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Harper to tout Canada's economic stability at Davos
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CBC News
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to again urge action on the European debt crisis and sell Canada as an attractive investment destination when he addresses leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Harper will likely use a keynote address to 2,600 delegates on Thursday, the second day of the annual meeting, to urge European leaders to become more like Canada by improving the strength of their banking systems.
The prime minister has repeatedly called for additional action to get the continent's debt problems under control, including at the G20 summit in France last November.
The CBC's Terry Milewski reports from Davos that Harper's speech may also touch on the new European fuel quality directive, which targets so-called dirty sources of energy, including the Alberta oilsands.
The prime minister "sees that directive as kind of ominous and unscientific and discriminatory," Milewski said.
Harper is also expected to tout Canada as an ideal trade partner with a stable economy and a strong record of deficit reduction.
However, some of Canada's economic indicators may not be as strong as it would seem, according to a new study by Canadian Auto Workers economist Jim Stanford.
The study examined jobs and growth on a per-person basis in recent years. Since Canada's population is growing faster than other countries', per capita growth and job creation are mediocre compared to international standards.
U.S.-Europe trade deal?
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested Thursday that the European Union and the United States should pursue a free trade deal, and rejected calls for a big increase in the eurozone's rescue fund.
Merkel expressed determination to defeat the weaknesses of the joint euro currency used by 17 nations. But she batted away appeals from the IMF and others for a big jump in the size of the fund created to help weaker eurozone nations struggling with too much government debt.
"We guarantee the euro, but what we don't want is to promise something we can't hold," she said.
Also at Davos, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates announced a new pledge of $750 million US to the global AIDS fund at the forum Thursday, Reuters reported, and he asked governments to continue contributing to help fight the disease.
"These are tough economic times, but that is no excuse for cutting aid to the world's poorest," Gates said at the meeting.
Call for 'great transformation'
The founder of the annual World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, appealed to global movers and shakers Wednesday for a "great transformation" that would challenge the basic tenets of capitalism.
Other leaders of global organizations, including Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, have issued a joint "call to action" asking country leaders to fuel growth and jobs in a way that confronts chronically high youth unemployment, is environmentally sustainable, and also deals with inequality.
Harper heard a similar message from some of the Canadian business leaders in his roundtable meeting at the forum Wednesday afternoon.
He was told that doing business is not just about making money but is also about bolstering Canadian society, said participant Monique Leroux, chief executive of Desjardins Group.
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