Duclos hosts OECD meeting to swap tips on keeping social anxiety at bay
OTTAWA — When Jean-Yves Duclos hosts other social development ministers and social scientists from 35 countries this coming week, he hopes to swap tips on keeping social anxiety at bay.
Member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development have, for the first time, decided to hold their marquis social policy ministerial meetings outside of Paris, choosing Montreal for their brainstorming session.
Over the course of two days, they will hash out policy solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing developed countries in recent years: disruptive technology, income distribution, affordable housing, child care, poverty — and above all, widespread frustration with ruling classes.
Duclos, the federal minister for families, children and social development, says he plans to use the stage to signal that Canada “wants to do things differently” — orienting its social policy to keep in check the fear and resentment that he believes lead to destructive populist sentiment.