Ebba Busch Speaker

Minister for Energy, Business and Industry and Deputy Prime Minister
Swedish Ministry for Energy, Business and Industry

The Hon. Mélanie Joly Speaker

Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions Ahuntsic-Cartierville
Industry Canada

The Honourable Mélanie Joly was first elected to represent Ahuntsic-Cartierville in the House of Commons in 2015. She has previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, as Minister of Economic Development, as Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie, and as Minister of Canadian Heritage.

As a member of Cabinet, Minister Joly has worked to promote Canadian culture and to grow and increase the visibility of Canada’s tourism sector. Under her stewardship as Minister of Economic Development she created PacifiCan and PrairiesCan – new Regional Development Agencies to deliver targeted, regional investments and strengthen economic resiliency across the country.

She has also worked to safeguard Canada’s two official languages while promoting the use of French in Canada and around the world, including in the digital sphere. Her advocacy for Canada’s official languages marked the first major reforms in 30 years.

In her most previous role as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, she promoted Canada’s interests around the world and led Canada’s response to Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable invasion of Ukraine. Minister Joly delivered Canada’s first Arctic Foreign Policy, aimed at protecting Canada’s arctic sovereignty and strengthening ties with our Nordic allies and Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, promoting and strengthening diplomatic and economic relations in the Indo-Pacific region.

While representing Canada on the world stage, Minister Joly initiated the largest transformation of Global Affairs Canada, ensuring a modernized Canadian diplomatic corps.

Prior to entering federal politics, Minister Joly founded the Vrai changement pour Montréal party and ran for mayor of Montréal in 2013 under its banner.

Minister Joly holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the Université de Montréal and a Magister Juris in European and Comparative Law from the University of Oxford. She is the author of Changing the Rules of the Game, in which she shares her vision for public policy and civic engagement. She was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Jan Larsson Moderator

CEO
Business Sweden

Jan Larsson commenced his tenure as CEO of Business Sweden in May 2021.

With over 30 years’ experience in private business, politics and government, Jan has struck a unique balance of understanding the needs and challenges of the commercial world as well as establishing deep insights into the political and democratic realities and possibilities.

Most recently, Jan Larsson has held pivotal roles in high profile private sector companies including as Head of Group Communications and Sustainability at Handelsbanken, CEO of a vocational education and training company YrkesAkademin, Consultant at McKinsey & Co and Brunswick Group, and Chief Communications Officer at Nordea.

In government and politics, Jan Larsson has deep and extensive experience from roles including State Secretary, Chief Campaign Manager for the Social Democratic Party, and prominent positions supporting a former Swedish Prime Minister.