Boston, Massachusetts, Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Thank you for your warm welcome and for this kind invitation to speak with you today. The focus of my speech will be the diplomacy of knowledge, and the special role that Boston can play in an increasingly connected and competitive world.

First, let me say how delighted I am to be back here in Boston among so many friends and partners of Canada.

I would also like to commend the strength and resolve of this great city following the terrible marathon bombings. As the foreign country that had the largest number of registered runners, Canada stands shoulder to shoulder with Boston during this difficult time.

On May 5 at the Toronto Marathon, hundreds wore blue and yellow t-shirts with the message: “Boston, we run with you.” And today, following this luncheon, I will be honoured to visit the memorial out in Copley Square in a show of support on behalf of all Canadians.

As governor general, I am privileged to represent Canada abroad and to convey something of the ambitions and concerns of Canadians during these fast-moving and often challenging times.

In this, I am following in the footsteps of numerous governors general before me, who have long been made to feel welcome in America.

In fact, Canada’s second governor general, Lord Lisgar, made important advances in our relations with the United States. He was the first of my predecessors to visit this country, in 1871, meeting with President Ulysses S. Grant and inaugurating a rail link than ran from Boston up to Portland and then on to Saint John and Fredericton, New Brunswick.

That was well over a century ago, of course, but it is interesting to note how similar our preoccupations are today—if not always in form, then certainly in function.

Now, as then, we aim to build and strengthen the links between Canada and this beautiful and dynamic part of the United States.

Today, we are going further, strengthening bonds of friendship, of commerce, of culture and education.

In particular, New England has long been a leading practitioner of what I often refer to as the diplomacy of knowledge. By that I mean working together across borders and disciplines to enhance our learning and our innovation.

For Canadians and for people around the world, this area is a beacon of learning. It is the city on the hill. Few if any places in the world can rival New England in terms of its ability to attract the best and the brightest to study and work here.

Greater Boston alone is home to a remarkable 100 post-secondary institutions!

The students, researchers and officials who come here go on to exert an immeasurable impact on their respective communities and nations around the world.

Just consider the impact of knowledge-sharing among Canadians and Americans. I call this ICE – International Capital Exchange.

The scientific and intellectual relationship between Canada and the United States is unrivalled. In fact, I think it no coincidence that our two countries enjoy one of the strongest bilateral relationships in the world, with countless good things flowing from it. Our shared commitment to learning has been a constant and has helped to show us the way on broader issues. 

Our very special relationship extends into my own family. I am among the many Canadians who have gained from the rich culture of learning that exists here, having spent four wonderful years as a student at Harvard. And I had the honour of serving as the first non-American president of the Harvard Board of Governors in the early 1990s.

My brother studied at Dartmouth, and several of my daughters—who between them have three degrees from Harvard and one from Dartmouth—have benefitted enormously from New England’s excellence in post-secondary education.

Many Canadian families can tell a similar story. The latest numbers show 556 Canadians studying at Harvard, and 263 at MIT. And that’s just here in Cambridge.

Our challenge today is to enhance the special relationship that exists between our two countries, while also finding ways to deepen our knowledge exchange with the rest of the world.

Think how the world would be if we could replicate and extend the Canada-New England diplomacy of knowledge to the entire planet. And, with the gift of modern communications technology, it is a dream worth considering.

I say this because we know that in our modern, globalized world, the well-being of nations will be defined by how well they develop and advance knowledge. In other words, knowledge—as opposed to military might or physical assets—will be the new currency and the new passport to success.

To our global value and supply chains we can now add global knowledge chains as key determinants of our prosperity and well-being. The extent to which we are able to harness the best and brightest ideas and innovations—wherever they happen to arise—will dictate our quality of life in this interconnected world.

I am conscious that I am speaking to a business audience today, so let me share one current example with you of how Canadians are working with people in this region to develop new business ideas and to innovate.

The Government of Canada’s Canadian Technology Accelerator program, which was successfully launched here at the Cambridge Innovation Center in March, is bringing dynamic and innovative Canadian entrepreneurs to Boston to grow their businesses and collaborate in this global technology hub.

This program is all about innovation, and I would like to emphasize the role that research and knowledge creation play in successful innovation. To borrow a phrase from Kevin Lynch, “research turns money into knowledge and innovation turns knowledge into money.”

Both are needed, and both need to be done well. And it points to the need for governments and research institutions to work together closely with businesses and innovators.

The academic community in New England has already shown its willingness and ability to lead and to share knowledge widely. The increasing availability of high-speed Internet and rapid improvement in communications technologies is of course facilitating this.

