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CC-Transcript

  • 00:00Let's begin right here in Canada which is actually one of my favorite maybe my favorite came through the financial crisis not only unscathed but really at the top of most developed countries but if you look at Canadian banks today they're still superior based on return on equity. A lot of other measures. Yet when we look at other Canadian companies we see that of the 500 largest companies in the world. The percentage of Canadian companies has declined to 17 27 in 2010. Bond holders Meanwhile according to data compiled by Bloomberg say the average inflation rate is likely to be about one point six percent. And it all suggests that the outlook suggests not enough growth and maybe the best times . Is that true. If not why not. Of course it's not true. Matt and I can attest to everyone here that even when Matt is in New York he says very nice things about Canada. He once said to me that Canadians are like hobbits were the good people in the world. It was maybe a remark tailored especially to me because I am maybe a hobbit height. So of course Matt Canada's best times are not passed I would say Canada's best times are just beginning and I think the 21st century is going to be a great century for Canada. But undeniably we are entering some rocky waters and I think more difficult than certainly it looked as recently as last fall. I think the difficulties we face right now are partly of a sort of more generic global nature and partly of a specifically Canadian one. So I would focus on three issues for our economy. The first one is sort of quite specifically Canadian is this long term issue which I'm sure many of you have written about many times discussed many times of innovation and productivity. How do we get better at that. And I think given the particular set of other issues that I'll mention in a moment cracking that problem is particularly important. A lot of Canadians are starting to talk a lot about how you know the link in the chain which is particularly missing is commercialisation. JIM BALSILLIE had a very good piece I thought in the Globe and Mail . Maybe next time he'll read it for Bloomberg writing about it . So I think that's one area that we really as a country need to focus on and see is especially important and it speaks to Matt's point by the way about the number of Canadian companies in the top 500. I think we have lots of very smart people with lots of great ideas. We have to get better at building those ideas into companies and also at not just selling those companies to a Google at five or 10 million but let's build those global champions so that point one point two of a more generic nature or a maybe a less surprising nature look the fall in the price of oil has hit Canada particularly hard. Natural resources are not the only leg for our economy but they're a very very important one. And I think the full ripple through effects of the fall in the price of oil have not yet been felt and we need to adjust to that and we need to also you know at a policy level be thinking about how can we build an economy in which natural resources are an important part. And one of our engines but in which we are not solely dependent on them. And then the third issue of a more international sort that I worry about is I'm a real buyer of the Larry Summers secular stagnation view. I think there is a real possibility that the global economy particularly Western industrialized economies are in a really slow patch and in a protracted slow patch and that it's not just about recovering from the 2008 financial crisis and those low inflation rates that you referred to that are one of the signs. And as you know if some countries are now experiencing negative inflation deflation . So I think that is also a big drag for us and something also that at a policy level we have to be really thoughtful about and think about doing some new things. So if you had to pick one thing that your party might do for it to be in power what would it would it be in the context of what you just said which is sobering. We'll get to some cheery stuff infrastructure investment. I think that is a really important powerful and big thing for our government to do. The IMF came out with a report last fall talking about how infrastructure investment is this sort of double win because it is actually an investment. So you know it's like buying a house. It's investing in future capacity and it's very important that way . And also it has a stimulative effect on the economy. And you know look I don't know how people got to this incredibly beautiful room this morning but a lot of our commutes in the GTA are not most fun. An infrastructure investment could make them better. And there are lots of different areas that we experience every day where we see that. You've talked about Canada's middle class suffering from low income growth I think that's a widely shared characteristic of most developed economies. So how would the Liberal government deal with this inequality that you speak of often your party speaks often and so far at least we haven't had any kind of detailed policy from the Liberal Party. What would you do to address it. Okay. Well you know I love you Matt. But this is not going to be the moment of the great unveil of the liberal Economic Policy. Otherwise you would discover very soon I was the former. I probably would still be an MP but I was a former Liberal MP for Toronto Centre. But let me give you some outlines of our thinking. The infrastructure piece is going to be very important and the infrastructure piece is a part of the inequality issue. Economic growth alone is not going to be enough to hit the sort of stagnant middle class but it is a big help . And again to quote Larry Summers something that was in a CAP report Center for American Progress report on inclusive prosperity. I was a commissioner. One point that this report made the report came out and January was a tighter