial process or a new product to fix your golf swing.
We will be working with our members across the country when this legislation is tabled. The push for copyright reform is all about keeping Canadian jobs in a knowledge-based economy, identifying IP assets and being able to properly exploit them for a competitive advantage. It’s a message that we know that individual business owners support for the long-term health of their businesses.
- Perrin
Shauneen Bruder, Chair of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, presents Prime Minister Stephen Harper with the G8 Busines Declaration at the G8/20 Business Summit, hosted by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, on April 29.
Representatives of the leading business organizations in the world joined Canadian businesspeople, academics and government officials this week for the Canadian Chamber’s Canada-EU Forum and our G8/20 Business Summit. The meetings were particularly timely, coming as Canada negotiates a comprehensive trade and investment agreement with Europe and as our country prepares to host world leaders at the G8 and G20 meetings in June.
While the global recession took its toll on Canadian businesses and families, just as it did throughout the world, our country weathered the storm much better than most others and is looked to as an example for other countries to follow. Prime Minister Harper, who spoke to the G8/20 Business Summit, set out a clear agenda for the leaders’ meetings and has an opportunity now to help steer the global economy away from recession and towards greater prosperity.
The Chair of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Shauneen Bruder, did an outstanding job of presiding over the meetings and of helping to build the international business community’s agenda for the G20 heads of government to consider when they assemble in Toronto in less than two months. Both the heads of international business associations and Canadian CEOs like Rick George of Suncor and Bruce Ross of IBM Canada underscored how interconnected our economies have become and how we have to look for new technologies and new strategies to overcome the pressing challenges and take advantage of the opportunities that exist at this point in the world’s development. It will take a combination of wise national policies in each country and concerted global action for us to succeed.
Quebec Premier Jean Charest was our keynote luncheon speaker at the Canada-EU Forum. He made a compelling case for Canadian and European leadership in negotiating a comprehensive agreement that can help restore momentum to the effort to eliminate global trade barriers. Success in negotiating an agreement would send a powerful message to the rest of the world that the way to achieve economic health is through increasing our trade and investment with one another, and not by erecting barriers.
These back-to-back international conferences demonstrated how the Canadian Chamber, as the voice of Canadian business, can play an essential role in promoting growth and opportunity. We were proud to welcome the world to Canada this week and we look forward to working with our Canadian and international partners to ensure a healthier economy both in Canada and around the world.
- Perrin
P.S. We maintained a live blog while at the G8/G20 Business Summit. Go to canadianchamber.wordpress.com to get an update.
