Build Canada, CCI, and others say group needs tech sector representation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Canada\u2019s new advisory committee for Canada-United States (US) economic relations is facing criticism for its lack of technology representation.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced<\/a> the group, which replaces<\/a> the Council on Canada-US Relations established by ex-prime minister Justin Trudeau in early 2025, yesterday. Its launch comes amid a trade war between the US and Canada and ahead of a review of the existing Canada-US-Mexico-Agreement (CUSMA) trade pact slated for this summer.<\/p>\n \u201cWe urge the federal government to add expertise to this council that reflects the 21st-century economy.\u201d<\/p>\n Patrick Searle, CCI<\/p>\n The Government of Canada says this committee \u201cwill serve as a forum for expertise and strategy on all aspects of the Canada-US economic relationship.\u201d However, Canadian technology leaders, including representatives from Build Canada, the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI), and the Canadian Shield Institute, are publicly expressing frustration with the fact no members from the country\u2019s tech community are involved.<\/p>\n In a statement<\/a>, CCI CEO Patrick Searle said the committee excludes the firms \u201cbuilding, owning, and exporting the intangible assets that now define global trade.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe urge the federal government to add expertise to this council that reflects the 21st-century economy,\u201d Searle said.<\/p>\n The committee\u2019s 24 members<\/a> include current and former politicians, as well as folks from traditional Canadian industries like automotive, manufacturing, and natural resources\u2014which, to date, have been more directly impacted by US tariffs than the country\u2019s tech ecosystem.\u00a0<\/p>\n RELATED: CCI names Patrick Searle CEO ahead of \u201cturbulent\u201d year for Canadian tech<\/a><\/p>\n But with CUSMA up for review in July, some say it could use more perspective from people who understand what\u2019s at stake when it comes to digital trade and intellectual property (IP).<\/p>\n Canadian Shield Institute managing director Vass Bednar agreed with CCI, arguing in an X post<\/a> that Canada \u201cneed[s] to be mindful about Big Tech playing both sides.\u201d Bednar also highlighted that at least one of the committee\u2019s members, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing, represents US businesses with a Canadian presence that are also supporting US President Donald Trump\u2019s push for dominance.<\/p>\n \u201c[It\u2019s] disappointing to see that there is not a single founder, startup CEO, tech entrepreneur, VC, or innovation-economy builder on this committee,\u201d Build Canada co-founder and CEO Lucy Hargreaves wrote in her own X post<\/a>. \u201cThis is an old-economy list.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an old-economy list.\u201d<\/p>\n Lucy Hargreaves, Not everyone agrees. In a reply<\/a> to Hargreaves\u2019 X post, Navigator principal and former Liberal staffer Sharan Kaur called this disappointment \u201cmisguided.\u201d Kaur said. \u201cThis is about trade policy, and manufacturing takes the real hit, especially autos,\u201d arguing that \u201cthe digital economy is mostly barrier-free aside from labour mobility. We don\u2019t need tech\/founder voices on everything.\u201d<\/p>\n Digital trade, telecommunications, and intellectual property (IP) rights are all covered<\/a> in CUSMA, and Searle argued on X<\/a> that Canada \u201cgot CUSMA wrong in 2018\u201d by allowing the US to shape<\/a> \u201ccritical digital and IP provisions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t about \u2018tech voices,\u2019\u201d Searle added<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s about having people who understand an economy driven by intangible assets\u2014IP, data, and standards. We\u2019ve been in this exact spot before<\/a>. If we all want a deal that\u2019s in the best interest of [Canada], let\u2019s not repeat the past.\u201d<\/p>\n In his statement, Searle noted that, at the moment, \u201cthe [US] is shaping the rules for data, platforms, and algorithms through procurement, standards, and trade policy, while Canada remains reactive,\u201d stressing that Canada needs to build the expertise to negotiate effectively as the next phase of CUSMA will dictate who captures value in the global market.<\/p>\n BetaKit has reached out to the Government of Canada for comment.<\/p>\n Feature image courtesy CCI.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Build Canada, CCI, and others say group needs tech sector representation.
Canada\u2019s new advisory committee for Canada-United…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15238,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8049,17,8052,8048,8047,2070,3841,8050,111,94,61,8046,3889,8051],"class_list":{"0":"post-15237","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-build-canada","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-shield-institute","11":"tag-cci","12":"tag-council-of-canadian-innovators","13":"tag-government-of-canada","14":"tag-govt","15":"tag-lucy-hargreaves","16":"tag-mark-carney","17":"tag-ontario","18":"tag-ottawa","19":"tag-patrick-searle","20":"tag-sharan-kaur","21":"tag-vass-bednar"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Build Canada<\/p>\n