labor market is better for workers and you get a tighter labor market with more growth. So doing things like infrastructure investment to stimulate growth is going to be a really really big thing. And infrastructure investment also I think can be important in terms of delivering some of those jobs that robots and people in China can't do. If you're building a road that has to be done by somebody here and that's helpful for wages in that in that sort of middle class space. I also think and this is now being a little bit gloomy again Matt. Something that I think has been really helpful for the Canadian middle class has been the natural resource economy and particularly the oil sands . There have been a huge number of jobs there and they haven't been jobs done only by Albertans. As everybody knows people have been flying in from all over the country. I spent some time there over the summer with in particular some of the pipefitters and these are really really well-paying jobs and had a real impact. So I think we need to brace ourselves for the fact that as those jobs not dry up but contract that's going to be a real issue. I think other areas that you'll see us focusing on are two. I am especially concerned when it comes to this sort of issue of I think someone who was it. Maybe it was Dow Jones and quoting bad people here referred to a late recent Morgan Stanley report on quality of jobs in Canada and talked about the issue of lousy jobs. Yet when people do have jobs they are part time and low wage and that is particularly acute for young people. We have really a real problem I think and a growing problem with unemployment or underemployment among young people and I think that's something which we need to have some specific policies to address to try to help kids to take that step from university from college into the job market. And part of that also I think can be a more aggressive apprenticeship program. We're pretty good at apprenticeships in Canada. When I go to conferences about it in the United States I hear academics citing the Canadian example and actually we have almost as many apprenticeship programs in Canada as they do in America. Even though we're a much smaller country. But I think we can do more and I think one of the things that we can really focus on which say the Germans and the Swiss are good at is starting at high school and starting to talk to kids about what are the jobs available there and then the final thing that coming back actually to your initial question. I do think that if we start doing better at innovation and productivity that's partly a job solution too. Not everyone is going to be lucky enough to work at a big international company with great jobs and great career paths like Bloomberg. I think a lot of us are going to be our own employers going forward and I think we need to start teaching people early on those skills. One constant you know is housing. It's been robust here year after year especially in Toronto. The appeal continues with speculators with developers owners that's fine with you. What's next. Is it healthy. Look every time I bought a house in Toronto in 2013. So either I have tremendous confidence in the Canadian housing sector or I am a crazy person. I think the views of the Canadian housing market is A Tale of Two Cities. When I go to New York I talk to lots of fund managers who say we are looking for vehicles that we can use to short the Canadian housing sector. We are sure that it is overvalued and we're trying to find ways to get at it. And then I come home and I'm really anxious because I think you know . Oh my God. Like if the housing market crashes that would be terrible. And I talk to people at Canadian banks and they say to me the Americans don't understand us. We are different from the Americans and the factors that they cite which I'm sure you've heard or you'll hear later today Matt are first of all that Canadian consumers have a much greater propensity to pay off their mortgage that we are very Mortgage focused as home owners and that we do it. And whenever we have extra money we plowed into our mortgages. The second thing they talk about is how there's actually less structural fragility in the housing market than there was in the US pre 2008 and then the third thing is of course the strength of the foreign buyers . So I do think the housing market is something from a sort of macro point of view. I think it's something to be very watchful of very concerned about. I think that you know if you look at some of the external indicators those are you know those are amber and the recent rate cut might make them turn you know a more intense shade of amber. The other side of it which isn't at the macro level is more at the social level Canadian cities are being priced out for a lot of people especially young people coming in. I talked to lots of young people in my riding and they say we can't imagine actually owning a home in Toronto people in Vancouver say the same thing. So I think that that's something that we really need to think about. I think that we need to think about affordable housing ways for people into the market. So we're going to invest more in housing different types of housing. Housing is infrastructure team. So . Former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney who's historically been linked to your party . And I know you're somewhat close to him. Is he likely to be a candidate. Do you think at some point Mark is my friend. We're both from Alberta . Mark is. I actually saw Mark over the weekend. As it happens and Mark is doing a fantastic job as governor of the Bank of England I'm really proud of him. I think all Canadians should be proud of him. It's a five year commitment and I am you know I'm not authorized to speak on behalf of Mark. But Mark is a very honorable committed man of his word who is an essential part of the world economy right now and I am absolutely sure that Mark is going to keep on doing the outstanding job he's doing