CIC-Montreal Branch: The Strategic Importance of the G20 in a Changing World

The Montreal Branch of the Canadian International Council presents

The Strategic Importance of the G20 in a Changing World: A Discussion with the Right Honourable Paul Martin, Moderated by Dennis Trudeau

With the emergence of new economies in Asia and Latin America, our world is changing and Canada needs to position itself to manage these new realities and opportunities. The Right Honourable Paul Martin will speak in an intimate setting about the evolving role of the G20 in international affairs and its importance to Canada. The evening will be moderated by Dennis Trudeau.

About Paul Martin

The Right Honourable Paul Martin was the twenty-first Prime Minister of Canada from 2003 to 2006. He was the Minister of Finance during the period 1993 to 2002, during which time he erased Canada’s forty-two billion dollar deficit and recorded five consecutive budget surpluses. He also strengthened the regulations governing Canada’s financial institutions, with the result that Canada is now viewed as an international model for sound financial regulation. In conjunction with his provincial counterparts, he restored the Canada Pension Plan, securing it for future generations. In September 1999, Mr. Martin was named the inaugural chair of the Finance Ministers’ G-20.

His many achievements during his tenure as Prime Minister include: the setting in place of a major forty-one billion dollar initiative to improve healthcare; the signature of a landmark agreement with the provinces and territories for a national early learning and childcare program; the creation of a new financial deal for municipalities and the redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples. Further, he achieved a historic consensus with the provinces, territories and Canada’s aboriginal leadership on an agreement entitled the Kelowna Accord, the objective of which was to ensure the provision of equal opportunity for Canada’s aboriginal population.

Currently, Mr. Martin is the co-chair, with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai, of a two hundred million dollar British-Norwegian poverty alleviation and sustainable development fund for the ten nation Congo Basin Rainforest. He also sits on the advisory council of the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa, an initiative that examines critical issues facing the continent. It is sponsored by the African Union, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank. He is also a member of the International Monetary Fund’s Western Hemisphere Regional Advisory Group. Domestically, he is responsible for two new initiatives. First, the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative which aims at reducing the Aboriginal youth dropout rate and at increasing the number of Aboriginal students attending post-secondary institutions. Secondly, he founded with his son David, the Capital for Aboriginal Prosperity and Entrepreneurship Fund, which helps establish and grow successful Aboriginal businesses both on and off reserve.

Before entering politics, he had a distinguished career in the private sector as a business executive at Power Corporation of Canada in Montreal and as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The CSL Group Inc, which manages one of the world’s most important fleets of self-unloading vessels, offshore transshippers and handysize bulk carriers. Its acquisition by Mr. Martin in 1981 represented the largest leveraged buyout in Canada at that time.

Mr. Martin studied philosophy and history at St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto and is a graduate of the University of Toronto Law School. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1966. He married Sheila Ann Cowan in 1965. They have three sons: Paul, Jamie and David and they are the proud grandparents of Ethan and Liam, children of David and his wife Laurence.

About Dennis Trudeau

Dennis Trudeau is one of Canada's foremost broadcast journalists.  Over the course of 35 years covering the world, Canada, Quebec, and Montreal, Trudeau has worked in newspapers, radio and Television. As a broadcaster, Trudeau worked on national CBC Radio programs such as As it Happens and Cross-Country Check-up and on the The National and Midday on CBC Television as well as the CBC all news channel Newsworld.

For more information, please follow this link: http://www.dennistrudeau.ca/en/bio.html