Chaos and Canada’s Future: Is there Hope for Growth?

May 4, 2026

Seminar for Diplomats

“Chaos and Canada’s Future: Is there Hope for Growth?” with Mr. Peter Hall, CEO – Econosphere, Inc.

Chaos is so common that if suddenly there was calm, it would be equally shocking. In such a time, is there hope for our future, will there be growth, and is forecasting even possible? This is an excerpt of seasoned economic forecaster Mr. Peter Hall’s presentation for diplomats, “Chaos and Canada’s Future: Is there Hope for Growth?”

Timestamp

0:00 Hope in a Chaotic World

0:59 The Challenge of Forecasting

3:45 Personal Reflection on Mortality

6:09 The Impact of Personal Choices

7:51 The Promise of Eternal Hope

Previous Peter Hall events:

Peter Hall, CEO – Econosphere Inc.

Peter Hall is a Canadian economist and business strategist. He is the CEO of Econosphere Inc., a boutique business strategy advisory firm where he advises industry associations, corporations and international trade initiatives. In this capacity he is involved in advising leading Canadian industry associations and corporations, advising and promoting international initiatives and conducting ad hoc project work. Mr. Hall is a special advisor to both Martinrea International, Elevate Export Finance,  the Forum for International Trade Training, the C.D. Howe Institute, QG100 and the Canada-ASEAN Business Council. 

Previously he was chief economist at Export Development Canada, advising the executive team and board of directors and heading up a large team of economists and country risk analysts that provided comprehensive forecasting for internal and external business strategy purposes, transaction risk analysis for over 160 countries, model creation, use and maintenance and data systems support. While at EDC, he authored the widely-circulated Weekly Commentary. 

Prior to his work at EDC, Mr. Hall directed the economic forecasting activities of the Conference Board of Canada. He has served as the president of the Canadian Association for Business Economics, a 600+ member organization of professional economists and also its largest local chapter, the Ottawa Economics Association. 

Mr. Hall regularly speaks at conferences and corporate events across North America and internationally to a wide variety of business, government and academic audiences and comments on the global and Canadian economies in print media, radio and television. He serves on several boards and as an advisor to multiple Ottawa-area charities. Mr. Hall holds economics degrees from the University of Toronto and Carleton University.

Transcript – Hope in a Chaotic World:

Our world right now is one where hope is in desperate shortage. I think we can all agree to that. My son once made a profound statement to me. He said, “Dad, somebody that is without hope is a very dangerous person and a world that is without hope is arguably a very dangerous world.”

So here we are from a multiplicity of nations and we can agree on some very simple fundamentals that our world is missing right now, that our world is desperately trying to hold on to. And I think it’s super important that we not avoid this. That we […] hope against hope, that the world is going to somehow repair itself. It’s very important for us to actually talk about that, the sources of hope that we actually have. 

I come to a point of this, where I kind of hold my hands up and say, “Well, I’m supposed to be the one who charts the way forward. I make forecasts of how this is going to go forward.” 

We have a very weak fundamental situation inside of Canada. If we embark on trade diversification, it transforms that, and I believe it transforms it for your economies as well. 

But at this point in my talk, I can tell you something for certain: that my forecast is going to be wrong, because all forecasts are. I don’t know how wrong the forecast is going to be. Trying to see forward in a murky market like this, is a great challenge. 

But one thing that I wanted to finally challenge you with is this: if I could actually forecast something with 100% accuracy, would you be interested in hearing about that? After all that I’ve said, in a world where forecasts are very, very difficult to make, would you want to hear a 100% accurate forecast?

Number one, next year we are all going to pay taxes; that’s a certainty. We all know that. I can also forecast–and this is where we get a little somber. I can also forecast with 100% accuracy that we are all going to leave this earth. The time on our earth will come to an end. I’m in an age right now where all the people in my parents grouping are passing away. It’s a very sad time of life, but it causes us pause for thought on what the meaning of life really is about. 

And you know what’s interesting about both taxes and death–even although they are certainties […] –we do a very poor job of preparing for both. Think about taxes. Why do we have payroll deductions at source? Because if it was up to us to save in order to pay our taxes at the end of the year, we would never make it. We would always be in arrears with the government. So they have to step in and say, look, we’re going to take a certain amount off of every paycheck, because we want to make sure that we collect our taxes. And so we’re not good at preparing for taxes. 

Neither are we very good at preparing for our passing from this life. It’s staggering to see how little estate planning is actually done. In practical terms, we know we’re going to leave everything on this earth behind, so why do we not actually sit down and figure out what we’re going to do with that?

Why do I raise that? I was confronted at the ripe old age of 17 with my own mortality. I had chosen to live in a particular way that was very destructive. I made some very foolish decisions. When I started reaping the consequences of those very foolish decisions, I came to a point where I wasn’t very interested in living anymore. That’s a devastating moment for a 17 year old to come to, and–pardon the pun–but I was deadly serious about my view. That’s how miserable I was. Well, I thought, if that’s how desperate things have become in my own life, I at least need to think very hard about the meaning of life and if there’s another path that I could walk on. 

And this is when I was confronted in my own life with, what I will call, the bizarre claims of Christianity. I realized that I was offside with the God who made all that is. This God came to this earth in the person of Jesus Christ. He demonstrated His divinity by many signs and wonders that were witnessed by 1000s of people. And even […] His enemies at the time could not disprove what he was doing, although they tried. And I learned at the same time that this was a God who did not demand that I shape up so that I could earn my way into His good graces. But [a God} who acknowledged and revealed to me that it would never be possible. There was never enough that I could do to earn that. 

So I was still without a remedy. I still had a problem. I was still cut off from God by the wrongs that I had done. The solution? He paid for all of my wrongs in the person of Jesus Christ. He died in my place and wiped out the record of my wrongs; all my sins gone. I was set free. And at 17 years old, that revolutionized my thinking. I’m just sharing my own experience with you.   

Since that point–and that was a long time ago, I hate to say–I have never had reason to doubt the truth of this. Now, the beauty of this is it was and is not just for me. It’s for anyone who recognizes the same thing, who accepts this gift of forgiveness for all the wrongs that we have, or will ever commit. It’s not confined to a particular race or culture. That’s why I share it. Otherwise, I would just keep quiet about it and keep it to myself. 

Now a very dramatic thing happened in my life, just three years after this spiritual encounter. A fellow who was in my crowd at the time went through the same experience and he ended his life. He decided to go that way. And that etched on my entire being the path that things could go based on our choices. I will never forget that.

Back to hope in a chaotic world, what is our hope? What do we cling to? Do we cling to things that we’re eventually going to have to leave behind? Oh don’t get me wrong, we are here to make sure that we use our time well while we are here and we pour ourselves into making this a better place for our loved ones and for the ones who will live after we have gone. But our hope has to be beyond this earth, else we would go mad trying to wonder what this is all about. 

Well I want to leave you with a well-known ancient song that overflows with spiritual truth. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. I have no need of anything. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.” 

“He restores my soul. He leads me in paths that are right because of His reputation. Even though I walk through valleys of unspeakable shadows of death, I will not fear. He’s with me. His rod, His staff, they comfort me. He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies. He anoints my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely His goodness and His mercy will follow me all the days of my life.” 

And what happens after life? The promise of the One who made everything is that I–regardless of all of my sins and all of my failures, because He’s taken care of them–will dwell in His house forever. 

That’s true Hope. That’s a Hope that transcends anything that we’re trying to accomplish on this earth. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the most important message that I could share with anybody. And I’m very grateful to you for your kind attention on this.

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