now . But if we're patient. Mark has been very clear that his long term plan and his family's plan is to come back home to Canada . And I think that will be great for all of us when he does . Despite Stephen Harper's efforts to turn it into a global energy superpower exports have been stymied by lack of pipelines. What would the Liberal Party offer in the way of green policies to get Keystone XL approved. I think that is a really important question and actually for me it was one of my motivations for going into politics. I come from northern Alberta and I was in New York and I could see this mounting resentment of keystone of the oil sands and ultimately of Canada a real turning point epiphany for me was I was on a run and I saw in one of the lush the windows of a lush shop like they do like the fancy soaps and stuff. A poster that said oil sands oil is dirty oil and I just thought oh my goodness . Actually I didn't think oh my goodness I thought something a little bit more fruity if in Manhattan they have signs like this. It's really bad for Canada and I do see this as a signal failure of our federal government. I think the government has been in denial about this. I think one of the principal jobs of the Federal Government of Canada is to get our natural resources to market our government right now is failing at that. I think it's failing for a few reasons. One is we're not very good friends with the Americans right now. This is a big problem for Canada . One of the top jobs of the Canadian prime minister is have a good strong relationship with the president of the United States and that relationship is really quite sour. You cannot go to the United States and say to the US president this decision which I would really like you take in one direction is a no brainer. That kind of bullying approach doesn't work and we've been saying it doesn't work and now we've seen it doesn't work . The other area that where it might be less immediately visible to you from New York where there has been a failure is in the relationship between the government and the provinces and Aboriginal people. It's not only pipelines to the United States that we're having a hard time building it is pipelines across the country. So I think the first thing that needs to be done is a massive turbo charging of federal diplomacy around the oil issue and simply going out there and saying we have something really great and you're gonna have to let us sell it to you is not a very good sales pitch. I do think the environment is part of it and I think part of you know I think a country and a company for us to emulate is Norway. And I was I mentioned I was in London just over the weekend I was coming home in Heathrow Airport there was this huge poster for state oil which is a fossil fuel company and it said you know something like you know a sustainable future a beautiful Norwegian landscape we can be part of the solution and it talked about LNG they have Norway and Statoil have been very good at branding themselves and also walking the walk of saying yes we produce fossil fuels but we understand it's in the context of a bigger picture and we understand that we have that responsibility. So I think Canada needs to do that too. Justin Trudeau gave a speech a couple of weeks ago in Calgary outlining our vision of how you get to a much more robust environmental policy. We have already some very strong environmental action by the provinces. British Columbia has been really standing here Ontario Quebec have done a lot . Alberta too. And I think that you know our plan would be and I'm not saying you know if you had a blank slate this would be where you would do it but we are where we are. We're at a place where the federal government has stepped away from this important issue province has done some important work. And I think the way forward is a sort of national health care approach where you see the government setting standards setting targets bringing everybody together telling our story around the world of what we're doing but not imposing a one size fits all policy on provinces Prime Minister Harper doesn't play well with women. The latest poll that we've seen shows conservatives had support of 38 percent of men. 28 percent of women while liberals. Thirty three percent of men and 35 percent of women. Yet he has been engaged in social issues to an extent that he's refused to re-open the debate about gay marriage abortion. Government has seen the Supreme Court decisions on physician assisted suicide for example. So why doesn't why doesn't Prime Minister Harper connect with women. What would the Liberal Party do better . Well we do a lot better because we poll very well with women . So I guess if Prime Minister Harper became a liberal it would be a lot better for him. You know I I. In general. Obviously I am a woman and I am proud to call myself a feminist feminist issues are really important for me and I hope we'll have a chance to talk about them. Having said that I think that good public policy is good public policy. We do understand. You know certainly you know in the Liberal Party when we look at policy we have a very conscious thought of gender screening that we go through looking at what will be the impact of this on women because the impact is different. It can be different and it's important to be conscious of that. But our big goal I think is going to be to have great economic and social and foreign policy for all people in Canada . Maybe it may be that women are smarter. Also could be a possibility . And he doesn't know. Well no they're smarter and so they've moved to the right party more quickly. But you know they'll bring their husbands sons fathers over with them you've written arguably one of the more important narratives of global politics especially with respect to Europe. How does the Boris Nemtsov murder change the outlook if at all in Russia . How does it affect the conflict in Ukraine which you've also spent a lot of time explaining over the