Canadian Business Leader Calls for Renewal of Transatlantic Economic and Security Relations

November 11, 2003

Addressing a meeting of the A.T. Kearney-sponsored Global Business Policy Council in London, England, the President and Chief Executive of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE), Thomas d’Aquino, urged business leaders in Canada, the European Union and the United States to work closely with their respective governments to renew and strengthen transAtlantic economic and security relations.

Given the increasing number of incidents of terrorism and the consequent growing threat to lives and to world commerce, Mr. d’Aquino said that better understanding and closer co-operation among Atlantic partners is essential.

“A number of historic events have compelled Europeans and North Americans alike to distance themselves from the post-Second World War idea of transAtlanticism. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War led to an inevitable recalculation of mutual defence and security needs,” he added. “Also, progressive European political and economic integration, and now a new wave of enlargement, have weakened the momentum of more than four decades of transAtlantic convergence.”

“By far the most serious blow to transAtlantic unity has been the sharply divisive approach to the Iraqi conflict,” Mr. d’Aquino pointed out, “and despite efforts to paper over the effects, the wound is deep and it continues to fester.”

“Urgent global challenges require equally urgent collective action and resolve,” said the CCCE President. “The reconstruction of post-war Iraq, mediating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, dealing with global terrorism, reviving the Doha Round of World Trade Organization negotiations, and restoring faith in the United Nations — these are top priorities that cannot be addressed successfully without close transAtlantic co-operation,” he concluded.

Mr. d’Aquino reminded his audience of Canada’s central role as a founder of vital transAtlantic institutions and of its deep ties to the European continent. “Indeed, as we mark Remembrance Day, we must never forget that during the past century, more than one million Canadians have served in Europe in wars against tyranny and in the building of peace and democracy.”

A lawyer, entrepreneur, educator and strategist, Mr. d’Aquino has headed the Canadian Council of Chief Executives for more than two decades. The Council is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to achieving the highest standards of leadership in business and public policy. It is composed of the chief executives of 150 leading Canadian enterprises that collectively administer about $2.3 trillion in assets, have a yearly turnover of more than $550 billion and are responsible for a significant majority of Canadian exports, investment, research and development, and training.

The members of the CCCE’s Executive Committee are: Chairman Richard L. George, President and Chief Executive Officer of Suncor Energy Inc.; Council President and Chief Executive Thomas d’Aquino; Honorary Chairman A. Charles Baillie; and Vice-Chairmen Derek H. Burney, Dominic D’Alessandro, David L. Emerson, Gwyn Morgan, Gordon Nixon and Paul M. Tellier, the chief executives respectively of CAE, Manulife Financial, Canfor Corporation, EnCana Corporation, Royal Bank of Canada and Bombardier Inc.