On October 5th, we were delighted to welcome members to a special event and collaboration with CIBC featuring a conversation with Victor Dodig, President and CEO of CIBC moderated by Zita Cobb, Founder and CEO of Shorefast. It was a lively, hopeful conversation about Victor’s approach to managing the over 47,000 person CIBC team and their outlook for the future. Here are some of our top takeaways from the event.


The power of technology is boundless and, when used in the right way, it moves people forward.
Victor and Zita had a fascinating conversation about how to build relationships in the virtual world. The simple answer? We can’t. Not completely, anyway. What we can do is strengthen our in-person human connections with virtual tools.

 
Transactions big and small are of equal value and importance.
Our speakers shared that 90% of employment in Canada is through small and medium sized businesses, and that these businesses are the backbone of the economy. Big business matters as well, of course, but we can’t forget SMEs. Solving obstacles for small and medium sized businesses is something we all need to focus on; we must keep in mind that bigger is not always better for a diverse economy. Victor noted that we need a tax system, pension plans, and policy to change to incentivize SMEs. He went on to say that we need more capital to help SMEs start up and grow, and we need to set up incentives to bridge the gap, and private capital will follow.

 
Canada is in an enviable position of having the resources to fuel and feed the world; but we need to act urgently to make it happen.
 The world is reconstructing, and globalization will look different following the current conflicts we’re seeing overseas. Canada, and Newfoundland and Labrador, need to find our place. Examples of wheat, oil & gas, wind, and communities were noted as how Canada can contribute to the global economy in a meaningful way.

Looking at Newfoundland and Labrador, the conversation focused on population and the reality that our economy will shrink if our population shrinks, and the urgent  need to fix this. Victor pointed out that we have an abundance of what the world needs here in NL, but we need to actively recruit folks from Europe to set up their businesses here, and we need to ensure we have the housing and services required to house new people.

Overall, we heard loud and clear, as we have in many recent conversations, that now is the time for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to grab opportunities for companies to set up and invest here due to our unique place and opportunity in the world. We need to recognize that we can’t just complain about what’s happening. We need to focus on what we can do. At the very least, Zita and Victor, very wisely, suggested we “stop calling each other bad names as a start.”

Thank you to Victor and Zita for sharing your wisdom and good humour with our guests this morning. And thank you to our guests for taking CIBC up on their invitation to join us for breakfast on such a lovely, sunny morning in Newfoundland and Labrador.