years . I am really really devastated by Buddhists murder. I knew him well I met him first in 1992. He was a young physicist. Part of this sort of wave almost impossible for us now to imagine that 1992 was a very grim period in Russia but also full of optimism. And there were these young people it was you know Soviet Union was barely gone and there were these young people coming in and they were going to transform the country and make it a democracy in a market economy and Buddhists was one of the most dazzling. He was the governor of leisurely Novgorod. It had been a closed city Sofitel was sort of under house arrest there. And he was going to change it. I remember going there to interview him . The interview was like at midnight or 1 o'clock in the morning because you know they were all so busy and they worked 24/7 . And what really impressed me about him was you know he started then he had this dizzying ascent in the Yeltsin period. He became deputy prime minister he almost became president like Yeltsin was sort of auditioning his different people and he himself was a candidate. He lost out Putin became president Boris actually tried to work with Putin for a couple of years which you know turned out to be a fool's errand. But I think was the right thing to do. And what I admired so much is he just kept going and he went from being deputy prime minister with the cars and you know the 10 sort of communist era phones on your desk that don't you can't make calls out with. They just ring in from God knows where he went from that to standing outside subway stations handing out these pamphlets he had written about how corrupt Putin was. It was a real crippling moment. You know it if you can lose and start again at your beginnings and never breathe a word about your loss. So he was an amazing person. His murder is personally devastating for a lot of people but also I think a turning point for Russia. What it says is no one is safe and that this regime broadly is not interested in any possibility of evolutionary change. It's not interesting. You know something puts you worked in the same government. It's not interested in having people like that around who could be a bridge to a different Russia. So I think that it's this is the moment. If it hadn't come earlier when we have to really take a deep breath accept that Russia is going down a very dark and dangerous path for its people for its neighbors for the whole world and get ready for a very long term strategy. You know this is not like this is not a Russia issue which is going to be solved by Minsk 2. This is a really long and very expensive confrontation. Putin I think I've interviewed him once and he thinks democracy is either a joke or a really dumb idea. And he feels quite superior to Western leaders who actually have to be elected. Like he says he's like you know like what a joke this is like I'm here for a long time and I'm you know negotiating with some guy who has to go back home and you know hand out pamphlets by a subway and might actually leave. And from his perspective that makes him feel like he is destined to win. I think we have to make Russia not a partisan issue make it a real issue of collective very deep social commitment of the Western democracies in a way that maybe we haven't had a foreign policy challenge for a long time like that . So do you believe the polls in Russia which say people overwhelmingly support him and if they are accurate. Why is that so. Given what you just said I mostly don't believe the polls. Garry Kasparov who I know you know who is another Russian opposition leader has a great line about this which is he says when there's only one dish on the menu. Don't be surprised if everybody orders it. I also think and I saw one of the Russian oligarchs just a couple of days ago and talk to him about this and he said it so many of my conversations with my Russian friends have begun now for more than 20 years with the phrase You Westerners are so stupid. Like we just don't understand them. And on this opinion poll question he said look Russians are smart the Soviet memory is fresh and recent. People understand what kind of a regime Putin runs. If someone calls you up who knows your number and says What do you think of Putin. He's like this guy and this guy is you know like doing everything he can to get out of Russia. A real democrat has been all time. He's like I would say I love Putin. I would tell my wife to say she loves Putin. We know what the right answer is. And I think that is a lot of it. I think these regimes are very brittle. They seem strong but can crack. Having said that there is something else going on and that something else is a whipping up an intentional whipping up of a very nasty very ugly Russian nationalism which is xenophobic which is hostile to its neighbors very religiously based. Some of the you know he himself was very much attacked in the Russian media before he was murdered and there was a real with you know Boris was open about the fact that he was Jewish which a lot of people were not in Russia. He he used his his patronage of his father's name which is a clear sign to anyone who speaks Russian that he's Jewish never disguised it. And there was like a whiff of anti-Semitism there too and a sense of you know there were these lists already circulating in Russia of enemies of the state . And there is that too. I think probably in every country there is a constituency of people who are ready to hate and ready to have free rein given to those nasty sentiments . And one of the terrible things happening now is the government is really encouraging that. It's terrifying does Ukraine survive. Yes an independent country. Yes it absolutely does. The first line of the Ukrainian national anthem mat is strewn with metal cleanup. Which means Ukraine has not yet died. Which yeah it says something right. And that's the national anthem. So it gives you a sense of the existential nature for Ukraine of like it's a good day. You wake