ST. ANDREWS-BY-THE-SEA, N.B.—As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prepared to head to Davos, Switzerland to mix with the world’s elite business and financial leaders, he ignored questions about the IMF’s downgrade of Canada’s economic outlook for the next year.

Trudeau said his message would be an optimistic one.

“I’m going to talk to the World Economic Forum about how Canada is looking to invest and looking to build growth for the middle class. We’re going to talk about how diversity is a strength and really showcase the fact that Canada has tremendous opportunities and is facing challenges like lots of places but we have the tools to surpass those challenges in a way that should draw in global interest.”

It’s largely the same message that Trudeau talked up through the election campaign, and that he’s repeated at every outing from summits to spaghetti dinners in the three months since he won power.

He’ll take with him a slew of ministers to showcase what he’s doing. Among them is Navdeep Bains, responsible for what used to be called the industry department, who said he’ll emphasize the government’s plan to boost innovative technologies, and Catherine McKenna, environment and climate change minister.

McKenna will be on a panel with former U.S vice-president Al Gore and Christiana Figueres, the head of the UN framework convention on climate change.

McKenna tied the government’s environmental agenda to Trudeau’s message, saying she’ll address what the Paris agreement on climate change means for business.

“I will talk about . . . what opportunities are there. As our government has made clear we’re moving towards a low-carbon economy, we’re making significant investments in infrastructure, also in clean technologies so there’s real opportunities there to grow our economy. So I’m making that case.”

Though the Liberal government’s message is that Canada is open for business, the Conservatives have slammed the government for not committing to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Asia-Pacific region free trade deal that Stephen Harper negotiated and signed off on last fall.

On Wednesday, the Bank of Canada will make a much-anticipated interest rate announcement. It will likely come moments before Trudeau gives his first speech in Davos.

International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is also travelling to Davos, earlier told reporters that the Trans-Pacific Partnership “at this moment is not open for ratification.”

“There will be, after a signing opportunity, two years during which all the TPP countries have to go through a consultation and a domestic debate about ratification, so it won’t go into effect until after those two years have gone by.”

It all comes as the Washington-based International Monetary Fund downgraded its 2017 forecast for Canada along with its outlook for the wider global economy, citing slowing growth in China, plummeting oil prices and a rising U.S. dollar. It said Canada will grow just 1.7 per cent in 2016 and 2.1 per cent in 2017.

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