Hey – it’s Nav!

Don’t be getting any ideas...It’s not because I’m planning a return on the job market that I’m stepping up my presence on LinkedIn. Rather, I've received the honour of being the second Canadian politician – after our Prime Minister – to be bestowed Influencer status on LinkedIn. 

So I’d like to contribute on the LinkedIn platform in three loosely defined ways:

First off, I am indeed on LinkedIn as a fellow user. In fact, when I lost my seat in 2011, the first thing I did when my wife peeled me off the carpet was to update my LinkedIn profile. I had no idea that in a strange way, it was a lucky day. Before returning to politics in 2015, I got the chance to teach at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University and the University of Waterloo, and served on the Ontario Provincial Board of the Heart and Stroke Foundation – irreplaceable and memorable experiences in their own right. 

And even before I was elected in 2004 as the Liberal Party’s youngest MP at the much-less bearded age of 26, a platform like LinkedIn would have been useful when I walked out of the University of Windsor with my MBA. It could have spared me a few months of anxiety before I found my first full-time jobs at Nike and Ford Motor Company. 

All that to say, I am on LinkedIn as a professional currently in politics to serve Canadians – a vocation often misunderstood by the public despite its place in the spotlight. So I’d like to talk about my job. I’d like to debunk some myths about politics and politicians. I’ll share some insight into what it’s like representing 100,000 people in Ottawa, the professional skills it sharpens and temperament it favours, and why it’s unclear whether the city ever emerged from the Ice Age given its glacial winters and the few dinosaurs left roaming around. 

And if I can encourage someone to run because they want to make a difference in their community, all the better. 

I’d also have you know politicians share certain things with amateur athletes, travelling salesmen, flight attendants, and firefighters. I’d like to engage with the community on the issues that exist at the intersection of my professional and personal life: How to balance work and family? What’s it like missing my kids’ music recitals because the votes ran late in the House of Commons? In a pressure-packed job, what’s a healthy way to manage your stress? Many people on this platform face similar challenges in their personal and professional lives, and I believe we all have something to learn from each other.

Finally, I have the honour of serving in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet. One of the central items in my mandate is to provide a new vision for Canada’s micro-economic policy – Canada’s first new industrial policy since the 1990s. As one of the people responsible for job creation and the future of our economy, I’d like to share about the issues that keep me up at night: What kind of jobs will be available for our children in 10, 20, 30 years? How will automation affect Canadians working in manufacturing industries? Or mining for that matter? With an aging population, how can we better equip our Indigenous Peoples –our youngest and fastest growing demographic group – to create and excel in tomorrow’s jobs?

I’m as excited to chat about the little things –the joy of M&Ms (the peanut ones) in a long meeting – as I am to tackle the bigger issues of the day.

I’m humbled to be part of this group with giants like Bill and Melinda Gates, and our own Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. I hope you will follow my Influencer journey on LinkedIn. Feel free to drop me a comment to let me know what you’d like to hear from me.