up. We're still here . I am truly confident Ukraine will survive. I think it's going to be in my deep confidence is because Ukraine has been transformed. The Maidan revolution and then the Russian invasion were really the moment when Ukrainians decide. I mean the Ukrainians call the Maidan revolution the one that overthrew the former president Yanukovych. They call it the dignity revolution. And it really was like it was about people saying we are just not going to live in a kleptocracy anymore. We're just not going to do it. And there was this moment sort of starting. Started November 2013 of kind of delighted national discovery that more and more people felt that way. And that was a very euphoric moment because like imagine you think it's just you. But then you realize it's everybody and people are really prepared to stand up for that. You had that and then right away you had a Russian invasion. And I think Ukrainians have had to decide are we going to you know it. I don't want to use overly melodramatic terms but it really is a question of you know are we going to stand you know stand. What is it die on my feet or live on my knees. You know it's it's that sort of a moment and really the overwhelming majority of the country has made that decision. Now having that real national conviction and standing up to Russia there's a distance between it and we see the Ukrainians being pummeled in a lot of ways. But they are also holding on in a lot of ways . And I think medium term they are going to hang on the economic situation is dire. I do think that this needs to be a priority for the West and it needs to be a priority partly for moral reasons but also for very pragmatic geopolitical reasons of Russia which has taken this dark turn is a danger to the whole world a Ukraine which manages to be sovereign and democratic and above all prosperous is a real anchor for everybody else and also longer term. If we can help Ukraine work and we can play a huge huge role for not that much money given the ultimate given ultimate prize if Ukraine works that has a huge impact on Russia Ukraine would not have had its revolution without Poland . Ukrainians looked across the Beano they looked west they looked east they said hmm which kind of country do I want. If Ukraine works that ultimately will be the demonstration effect that pulls Russia back into a normal orbit. And that might seem like some kind of a fantasy like we've just had you know I'm sort of walking you know 250 meters from the Kremlin shot four times how can I be talking about an ultimately normal Russia . But we have to think in those terms because unless we have in our minds a long term roadmap that sees Russia turning around the world is going to be perpetually dangerous it's that that's much more costly scenario. So back to Canada. There are only 77 306 seats occupied by women in Federal Parliament. Twenty five percent I think it is. Why is it so well Well I think that there are problems. You know there are glass ceilings for women in all professions. It's not just in the House of Commons. It's also on Bay Street. It's also at the Petroleum Club. I think that it's a real issue. We're making a real point in the Liberal Party to encourage women candidates and our ad about a third of our nominated candidates now are women and we're working really hard to be sure that women candidates are also running in ridings where they have a real shot at it and not just in the marginal ones. I think you know there are a lot of reasons that women don't go into politics as much as I hope we all will. It's hard logistically. Yeah it's hard logistically going between Ottawa and your constituency is a particular challenge. If you happen to have kids it's a challenge for all people two of my male colleagues have decided not to run in 2015 because they're fathers of young children and they found it just too much of a family strain . But you know women still tend to bear more of that family burden . I was going to apologize at the beginning of our conversation Matt for being late and I apologize to Dave and he said oh you should say this to everybody because it speaks to our issue. So I'm sorry for being late and I'm sorry for keeping people waiting. And the reason is just as I was leaving the house my 5 year old had a total temper tantrum and said You have to take me to school today and I said you know this is our break week . That's why I'm here. I said Don't worry I'll be here after . And he said No no no no no. You're in Ottawa. So much of the time when you're in Toronto I expect you to take me to school . It is not acceptable. So I had to bribe him with a transformer which I will be purchasing after this event. But you know this is hard. So I think that's an issue. And then there is I think a specific political issue too which is partly to do with our political culture and partly to do with how women are raised to be good girls and you know try to please everybody . So there's kind of a Sheryl Sandberg issue in the House of Commons issue. The Sheryl Sandberg issue I think is you know look it is politics is an arena. Not everyone is going to like you no matter what. In fact in some ways the better job you do the more people are going to not like you and are going to yell at you. And I think it's important to have women in that arena but we shouldn't kid ourselves that just you know by virtue of having more women that arena will cease to be a combat . It's designed to be a combat. And it should be democracy should be a contest. And I think you know we do have to lean into that table and not be put off by it. There is though I think also in many ways in our politics but maybe particularly I'll talk about our house of commons. It can have a bit of a I'm looking for the right word without you know it can have a bit of a hostile tone to women. Someone said that in the House of Commons was still designed for you know the Westminster tradition. It's designed for married affluent men who have wives at