With one week left until global elites descend on the Swiss mountain town of Davos, the World Economic Forum has published its full programme, which includes several prominent Canadians.
As previously reported by True North, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland will be on a panel during the event. She will be joined in Davos by Minister of International Trade and Economic Development Mary Ng.
Another notable attendee is Mark Carney, a former Bank of Canada Governor and Bank of England Governor. Carney’s name has been floated as a potential future Liberal Party of Canada leader.
Freeland will be speaking on a security and peace panel next Wednesday which will also feature NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg and Polish president Andrzej Dude.
“The war in Ukraine has exacerbated a fragile geopolitical and security landscape. Bold leadership is required not only to restore peace and security in Europe but also for the world,” the WEF writes of the session titled Restoring Security and Peace.
“In a time of grave challenges, how can leaders collaborate and cooperate to defend our collective security?”
The following day, Ng will take part in a discussion on the “intangible economy.”
“Many countries now invest more in intangible assets, such as IP, than in tangible assets like buildings and machinery, with consequences for innovation, productivity, market concentration and more,” explains the WEF website.
Carney will appear on three panels including one on philanthropy, economic resilience and corporate governance.
Other Canadians speaking at the conference include senior managing director at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Suyi Kim and co-CEO of the Waterloo, Ontario-based policy think tank, the Tamarack Institute, Elizabeth Weaver.
Canadian Wall Street Journal chief economics commentator Greg Ip and chief news editor Elena Cherney will also be in attendance. Canadian dual citizen and professor of sustainability at the University of Exeter Business School Gail Whiteman will also speak.
In Canada, the WEF and its global influence has been divided along political lines over the course of the pandemic, with the office of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre recently informing True North that none of his MPs will be attending the conference.
True North will be on the ground in Davos starting this weekend to report on the proceedings.