For example, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology created edX. This non-profit massive open online course platform had some 155,000 students from around the world take its first course—an MIT introductory class in circuits. Let me repeat that figure: 155,000 students. That’s greater than the total number of MIT alumni in the school’s 150-year history! And what is even more remarkable is that the courses are free.

The appearance of these massively open online courses, or MOOCs, is enabling learning on an unprecedented scale. As with the globalization of our economies, the globalization of learning presents both challenges and opportunities.

The diplomacy of knowledge requires that we take action across borders—geographic borders, yes, but also disciplinary borders. Let me share with you another example from Harvard and MIT of how this can strengthen our learning and, ultimately, our prosperity and well-being.

You may have read the book Why Nations Fail, by James Robinson, the David Florence Professor of Government at Harvard, and Daron Acemoglu, the Killian Professor of Economics at MIT. The thesis of their insightful book is that societies that are politically and economically inclusive thrive, while exclusive nations and societies fail.

The fact that the two co-authors tackle the important question of “Why Nations Fail?” from different disciplinary angles is part of what makes their argument so compelling. Both their method and their conclusion reinforce the same argument: when we work together, inclusively, and approach something from many different angles, we gain a much better sense of its true nature.

And the Canadian connection to this story is that the book is a product of the Global Economy program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, an organization which I had the great pleasure to chair a decade ago and which brings scholars together from around the world to work collaboratively on large problems.

In our increasingly complex, interconnected world, the key to success is being able to work together and increase knowledge.

An indication of this can be seen in the growing importance of intellectual property and the increasing international integration of this area. To give but one illustrative example, international patent applications by Canadians increased by 76% from 2000 to 2011. Likewise, 88% of patents granted in Canada during the 2011 fiscal year were to foreign applicants.

I know that members of the New England-Canada Business Council are working hard to advance mutual understanding in business, politics and culture between Canada and the United States.

This council is an example of the kind of network we must build in order to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and ideas. 

Whether we call them friendships, partnerships or—as in the world of diplomacy—people-to-people ties, our success as individuals, businesses, communities and nations is in large part determined by the quality of our connections to others.

I certainly saw this lesson put into practice as a student at Harvard, an institution with a remarkable record of forging meaningful relationships with businesses, communities, governments and alumni here in the U.S. and around the world.

And I have seen the great value of this lesson demonstrated throughout my personal and professional life.

Indeed, I worked hard to put this lesson into practice in my life and career. It has served me and, I hope, those around me very well.

The successes shared by New England and Canada are numerous, accounting annually for billions of dollars in trade, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs and resulting in countless innovations and partnerships.

We also share the largest and most significant energy relationship in the world, reflecting our commitment to energy security, economic prosperity and environmental responsibility. As many of you know, Canadian hydroelectricity flows to many parts of New England. 

And so, we must all work together in good faith and continue to build trust.

This is true for citizens, businesses, learning institutions, governments and, indeed, for entire nations.

I would like to leave you with this challenge. Let us go further in our partnerships. Push the boundaries of global knowledge chains. Find innovative ways to break down barriers between sectors, disciplines and countries. 

Consider the words of Robert Pastor, director of the Center for North American Studies at American University, in which he outlines the basic principles for success in the relationship between Canada, the United States and our other key partner on this continent, Mexico—a splendid example of extending the Canada-U.S. knowledge partnership to a third country.

Pastor writes:

“The essence of a North American community is that each of the three sovereign states has a stake in the success of the other, and each will pay a price if one fails. That is the first principle—interdependence—of a community. The second is reciprocity—that each nation should treat the other as it wants to be treated, and each should want to learn from the experience of the others. The third principle is a community of interests . . . [in which] all three governments would share responsibility for problems and contribute to solutions.”

In so many ways, Canada and the United States are close partners in North America. This is critical, because globalization both enables and requires greater collaboration. This fact and the rapid pace of change brought about by new technologies have resulted in a new, global imperative to share knowledge and to innovate.

As business and community leaders in New England, each of you has a role to play in fostering the innovation that is so critical to our success. Certainly, that means innovation in business and trade, but you also have the ability to influence change more broadly.

As members of democratic societies, we must all contribute our best thinking and efforts to the challenges of our time. Never underestimate the positive influence you can have. And help take this brilliant relationship to the world at large.

Social challenges, political challenges, economic challenges—all are interrelated, just as the well-being and prosperity of Canada and the United States are so interdependent.

Let me close by citing another of your American presidents, Thomas Jefferson, who in fact inspired the candle that sits at the crest of my viceregal coat of arms.

The candle is lit, symbolizing not only learning and discovery, but also the transmission of learning that collectively enlightens us, as Jefferson so eloquently put it.

With that image in mind, let us continue our work together for the smarter, more caring and prosperous world of which we dream.

Thank you.