home taking care of their children and that is still you know the basic structure. And there's also you know a bit of a still there can be a bit of a kind of braying tone that can be hostile to women people may know about my own big girl voice episode. I don't know if Matt does one of my early was my first question but one of my early questions I stood up asked my question and I was just like just shouted down. It was impossible to hear me. And usually there's quite a lot of tolerance for screaming and yelling and behavior that would be inappropriate in a kindergarten in the House of Commons but if it gets too bad the speaker stands up and you're supposed to sit down and it's this sort of elaborate thing. Anyway I finally sort of got my question through and then someone tweeted that the problem was my voice which was so high pitched then I do admit I wish I had a lower voice but I also wish I were six inches taller. You have what you have. It was so high pitched that it could would break glass and that I needed to use my big girl voice. So you know there is still a little bit of that idea of you know our political leaders should be men who are 6 feet tall and speak appropriate low voices and do we really want women there. But I think we can get through that. I'm wondering if there's something deeper than that. We're Canadian perhaps because when one considers your biography which by any measure would qualify you for star status instantly in the United States people would follow you instantly. Were you doing what you're doing right now. You would be like a rock star so why isn't that happening here. Is that a Canadian characteristic. Oh I wouldn't say it's not happening. Max that would be your judgment. I would hope that others might have a more positive view. I mean look I actually I don't believe this tall poppy syndrome line about Canada. It is often invoked. I don't think we're like that. I think that we are a self-confident country. And I think we have many people in the country who do great things and we want people around to do great things. And that's you know she would say that wouldn't she. But that's my genuine conviction. I have felt very yeah. I could keep asking questions but that would be unfair to everybody here. So I'm going to ask a few questions if I might . Yes ma'am yes Canada does have a role to play a big role . I think in fact you know I think that at a 30000 foot level we're living at a time of real disruption of the global order and we see it in two particular places. ISIS and Russia. But there is a broader thing happening which is I think there was an assumption of a lot of people including sometimes me post 1991 that you know sort of a mash up of the end of history and the world is flat that you know there was going to be this great globalization moment in which everyone was going to participate and all countries you know slower or faster. Two steps forward two steps back. We're going to be kind of evolving in that direction. There's really I've been thinking about this so I've sort of gone back. There's a really interesting piece that Condie Rice wrote in Foreign Affairs in 2000 reflecting exactly this view and I think it was a widely held. We're seeing that it's not going to be quite that easy. And I think we're seeing sort of the return of geopolitics also to business Canada as a country can play a really important role in trying to figure out what goes next. We have traditionally a talent for diplomacy and relationships and in sort of figuring out where we go next. America is central but America can't do it alone partly because part of what's going on is people rejecting American dominance. So I think this is a moment when Canada can play an essential international role. And I would love us to embrace that even more. The war on terror. Absolutely a part of it as everyone here knows our view is that we should be in this particular arena emphasizing much more humanitarian efforts and supportive refugees and that that's where we could make a more distinctive and particular contribution. And that's where we would differ from the prime minister. I would also say on different from the Prime Minister we talked about Keystone and I talked about relationships falling apart. I think it's true more broadly. I think that the way Canada given our size the way Canada is effective internationally is by really working in multilateral institutions building relationships with allies building real foreign policy expertise on specific areas . That's one reason I'm so big on Ukraine. I think that we can become the go to country on Ukraine. And you know God knows lots of countries now want to know what's happening in Ukraine . I'd like you know I'd like the Germans to be calling up Ottawa when they want to know what exactly is happening. And I think there are real benefits for Canada there in emerging not just as strong on rhetoric but as a country that really matters in the world in this reshaping. You know if I could say it I think this is sort of a pure Sony and moment and we need to have that attitude on the civil liberties point as people know we are supporting the bill our support of the bill is really based in this recognition that this is a more dangerous time and we need to respond to it . If we form government maybe I should say when we form government we will make some important changes. Crucially there is no parliamentary oversight. That to me is a really really big problem and that needs to be put in. And also there needs to be review. It's it's very easy to step up security when times are tough. But our assumption shouldn't be. Times are gonna be like that forever and so we need built in review mechanisms so that we say OK. Is it still so dangerous. Maybe we fix things well thank you for the question and I hope. Yeah I think there is hope. I think there has to be hope and I think it's really important for the world to be clear that we have problems with Putin's policies but not with Russia or the