Date: June 3, 2025
Location: RBC Insurance, 155 Wellington W, 11th Floor, Toronto ON, M5V 3K7
CAFII held its second in-person reception event of the year on June 3, 2025, hosted by RBC Insurance at their downtown Toronto office. After drinks and hors d’oeuvres were served, Julie Gaudry, Vice President of Insurance Product Development and member of CAFII’s Board of Directors, welcomed all attendees and introduced the evening’s esteemed keynote speaker, Goldy Hyder, President and CEO of the Business Council of Canada.
Goldy Hyder began his speech by thanking the President of the U.S., Donald Trump, for uniting Canada across provinces and languages. Mr. Trump has profoundly shaken Canadians to their core and, in turn, has created the opportunity for unity across our otherwise divided nation. Mr. Hyder then spoke about Canada’s historical complacency with its singular economy; our biggest trade partner has always been the U.S. Now, with our economy under threat, Canada is expanding.
The world is changing; Canada needs to change with it. The U.S. is undergoing monumental change, as they are allowed to do. Mr. Hyder explained that America has long been working towards this sort of political and economic upheaval. Looking back to the year 2000, the U.S. has been moving towards a focus on the domestic economy for decades. Now, with Trump asking the average American whether they are better off now than before, sociopolitical sentiment has leaned more and more towards an isolationist one.
Mr. Hyder explained that he spends much of his time trying to understand the average American’s psyche. While the US is divided, the election was not close; Trump won handily. What can this tell us about Americans? The millions who voted for him cannot all be racist, sexist, bigoted people. Trump spoke to something that resonated with the working class, the average American. Mr. Hyder said that many folks feel that we should prepare for another 12 years of MAGA. As Canadians, where does this leave us? What does this mean for Canada? In short, we must control the controllables. Canada needs to adjust and pivot. We cannot continuously blame the Americans for our dependency on them. Now we must adapt and look elsewhere for economic growth.
Where does the growth come from? Canada is surrounded by oceans and bordered by the U.S. This means that, geographically, we are pretty safe. Historically, Canada has landlocked itself to sell its abundant goods to the US; with the trade wars imposed by the current president, this is changing. Canada is diversifying. The question then is, how can we get out of our own way? The answer, Mr. Hyder explained, is regulations. Canada does not need more, but less. Regulations have limited our trade, thereby hurting us. Change is inevitable, but geography will remain. We will always trade with the US; now, we must simply do more elsewhere.
Besides international trade, Canada has significant interprovincial trade barriers. Mr. Hyder explained that the social programs Canadians love, which make Canada the nation it is, could be better supported if we could engage in interprovincial trade more easily. We must build infrastructure, like railways, to allow for this cross-country engagement. To do so, provincial governments must act swiftly and thoughtfully to create the infrastructure that will allow for this sort of trade.
Mr. Hyder concluded his speech by stating that the White House is blasting noise at Canada; we must ignore it or respond appropriately. We cannot hyper-focus or fixate on it because then we will be derailed by it.
J. Gaudry then opened the floor to questions from the audience.
An audience member asked what Canadians can do in the meantime while we work on building the necessary infrastructure. Mr. Hyder responded that we must begin work to remove those interprovincial trade barriers that are hindering and halting trade altogether. Infrastructure will take some time, but our internal, cross-country trade is something we can address now. He added that the previous Liberal government lost the widespread consensus on immigration because it stopped being seen as a driver of growth. Canada’s GDP per capita has been stagnant for a decade, and Canadians feel that. Much of our growth is being stimulated by population increases, but this alone is insufficient; we need to enable internal growth.
Another audience member asked Mr. Hyder, from a market perspective, what his thoughts are on the best ways to effect change with the regulators. He replied that it involves building consensus and partnerships. We need to develop unexpected allies. Mr. Hyder stated that the collective Canadian consciousness is intelligent; he has faith in the unity of our country. He urged people to leave politics and ego at the door and find common ground. This is about unity. This is about economic growth and stability to support social causes and programs.
The final question from the audience inquired about the current federal government, which is a minority. What happens if certain provinces don’t want to “play nice”? Doesn’t this hinder growth? Mr. Hyder commented that, under the previous government, the debt and deficit spiralled out of control. The new government, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney, is clearly focused on Canada’s economy, what with Carney being an economist and a globalist. Furthermore, he is known and respected on a global level. As useful as this may be, business requires output; confidence derives from this. Therefore, while Carney may have immense good intentions, there is a reality to address.
Mr. Hyder’s final call to action urged all attendees to promote Canada to Canadians. We must start looking inwards to find stability.
