School of Public Policy co-hosts senior leaders at Germany-Canada conference in Munich

A team from The School of Public Policy recently returned from Munich, Germany where it co-organized and co-hosted the annual Atlantik-Brücke conference on relations between Germany and Canada. 

The conference welcomed 30 leaders from each country from businesses, government and academia. Delegates discussed topics including innovation and fostering German-Canadian collaboration, progressive trade and CETA, security and defence co-operation as well as immigration. A keynote presentation was given by Canada’s minister of international trade, Francois-Philippe Champagne. Also participating were Stephane Dion, Canada’s ambassador to Germany and special envoy to the European Union, and Sabine Sparwasser, Germany’s ambassador to Canada. Panelists included:

• Ailish Campbell, Canada’s chief trade commissioner and member of The School’s International Policy Advisory Council
• Marcus Breitschwerdt, head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Europe Region
• Lt.-Gen. Michael Hood, commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force
• Roland Werner, head of Government Affairs and Policy at Uber Germany. 
• Iain Stewart, president, National Research Council

Delegates had the opportunity to tour Dornier Seawings GmbH, a German seaplane manufacturer and hear from State Minister Beate Merk of the Bavarian State Chancellery. The conference also included the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the National Research Council of Canada and the Bavarian Research Alliance, a partnership whose seeds were sown at the 2017 Canada-Germany conference in Ottawa.

“It is so important for The School of Public Policy to participate on the international stage and show our leadership on a multitude of issues that our counterparts on the other side of the Atlantic are also thinking about,” said PG Forest, director and Palmer Chair for The School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary.

Atlantik-Brücke was founded in 1952 to deepen co-operation between Germany and North America, and is based in Berlin, Germany. It is a non-profit and non-partisan association whose mission is to strengthen the exchange between politics and business, and between young leaders and representatives of civil society.

Atlantik-Brücke Canada was founded over 30 years ago by Canadians who had participated in exchanges between West Germany and the United States, and who believed that a separate Canadian organization was essential. The core activity of Atlantik-Brücke Canada is an annual conference of approximately 30 members from each country engaged in candid conversation on current issues of global significance and mutual interest. It is chaired by P. Thomas Jenkins, O.C. and is housed within The School of Public Policy.