Russian people. And that's one thing that I worry about like Matt's question about why don't the Russian people support this . Yes some Russian people do. But it's really important to remember that democratic Russia is still there and to try to sort of reach out to those people. I it's just such a tragedy for me I mean the thing that I worry about so much right now is so many of my friends are leaving people who are intense Russian patriots who were very politically engaged who were there for the long haul. And some of them were leaving before you must know said Gregory of the economist who sort of probably Russia's leading economist head of their leading economic school and he left a couple of years ago. He said he was worried he would be arrested. He wasn't even politically active. I mean he was on an advisory council to Medvedev but now a lot of people have said to me after of death they said you know I can't I can't justify my family living here. So I think it's going to be in for the long haul. Important not to lose sight of ultimately a positive perspective and that's like obviously it's important to someone who is from Russia. But it's important for all of us. We're not really going to be safe until Russia is a positive player again this is a big issue for me and I am a big supporter. I've had an evolution in my own thinking on this. You know my mother was a feminist who was a real plain nearing Alberta feminist was behind the passage of the matrimonial property act which is what allowed especially farm wives to get 50 percent of the assets in a divorce before they got almost nothing . And she was like a feminist in northern Alberta in the early 70s when there were none. It was weird and she was a real campaigner and I thought and she kind of did too that that was going to be the feminist breakthrough generation and that you know for her children like it wouldn't be an issue. It would all have been decided and that was certainly the rather naive presumption with which I began my career. I thought it was all going to be fine. These were issues we didn't have to worry about and we should all of us as women just be confident work hard be tough and it would be great. So I've had kind of a conversion inspired in part by Sheryl Sandberg that there really still are obstacles. I think some of those obstacles are subconscious. You know they're around and some of Cheryl's work around you know just ways that men and since you know our institutions of power like our financial institutions are still run by men what they assume matters. You know people like people like them men see want to promote men and women's voices literally just because of the timber aren't heard. So I think we all need to make an effort. I think institutions themselves need to make an effort. Some of the most important allies for women on Bay Street are going to be the leaders on Bay Street. But we can't think that this is going to happen by itself. So I do think there is a role certainly for comply or explain and for explicit setting of targets partly even mostly to make institutions more self-conscious of this because I don't I don't actually think anybody is almost nobody is intentionally sexist anymore. I don't think that male bosses on Bay Street or party leaders actually start their day saying how can I oppress women more. How can I ensure the continued dominance of the patriarchy. I don't think that happens. I think it's more about the subconscious assumptions. And I do actually want to have a little shout out here for Matt very many of my friends work for Matt women and I don't know Matt if you've done this intentionally or it's just because of you know how you think about the world but men who promote women are the most important feminists right now and different people are different. You know some men like Matt promote huge numbers of women to top jobs that really really makes a difference. So for all the guys in the room for all the guys in the room to promote women No I think that is a good question. You know one of them I think is for me a huge part of being a woman is being a mother. I have three kids and that's you know and my having three kids and involvement with them is probably in a way the biggest logistical obstacle to politics but something that Justin Trudeau said to me when he was just recruiting me because that was it was a hard decision for me to take and I decided I wasn't going to do it because of my kids. And so then I had a really long conversation with Justin and he said we so often see our families as the obstacle to doing our jobs well but actually it's because of our families that we can be effective. And you know of course you know there are so many specific things where it's a huge challenge. But I do I really feel having kids and being a mother ultimately makes me a better politician. It gives me a much deeper connection with my community. You know taking kids to school skating on the local skating rink all of that stuff nothing makes you more aware in a deeply visceral way of what's going on. I'm on the other stuff like I'm not a really big believer in a view that some people have of you know I don't know how like women are nicer and we're better at being friendly and having good relationships with people and stuff like that. You know I know lots of men who are nice and are great at relationships and I know some women who are nasty and not very good at relationships. But you know it may be the case that you know for all the ways that we're socialized and stuff that we have more of a tendency to reach out and I think that's probably a good thing too especially right now . That was fabulous. Thank you so much for sharing your insights perspective and all your knowledge. It's great. I hope you come back and do this again .
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Keystone Delay Signal of Government ‘Failure’: Freeland

March 3rd, 2015, 4:29 PM GMT+0000

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