Conversations with Canadian Leaders: Canada as an Asia Pacific Nation

“We should change our approach to China, not lecture the Chinese on human rights.”
“Business sees the Asia Pacific region as markets, not labels.”
“We need to figure out what we want as a country.”
“We can’t be all things to all people; we need to be strategic in our areas of strength.”
“As a very successful multicultural country, we should be a leader in the Asia Pacific region and brand ourselves this way.”
“Corruption is a fact of life, not an impediment to success.”
“We have been absent from Asia for a long time and we’re making up for it, but it will take time.”
“There are so many ‘Asias’, you can’t just talk about one.”
“The challenge in Asia is the crowded playing field.”
“Selling natural resources and recruiting rich tourists, students and immigrants is not relationship building.”
“How we measure the economic impact of specific countries needs to be understood.”
“International students in Canada represent about 8 billion dollars to our economy every year, and Asia represents over 40 percent of that…By having that kind of interaction between international students and Canadian students, it helps position Canada for the long-term.”
“We shouldn’t ignore mature relationships at the expense of emerging economies.”
“Foreign direct investment is positive but we need to be concerned about business practices that come with these investments.”
“Canada has a large job to educate the Canadian population on the importance of this region to Canada's future.”
“We need the government to generate the understanding in the Canadian population of the opportunities that we face with 2 to 3 billion middle class global citizens.”
“At what point have we got enough investment here so we don’t sell the family farm?”
“Canadians need to understand the mega trends…Asian economies are growing…and relative to them, ours are declining.”
“Changing global realities demand that Canadians see themselves as being connected to the Asia pacific region.”
“Canada needs increased attention from its political leadership at both the federal and provincial levels.”
“We, as a country, need to sell ourselves as a place to do business, as a competitive environment...[Canada] is a very nice place to go to school and it’s a terrific place to retire in, but [an investor] does business in Hong Kong.”
“The day will soon be over when we can assume that Canadians can go to China and they will adapt to our methods. We’re going to have to play their game, in their language, understand their culture…”
“Doing business in North America has been too easy for Canadian business, and we need to work harder on establishing relationships in Asia.”
“There are concerns about Chinese state enterprises and their particular interest in Canadian resources and assets.”
“Canada is just as much east-facing or west-facing, so the question is what’s the global imperative and how is Canada part of the global imperative.”
“Resources are a challenge but there is a need to have people there on the ground.”
“Canadians have a sense of entitlement that is just not justified by Canada’s competitiveness.”
“Many organizations we’ve worked with in China have a hard time naming a Canadian company or business organization well-known in China - name recognition is more or less zero.”
“It’s not simply a case of exporting our know-how, but a two-way flow. If our know-how helps countries in the Asia Pacific region up their game that will actually be in the long-term interest of Canadian export, collaboration, participation and partnership with these countries.”
“One of the unique gifts that Canada can bring to the Asia Pacific is a willingness to be a partner as these developing and emerging countries try to establish a way of recognizing and respecting human rights.”
“India is often overlooked…While China’s working population will drop over the next 5 to 10 years, India’s will increase…We have the skills to help India develop that we are underleveraging.”
“You don’t think about it as a geographic region, you think about it as a market.”
“The most important thing that I ran into in Asia a number of times is interpersonal relationships…Once that relationship is established, then bring the business folks in afterwards to talk about business.”
“We will be hamstrung with our logistical strategy today simply because of capacity. We don’t sense that, collectively as a country, we understand how this growth will impact the logistics that are available today.”
“Asian investment is actually going to create and cement a customer relationship...Long-term relationships with these customers is going to be important to our economic bases, not only for First Nations and Aboriginal communities, but for Canadians.”

Why focus on Canada as an Asia Pacific nation? Asia’s economic and political rise in the 21st century is redefining traditional approaches to governance, diplomacy, and international trade. Over the next decade, Canada’s relationship with other Asia Pacific nations will depend on how Canadians view their role in this increasingly important region.

Conversations with Canadian Leaders: Canada as an Asia Pacific Nation explores the mindset of Canadian leaders at a time when Asia’s economic growth is reshaping global dynamics and countries are rethinking their approach to the region.

As part of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada-led National Conversation on Asia, the Public Policy Forum conducted in-depth, face-to-face interviews with leaders from academia, industry associations, unions, non-profits, as well as the private and public sectors to assess their views of Canada as an Asia Pacific nation.

By engaging a cross-section of leadership in our country, we hope to better understand perceptions of Canada’s role in the Asia Pacific region and the actions needed to build stronger trans-Pacific relations.

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Conversations with Canadian Leaders: Canada as an Asia Pacific Nation

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