Trudeau talks immigration, digital charter in opening interview at Collision

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau opened the Collision technology conference with a keynote address and interview where he attributed Canada’s growing tech sector to immigration.

Organizers have called Collision the fastest-growing technology conference in North America. Further, this marks the first time the four-day conference is happening outside the U.S. Collision runs until May 23rd at the Enercare Centre in Toronto.

Shahrzad Rafati, founder and CEO of Canadian entertainment company Broadband TV, interviewed Trudeau, where he emphasized that Canada is now a significant source of talent for global tech. Additionally, the Prime Minister said that Canada attracts entrepreneurs.

Trudeau also talked up the government’s education and research investments as other reasons for success in Canadian companies and startups.

“Access to talent obviously comes from immigration and it comes from training young and educating Canadians right,” said Trudeau.

As such, the Prime Minister said that Canada would remain open while other countries “are closing themselves off more to immigration.”

Rafati also asked Trudeau about plans for the creation of a digital charter to combat hate speech, misinformation and election interference.

At the recent VivaTech conference in Paris, Trudeau announced plans to create the digital charter. He expressed confidence that the charter would restore the faith of citizens and hold online platforms accountable.

Trudeau didn’t go into further detail at Collision but did say the charter would focus on the government working collaboratively with tech companies to ensure citizen’s personal information was safe. Additionally, he said it would bring solutions regarding online harassment.

We’ll likely learn more about the digital charter from Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains at a summit on digital governance in Ottawa later this month.

Source: CTV News