Good afternoon. Thank you for having me today. I am director of the Centre d'études sur l'intégration et la mondialisation. We are currently reflecting on the aftermath of COVID-19 and the pandemic's impact on Canada's international trade, but more broadly on the economic system.
First of all, I want to say I totally agree with Ms. Citeau on the importance of looking at multilateralism and the interface with the agreements that Canada signs. It is very important for maintaining consistent trade policy over the long term, but it is particularly important for the future of the international community to ensure that bilateral or regional trade agreements do not jeopardize co-operation at the multilateral level.
I know it is always taken a bit for granted that bilateral agreements are aligned with multilateralism. However, at the centre, we have mostly focused on the potential divergence between a multilateral system built on bilateral agreements and the risk of system fragmentation.
Our approach is to try to understand how COVID-19 revealed the flaws in our societies, in our international community and in the institutions that are there to enforce rule of law and stabilize the system.
We believe that our societies and the international community were not equipped to deal with the current pandemic and that, to deal with future catastrophes like this one, it's very important not only to consider short-term responses and challenges, but also to have a medium- and a long–term vision of them. This health crisis has revealed the pitfalls of collective action, which we also believe will be a catalyst for change and transformation.
The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing us to rethink economic policies [Technical difficulty—Editor] and trade. In fact, our colleague addressed the issue of the labels "made in Quebec", "made in Canada" and "made in America". That means the potential for relocation is there and could be very dangerous.
Globalization and trade are forcing us to thoroughly rethink the role of institutions. We anticipate a pre-COVID-19 era and a post-COVID-19 era. This is a historic time that will determine the path forward in the face of multiple social and economic trajectories, while opening up new avenues for economic governance.
We have organized a series of workshops that will continue until December. The worst-case scenario, which we have discussed, is border closure and the emergence of highly intrusive surveillance and monitoring systems. A number of our colleagues have written that deglobalization is not necessarily desirable or even possible in many industries. We are in the process of documenting such a deglobalization scenario, and we are adding a number of nuances.
We agree completely with Canada's approach, which we feel is to secure supply chains by showing flexibility and finding ways to secure those value chains so that Canada's supply is protected. The primary risks are therefore fragmentation, countries looking inward and deglobalization, but also trade warfare. These risks should not be underestimated. We also see as key risks rising inequality, economic concentration and challenges to the legitimacy of the international trading system. I believe all these issues must be taken very seriously.
Our approach is to look at institutions in the context of globalization, as well as state policy and actions. We are interested in how such actions can be aligned with more regulated globalization, while preserving economies that are open to trade and investment. The big picture for all this is to work toward a more stable trade system, one that could be more inclusive and progressive. It is in line with the approach Canada has been using in recent years.