“If you’re looking at international norms and governance and relations and saying, ‘Boy, I really don’t follow what’s going on, I’m really not sure what’s going to happen next’ — don’t worry, you’re not alone,” Trudeau said. “Most people don’t know how this is going to shape up… What’s clear is that this is a time where the next 50 years are being set up in this decade, and that’s why it is so important… that this generation of folks in their 20s be as active as possible in helping shape that goal.”

Trudeau is the most recent of dozens of leaders and diplomats to participate in the University’s long-running Ogden Lecture series. Last year, Brown welcomed former U.S. secretaries of state Hillary Rodham Clinton and Condoleezza Rice, and the series has previously featured the Dalai Lama, New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger and former heads of state Jacinda Ardern (New Zealand) and Mikhail Gorbachev (Soviet Union), among many others.

From AI to literature to storytelling in politics

During Tuesday evening’s conversation, Trudeau said he thinks that governments “should not have to” but need to regulate AI and warned of the technology’s potential to create catastrophe, but also positive transformations that could be as impactful as the development of electricity.

“AI has moved so fast that the letter of the law was unable to keep up, and now we're headed with this extraordinarily powerful technology into a direction that is quite frankly, unknown,” Trudeau said.

Noting Brown’s own focus on encouraging students to explore their interests widely, Paxson asked Trudeau about what lessons he took into public service from his life before politics, which included studying literature at McGill University in Montreal and working as a whitewater rafting guide.

“All the other things I did [before politics] — schoolteacher, camp counselor — all those things brought me leadership skills, conflict resolution, engagement with people, seeing them,” Trudeau said. “You know, taking a group of… tourists down rapids, you learn how people react under stress. You learn how to calm them down.”

The former prime minister spoke about leading during the COVID-19 pandemic “on the fly,” and in response to a question from Paxson, compared the Canadian and American healthcare systems. While acknowledging that Canada’s approach has challenges such as long wait times for care, he pointed out that at 82, life expectancy is five years longer in Canada, even as the nation spends significantly less on healthcare than the U.S.

“Nobody becomes a billionaire through healthcare in Canada, and I'm not criticizing the American system,” Trudeau said. “In Canada, where our doctors and hospital administrators are well paid… nobody is seeking to make a massive profit off of healthcare.”

Trudeau spoke about his love of literature, mentioning that even while serving in the demanding role of prime minister, he managed to read about one novel a week. He also drew connections between storytelling and leadership.

“For me, politics is about storytelling,” he said. “Whoever can tell the better story that resonates best with citizens about who we are as a people and where we're going as a country and uses that story to motivate people not just to come out to vote, but to believe in it and to strive for better and to bring the country in a particular direction.”

He mentioned the long-running sitcom “Will & Grace” as a powerful example of how storytelling can shift attitudes around social issues — LGBTQ rights, in that case. He added that he recently founded a production company, with the desire to tell stories (like the popular Canada-backed HBO series “Heated Rivalry”) “that challenge people to be open to worlds and people who are totally different.”

Citing what he described as his nation’s long history of cooperation among groups of Canadians from different backgrounds, Trudeau added:

“Democracies only work when you’re able to find common ground with someone totally different from you, and that’s one of the reasons why we’re seeing breakdowns in democracies right now all over the world.”

He encouraged students to be intellectually curious, open to difference and willing to be challenged.

“A stream of critical thinking allows you to challenge assumptions of what’s been done in the past… or what might want to be done in the future, and really think about who benefits, how it benefits and how it means we’re going to shape a better world for the future.”