Canadian Delegation Provides Strong Voice at the Y20 Summit

On Monday, May 7, seven young Canadians met for the first time in Toronto to prepare for the Junior Team Canada (JTC) mission to the Y20 summit in Puebla, Mexico. Mexican president Felipe Calderòn called the summit to allow youth from around the world to discuss current economic issues and have their ideas presented to world leaders at the G20 Summit in June. After a national competition, Global Vision selected the following young leaders to attend the summit: Kyle Fiore (ie Madrid), Leenat Jilani (Brescia University College), Sergueï Leclerc (Université Laval), Jonathan Pippy (Université de Moncton), Tyler Power (Memorial University of Newfoundland), and Meahgan Sweet (University of Saskatchewan).

Upon arrival in Mexico, delegates had the privilege of meeting with Ambassador Sara Hradecky, Canadian Ambassador to Mexico. While visiting the embassy, delegates participated in a roundtable session with Mario Correa, Chief Economist with SocitaBank
in Mexico; Jonathan Heath, Economist with the Mexican Financial Executives Institute; Dr. Roberto Marino, Special Representative of the G20 Presidency; Cedrian Lopez, former Director, G20, Hacienda; Dr. Federico Rubli, former head of International Affairs
at the Bank of Mexico; and Dr. Isabel Studer, Founding Directory of the Global Institute for Sustainability at the Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Mexico. The roundtable session prepared the Canadian youth for their working group discussions in
Puebla.

On Wednesday, May 9, working groups were formed. Each Canadian was placed in a working group in an area of their own expertise. Kyle worked on International Trade; Leenat worked on The Future of the G20; Sergueï worked on Economic Stability and
Financial Inclusion; Jonathan worked on Promoting Sustainable Development, Green Growth and the Fight Against Climate Change; Tyler worked on Youth Employment;while Meahgan worked on Enhancing Food Security and addressing Commodity Price
Volatility. For each working group, delegates were treated to an interactive session led by world experts in each of the G20’s discussion topics.

On Thursday, May 10, delegates continued working with their groups to form the final position document. At the end of the day, the document was ratified and accepted by all countries so that it could be presented to President Calderòn the next day. One of the Thursday’s biggest highlights was a Noche Mexicana held at the Governor of Puebla’sresidence where Canadian delegates could interact with delegates from other countries in true Mexican style. JTC didn’t hesitate to give the governor a famous red shirt and invite him to Canada.

Before leaving Mexico, delegates gathered at Felipe Calderòn’s residence to present him with the final document. Canadian Sergueï Leclerc had the opportunity to ask the President a question about future economic policies and the president responded with
enthusiasm.

The JTC mission to the Y20 summit in Mexico was a huge success because of all who helped support the mission, including the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Delegates would like to thank Minister Baird for helping faciliate the opportunity to travel to Mexico and shake over 150 hands, gather hundreds of business cards, and make professional contacts that will last a lifetime.